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Need some time to think of your answer to a job interview question?

8/3/2022

So, you're at an interview and you are asked a question and you just need a chance to think about your answer or which example to use. What can you do?⠀
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Instead of sitting there silent, my advise is to let your interviewers know what's going on. Do you need to have the question repeated or clarified? Then ask them to do so. Do you need a chance to think? Then you can simply say so, by saying something along the lines of "I need to think about that for a second". Then your interviewers won't keep talking to fill the silence (which doesn't help your thinking) and they know to stay silent. And they won't hold it against you! It's perfectly acceptable behaviour and we would prefer you to think about your answer rather than launching into something irrelevant.⠀

Another simple thing you can do, is to take a sip of water. It gives you a chance to think and, at the same time, it lets your interviewers know that you are busy and that they don't need to jump in. You could also repeat the question, which gives you another little bit of time to think. ⠀
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Obviously, you can't do that for every question throughout the interview, but it works well to do this occasionally.⠀

Communicate your interest in the role

11/11/2021

As an interviewer (and former hiring manager) I find that a candidate's interest in the role and in the organisation is key. One way to demonstrate your interest is through the enthusiasm and energy you display at a job interview.

Think about how you can do this, whether your interview is in-person or online. Here's some ideas for you:

Project your voice, do you perhaps need to talk louder
Make sure your voice isn't monotone
Nod your head, maintain good eye contact
Look interested in the interviewer(s) and sound interested in what you are saying
Try not to slouch, sit up straight.

A second way that you can demonstrate that interest is to prepare your answers for questions like:⠀⠀

"Why are you interested in this role?"⠀
"Why are you interested in working for this organisation?"⠀
"What do you know about this organisation?"⠀
"What attracted you to this role?"⠀
"Why do you want this role?"⠀
"Have you any questions?"⠀

Interviewers use these types of questions to assess your interest in the role, so make sure you have your answers ready for these. Make sure you prepare your answers to questions like these, so you are prespared for them at interview.

How does your experience match the requirements of the role?

18/8/2021

Be clear about how your experience matches the role you are going for. What is the organisation looking for? Is there a job role description and/or a set of competencies describing what is required? Spend some time reading this and absorbing that information. Is there anything else you can do such as reading about the organisation or contacting someone who works there? Then think about what you have to offer (skills, knowledge, experience, competencies, achievements) and how do these match what is required in the role? This is so important for your interview preparation.⠀

Try to tune into the requirements of the role by doing more than simply reading the job description or candidate information booklet. If you are applying to an organisation that you have not previously worked for, research what the organisation does, what kind of roles they have and, in particular, see what more you can find out about the role you are applying for. Is there someone in your network who has worked there or someone who knows someone who is working there? What can you find out about the organisations values and mission? What services or products do they offer? All of this research will help you demonstrate your interest in that organisation when at interview and will also help you position your previous experience and achievements in that context. It will also help you prepare relevant questions you can ask at interview.

If you invest some time in preparing how your skills and experience matches the requirements of the role, it will help you in several ways. It helps you when writing a summary or position statement (on the application form) or when writing your cover letter (if submitting a CV). It also informs how you will answer questions at interview. Especially questions such as "Tell me about yourself", "How does your experience match the requirements of the role?" or if you are asked to "Summarise your experience". It also should underpin all of your other answers when at interview, because you need to be able to clearly articulate how your previous work experience matches the requirements of the role and to be able to do so throughout the interview. You can also use this summary of how you match the requirements of the role towards the end of the interview.
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Your choice of verbs can strengthen or weaken your answers

21/7/2021

The verbs you choose to describe your actions (in your competency answers) are so important. Keep an eye on the verbs they use in the job description. Find lists of Strong Verbs or Action Verbs for CVs online to help. Make sure your choice of verb reflects the appropriate level of seniority. Make sure your choice of verb reflects the appropriate level of seniority. If there are competency definitions, keep an eye on the verbs being used in those definitions.

For example, do you lead on a project or area of work? Other verbs you could use are chaired, controlled, headed, orchestrated, organised, planned or co-ordinated. Verbs matter - on your paperwork (CV or application form) and at interview.⠀Be sure that you are doing yourself and the work that you have done justice in the verbs you use to describe what you did.

Know when to stop talking at your job interview

23/6/2021

I notice at interviews that sometimes a candidate doesn't really seem to know how to finish out their answer or when to stop talking! You can help yourself by knowing how you will end each of your competency answers, so that at interview you will feel comfortable with your finishing sentence and know when to stop.

