How to prepare for an interview
Arrangements
Confirm the date, time and location of the interview.
Plan to get there early. Factor in travelling time, time of day (e.g., rush hour), and parking.
Try and find out the names and job titles of the people you will meet and the expected length of the interview.
Research the organisation, the industry, and the job
There are several sources of information available about organisations and industries. Try their internet site, annual reports, and other library resources.
Use the information you have gathered during the interview.
Find out what are the organisation’s challenges. For the role you are applying for, list down what you can do for the organisation in overcoming these challenges.
Interviews are when you must convince the hiring manager that you can perform the work using the skills and experience you have. This is where your communication skills come in. You are effectively showing, rather than telling. You must put your best foot forward!
Be prepared to talk about yourself
Have a 3 to 5-minute ‘elevator pitch’ about your career history. It is a summary of what you have done and how you have developed as a person. People love stories and you a storyteller!
Know what skills and experience you can offer. Be ready to give examples of how you’ve demonstrated these skills. Avoid “yes” or “no” answers.
Be prepared to talk about your key achievements
Be able to identify what the situation was, what you did, and what the outcome was. Your passion should shine through the work you did.
If you don’t have much professional work experience, think of examples from your major university projects, volunteer or social activities.
If you don’t have achievements, then you are going to find it hard to convince anyone to hire you!
Take evidence of your work and education with you. Invest in a display book – don’t just have samples or documents in an envelope. These documents reflect you. Be proud of them.
Make copies of the more important ones which you could leave with the interviewer. I usually have a bunch of evidentiary documents ready for giving to the interviewer, depending on the questions asked.
Prepare for behavioural and situational questions
Australian employers like to use behavioural and situational questions to find out whether you are suitable for the job.
Behavioural questions may start with phrases like:
“Describe a time when _____”
“Think about a situation where you had to _____”
“Give me an example of ______”
“How have you responded when ______”
Situational questions may start with a phrase like:
“What would be your response to _______?”
“How would you handle _______?”
“Who would you contact if _______?”
“Imagine if ________”
You will be asked to demonstrate your competency for a task by describing a time in which you handled something similar in the past. Take your time to answer the questions.
Remember to show not tell!
Use the STAR approach when responding to behavioural and situational questions This will ensure that your answers are structured and well-considered.
S – Situation: Where and when you had the relevant experience?
T – Task: What was required of you for this experience?
A – Action: What you did in this event?
R – Result: How the situation played out and what was the outcome of your action?
Here’s an example of how the STAR approach can be used effectively:
Interviewer – “Tell me about a situation where you provided excellent customer service”
You – (Situation) “At [name previous employer], I took a call from a disgruntled customer who was upset that it had taken the organisation two weeks to reply to her billing inquiry. (Task) I apologised and quickly looked up her details to confirm the issue with her. (Action) After establishing that her transaction with us had been incorrectly processed, I assessed how much she had been overcharged and processed the refund immediately. When the refund was system approved, I informed her that the refund should take two to three working days to be reflected in her bank account. (Result) The customer was extremely happy with the way I handled the customer’s call.”
Anticipate the interviewer’s questions
Have answers ready for common questions. Practice them on your friends.
Go online to find specific questions relevant to your job and industry.
You could also use some sample questions below.
Sample accountability questions
(1) Describe a situation when your work did not meet your co-worker or manager’s expectations. What happened? What action did you take?
(2) Tell me about a time when you had to deliver on a commitment that was difficult for you. What did you do to motivate yourself?
(3) Have you ever been in a situation where your role or responsibilities haven’t been clearly defined? What did you do?
(4) Tell me about a time when you had to conform to a policy or procedure that you did not agree with. What did you do?
(5) Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a customer, supervisor, or client. What did you do to resolve the conflict? What was the outcome?
(6) Tell me about a time when you went the extra mile to meet the needs of a customer service.
(7) Tell me about a time when you accommodated a customer even though it was more work for you or went against your instincts. What was the result?
Sample resourcefulness questions
(1) Tell me about a situation where you had to adjust quickly to changes over which you had no control. What was the impact of the changes on you?
(2) Tell me about a time when you had to change your point of view or your plans to consider new information or changing priorities.
(3) Give me an example of a time when you had to approach people with different perspectives for support or cooperation. How did you appeal to each person? What was the result?
(4) Describe a situation in which your first attempt to pitch an idea failed. How did you react to this? What other approaches did you try?
(5) Tell me about a time when your work effort didn’t go as planned when it is blocked by obstacles. How did you resolve this issue? What was the outcome?
(6) Tell me about a time when you had to accommodate unplanned activities or demands.
(7) Tell me about a time when you had to adapt quickly to changing conditions to complete your work. What were the circumstances? What was the outcome?
(8) Tell me about a time when you had to work in a chaotic or noisy environment. How did you deal with this situation?