Know how you will finish your answers for job interview questions. Finish the answer and stop talking. Be comfortable with any silence that happens at that point. If your interviewers want more detail from you, they will ask.

Have your examples ready for competency-based job interviews

26/5/2021

Here's some input about preparing your competency examples for your job interview. Your competency example lets you demonstrate the depth of your experience in the details of that example. Using different examples for each competency will let you demonstrate the breadth of your experience throughout the interview.

Select your competency examples carefully. Remind yourself of the details of that example. It's good practice to prepare a detailed second example for each competency. This will help you ensure that no matter how the question is phrased, that one of your examples will match what the interviewer is looking for.

Selecting your competency examples for your job interview

6/4/2021

Being successful at a competency interview is all about your choice of examples. If you are completing a public sector application form, then getting through the shortlisting is also based on your choice of examples. You need to select your best examples for each competency. Which ones are your most relevant – relevant to the competency but also (ideally) relevant to the job area you are applying for? Which show off where you have used initiative? Which demonstrate the right level of seniority for the post you are going for? Which show the traits you want to impress with? Which show significant obstacles you have overcome? These are the examples which will score well.

The same advise applies whether you are selecting your examples for use at interview or for use when completing your application form (required for most public sector interviews). Where possible, lead with your most recent work examples. Only use a non-work example when you have no other example that you can draw on to illustrate your competence.

After selecting your examples, you then need to remind yourself of the detail of those work tasks or projects and what you accomplished. The level of detail you provide is very important. Keep the focus on the aspects of the work that demonstrate the competency.

Asking questions at the end of the job interview

4/1/2021

If you are given the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the job interview, I would encourage you to do so. Look at the information you have received about the role and try to imagine yourself starting out in that role. What questions could you ask that demonstrate your interest in the role? Make sure your questions don’t show up your ignorance about something you should have been able find the answers to yourself. Interviewers will expect you to have done your research. Quite often, in public sector interviews for general grades (where there is no job description really, other than the definition of the competencies, such as for Executive Officer) candidates don't ask questions. The same is true for internal candidates, who mostly say they don’t have any questions to ask and that’s ok.

Some questions you could ask are:

Is this a new role?
How many people are working on the team?
What training would be put in place for the successful candidate?
What would be a typical day be for someone in this role? or
What do you like best about working for this organisation?

You are always safe to ask:

What are the next steps in this process? or
When will I know the outcome of this interview?

Online job interviews: Look at the camera to make eye contact

25/11/2020

When you are doing a face-to-face interview, the advice is always to make eye contact with your interviewer(s). The same advice applies to virtual interviews or online interview. For interviewers like me to feel that you are making eye contact with us, you need to be looking at the camera of your phone, laptop or tablet. It is easy to be distracted by the people on the screen, yourself included! But if you are looking at yourself or looking at the interviewers on the screen, it will not look to them as though you are looking them in the eye. The way to do this is to look at the camera. This does not come naturally to us, to engage with the machine rather than with the people on the screen. But you want to come across as you would if you were meeting them in person, so remember that you make eye contact by looking at the camera. It is worth practicing, because it comes across to your interviewers quite differently whether you are looking at the camera, or not. This video on my facebook page shows you what I mean.

Online job interviews: Check out the technology in advance

4/11/2020

It's worth checking out the technology that will be used for your online or virtual interview in advance. Don't leave this until the last minute. If you can access the system and do a trial, I would encourage you to do so - or practice using a system you do have access to. Check that you can hear and check that you can be heard. Use a headset with a microphone if possible. Using a headset cuts down on background noise, helps you with hearing your interviewer(s) and makes sure you don't have to raise your voice to be heard. When interviewing online, I have had some less than wonderful situations - such as the candidate who ended up in her back garden trying to get a better signal and we could barely hear her over the traffic sounds. Not the best for either her or the interviewers. Set yourself up for interview success by checking out the technology in advance.

Online job interviews: Keep the camera at eye level

14/10/2020

It's best to keep the camera of the device you are using for your interview at eye level. This is so that when you look at the camera, it will look like you are looking directly at the interviewer. If the camera is part of your laptop and your laptop is on your desk, the camera is not going to be at eye level. As an interviewer, I have had candidates position the camera so we were not seeing all of their face, or so that we were looking up at their face from below and nearly able to see up their noses! I put my laptop on top of a box or some books when doing an online interview to make sure that the camera is at my eye level - or I have found raising it up another inch or two (3-5cm) can give me the best angle (and make sure there's no double chin!). Same advice applies to phones or tablets.

Answering the question asked

27/8/2020

At an interview, you need to make sure you are answering the right question. This sounds simple, but with interview nerves or poorly phrased questions, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

This is particularly true in Public Sector interviews, with tight timings and the clock ticking. The more the interview panel have to bring you back on track, the less chance you have to score well. If you don't answer the right question they might even take your answer and move onto the next question, leaving you with a poor score.

To help keep you on track, really listen to the question. Repeat the question to yourself, out loud if you want. Take a sip of water to buy yourself a moment to gather your thoughts. Don't just start answering if you are not sure what they are looking for.

It's ok to ask an interviewer to repeat a question or to clarify the focus of a question. It’s really important that you answer the question you are being asked, so asking for the question to be repeated or clarified is absolutely ok and interviewers won’t mind doing this. Better to ask than to answer the wrong question.

Don't worry if you stumble over your words at a job interview

28/6/2020

Interviewers know how nerve-wracking interviews are. They know you will be particularly nervous at the start of the interview and will do their best to welcome you to the interview and help you settle in.

It's ok if you stumble over a word or pause or let your nervousness show. Interviewers understand. Don’t put yourself under unnecessary pressure trying to give a flawless performance. Concentrate on making sure you answer the questions and highlight your relevant experience, qualifications and skills.

Use your work examples to demonstrate the competency

9/6/2020

Success at a competency-based interview is all about the detail of the examples you use to answer those competency-based questions. As an interviewer, I am looking for evidence of where you demonstrated that competency. Make sure your example clearly focuses on the required competency. Make sure you stick to the details in your competency example that demonstrate the required competency. I notice candidates sometimes get their competencies mixed up, so it's worth spending some time getting to know the competencies and their definitions, if made available to you. I also notice that my interview coaching clients end up emphasising all the details of the work they did while losing focus on demonstrating the competency. So that means you need to edit how you talk about that work and consider what parts of it clearly demonstrate the competency and focus on those parts in your answer.⠀

Job interviews - prepare for a spoken exam, not a written exam!

2/6/2020

Remember that an interview is a spoken exam (or an oral exam), not a written exam - and so prepare accordingly! I see so many candidates put huge effort into writing up lots of notes and their preparation is like they are preparing for a written exam or that they are writing up a research paper. But your interview is an oral or spoken exam where you have to deliver your answers in person. So do the preparation. Write out the main points of your examples, but don’t forget to practise those out loud!

Don’t let the first time you answer a question out loud be in the interview itself. Practise in front of a mirror. Practise with a friend. Turn on the video of your phone. Write out a list of the questions you have been preparing and hand them to a trusted friend or colleague and have them ask you them. Do a mock interview with an interview coach. Select whichever approach suits you best, because when you practise answering those questions out loud it will stand to you on the day of your interview.

It's ok to ask an interviewer to repeat the question

22/5/2020

It's ok to ask an interviewer to repeat a question or to clarify the focus of a question. It’s really important that you answer the question you are being asked, so asking for the question to be repeated or clarified is absolutely ok and interviewers won’t mind doing this. They want to learn about the details of your previous work experience and assess whether your experience, knowledge and skills are a match for the role’s requirements. Focus on the detail of your answers and getting your experience and skills across to them. The interviewers are willing you on, they want you to do your best.

Managing your job interview nerves

13/5/2020

“Confidence is preparation, everything else is beyond your control,” according to Richard Kline. So true for interview preparation. It got me thinking about what you can do to help manage your nerves at an interview. If you prepare well and know that you are well-prepared, this will be a huge help. What else can you do?

Get there early (if meeting face-to-face) or make sure you have the technical setup all done and are online waiting in advance (if doing a virtual interview). This will make sure that you don’t put yourself under any unnecessary additional pressure. When you are waiting to be called into your interview, calm your breathing and relax your shoulders. When we are nervous, our voices dry-up, so sip some water before you start the interview. This will also help ground you and bring you into the present moment. At the start of the interview remember to shake hands (if face-to-face), smile, make eye contact and then sit up straight.

Pay attention to your body language before and during the interview - our body language influences how we think and feel about ourselves, which in turn changes our behaviour and changes our outcomes. It’s a little bit of “fake it until you make it”, which research by Amy Cuddy shows is more like “fake it until you become it”.

Be concrete rather than theoretical in your answers at your job interview

11/5/2020

When answering a competency-based question, the interviewers are not looking for a theoretical answer of how you would ideally approach the situation. We want to hear about you and your previous work experience not a textbook answer. Nor are we looking just for an answer filled with buzzwords (or "buzzword bingo" as a participant in a interview skills course I delivered once termed it)! Instead we want to know the detail of what you did to demonstrate the particular competency.

If your interviewers ask you to describe how you managed a team, they are looking for exactly that, an example of when you managed a team and, specifically, the detail of how you managed that team in a particular situation. You need to outline the detail of the actions you took in managing. Focus mostly on what you did and include a little bit of why you took that approach.

This is where your homework will stand to you, as you really need to be clear and confident of the detail of what you have done, even if the work you are describing is from a few years ago. You need to include specifics and be concrete in the information you include in your answer.

Answering competency-based questions with "I" not "We"

10/5/2020

When answering a competency-based question at the interview, use sentences that start with “I”, not “We”. Having selected your example of your previous work experience that demonstrates the competency, make sure that your answer is very clear about what you did. You may well have led a team or been part of a team, but now is not the time to use the word “we”.

Good interviewers won't let you away with using "we" and will prompt you to keep your answers to what you did and your unique contribution. However, time is being wasted when we have to do this with a candidate, time you could have been earning more marks. You need to be clear about what you did versus what others did to achieve the outcome in your answers. Ambiguity about this will impact your scores negatively.

Yes, I know for many it doesn't come naturally to say "I" and you want to show you are a team player (which I hear frequently from interview coaching clients), but it's only you at the interview and only you looking to get that role or be promoted. So if you find yourself saying "we" a lot, practice saying "I" (and then practice again)!

Online job interviews: Position the camera to show more than just your head

6/5/2020

Some things are unique to virtual or online interviews. Here's one thing to consider: decide how much of your upper body should be visible on the screen of your interviewers. Is just showing your head and shoulders enough? When interviewing online, I have sometimes asked candidates to reposition their cameras, when all they had let us see of themselves was just their head and maybe the very tip of their shoulders. Even the view of me you can see in the photo of me accompanying this blog, is not showing enough of me that you would be able to see my hand gestures when talking. I recommend that you let the interviewer(s) see as much of your upper body as they would if you were sitting at the table across from them, so that they can see you hand gestures. Especially so, if like me, you talk with your hands! This video on my Instagram page shows you what I mean.

Online job interviews: Light and laptop angles matter

5/5/2020

All the advice in my other blogs about interviews apply to online interviews. However, there are some things that are unique to online interviews. Here's one thing to consider: position yourself and the camera (of your laptop, phone, or whichever device you use for your online interview) carefully. This is something you can try out well in advance of your interview.

Choose a location where the lighting is bright enough that you look well on screen. You don't want to be in the shadows or have part of your face in the shadows, you want the interviewers to see you at your best. Facing a window rather than having your back to a window can make a huge difference. If the natural light isn't good at the time of your interview, have a lighting alternative ready. This is true for me as an interviewer and for other interviewers as well.

But if, like me, you wear glasses (even with anti-reflective coating) then facing directly into the light source can leave a glare or reflection on your glasses, especially when moving your head as you talk. I find that sitting facing the window, and then moving myself and my device so I am facing a little away from the window (not completely turning my side to the windows, but just having the window at a diagonal) seems to work best for me (and my glasses!). The picture accompanying this blog shows how I appeared on my phone's camera when following all of this advice. This video on my Facebook page shows you what I mean.

Structuring the answer to a competency-based question

18/3/2020

When answering a competency question at interview, keep this three-part structure in mind to help you frame your answer. Think about your best example for the competency and remind yourself of the details of both what you did and what you accomplished. Make sure the example you choose will allow you to clearly demonstrate the competency at interview. I know from interviewing that a good scoring answer will require you to be clear and confident about that detail.

Follow this structure for your competency answer:

Outline the context – briefly explain the nature of the task, problem or objective of the piece of work that you are using to outline your experience in the competency.
Detail what you personally did and how you demonstrated the skill or quality. Be clear about what your contribution was and what actions you took.
Summarise the outcome, impact or result of the work that you did.

The interviewers need to understand about the context to help them in judging your actions and the outcome. This should be as brief as you can make it - some candidates explain far too much about the industry or organisation or section, while not spending enough time talking about what they have actually done.

The actions you outline allow the interviewers to match your experience to the definition of the competency and the requirements of the new role. This section should be the longest. Make sure you keep the competency in mind and use the example to demonstrate evidence of the competency.

The outcome or results of your actions give the interviewers some indication of the contribution you made, the impact your work had and the quality of your work.

The same advice about this structure of an answer applies when completing a public sector application form that asks you to answer competency questions on the form.

Welcome to Tina's job interview tips blog