(9) What was the most difficult work issue you ever faced? How did you address the problem? What were the results?
(10) Tell me about a time when you used fact-finding skills to solve a problem. What was the situation? What was the outcome?
(11) Tell me about a time when you had to solve a difficult or complex problem. Can you describe your approach? What was the outcome?
(12) Tell me about a time when you had to respond quickly to a crisis. What were the circumstances? What was the outcome?
(13) Give me an example of how you solved a problem uniquely?
Sample respectfulness questions
(1) Tell me about a situation when you had to speak up to get your point across that was important to you.
(2) We all find ourselves in stressful situations at work. Tell me about such a time and how did it turn out?
(3) Tell me about a time when you felt compelled to immediately address a difficult situation with your manager when others wouldn’t. What happened? What was the outcome?
(4) Tell me about a time when you were under extreme pressure and remained calm and focused at work.
(5) Tell me about a time when you were expected to accomplish much in a short time. What was the situation and result?
(6) Tell me about a time when you had to make a split-second decision. What skill did you use to keep your composure? What was the outcome?
(7) Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an uncomfortable situation at work. How did you manage it?
(8) Describe a time when you were proud of your ability to withhold your comments until you had all the facts. What was the result?
(9) Tell me about a time when you were sensitive to how another co-worker reacted in an emotional or tense situation. What did you do? What was the outcome?
(10) Tell me about a time when you volunteered to help to someone in need. How did they react? How did it turn out?
Sample integrity questions
(1) Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem. What was the outcome?
(2) Tell me about a time when you confronted a co-worker because you knew they were making a mistake. What was the issue and how did it turn out?
(3) Tell me about a time when you had to collaborate with a co-worker to resolve a conflict that initially felt uncomfortable. What was the outcome?
(4) Tell me about a time when you perceived friction or resistance from a co-worker you immediately addressed this issue. What happened?
(5) Tell me about a time when you felt compelled to express an unpopular viewpoint to maintain your integrity. What did you say and how did you say it?
(6) Tell me about a time when your active listening skills paid off.
Sample collaboration questions
(1) Tell me about a time when a co-worker neglected or failed to deliver on their work commitments and it had a negative impact on your productivity. How did you react? What was the outcome?
(2) Can you give me a recent example where you intentionally enhanced a relationship to get a job done?
(3) Tell me about a time when you needed additional information from other people to make an informed decision. What did you do? How did this impact the outcome?
(4) Describe a time when you had to put your needs aside to help a co-worker understand a task. How did you assist them? What was the result?
(5) Tell me about a time when you improved a process by creating a cross-functional team. What was the issue and how did it turn out?
(6) When were you part of a great team? What were the circumstances? How did you contribute?
(7) Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your team’s agreed course of action. What did you do?
(8) Tell me about a time when you coached a co-worker to help them improve their skills or job performance. What did you do?
(9) Describe a situation where you helped motivate someone to improve his or her performance. What was the outcome?
(10) Describe a situation where you had to deal with someone who didn’t like you. How did you handle it?
(11) Tell me about a time when you had to use coping strategies when dealing with a high-pressure situation?
(12) Tell me about a recent difficult work situation. How did you approach this situation? What was the outcome?
(13) Give me an example of how you reacted in a recent situation when you got angry or frustrated.
Sample teamwork questions
(1) Talk about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very different from yours.
(2) Give me an example of a time when you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle that?
(3) Describe a time when you struggled to build a relationship with someone. How did you eventually overcome that?
(4) Tell me about a time when you needed to get information from someone who wasn’t very responsive. What did you do?
Sample ability to adapt questions
(1) Tell me about a time when you were under a lot of pressure. What was going on? How did you get through it?
(2) Describe a time when your team or employer was undergoing some change. How did that impact you? How did you adapt?
(3) Tell me about your first job. What did you do to learn the ropes?
(4) Give me an example of a time when you had to think on your feet to delicately extricate yourself from a difficult or awkward situation.
Sample time management skills questions
(1) Tell me about a time when you had to be very strategic to meet all your priorities.
(2) Describe a long-term project that you managed. How did you keep everything moving along?
(3) Tell me about a time when you set a goal for yourself. How did you go about ensuring that you could meet your objective?
(4) Give me an example of a time when you managed numerous responsibilities. How did you handle that?
Sample communication skills questions
(1) Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully persuade someone to see things your way.
(2) Describe a time when you were the resident technical expert. What did you do to make sure that everyone was able to understand you?
(3) Tell me about a time when you had to rely on written communication to get your ideas across to your team members.
(4) Give me an example of a time when you had to explain something complex to a frustrated co-worker. How did you handle this delicate situation? What was the outcome?
(5) Tell me about a successful presentation you gave and why you think it was a hit.
Sample personal motivation and values questions
(1) Tell me about your proudest professional accomplishment.
(2) Describe a time when you saw a problem and took the initiative to correct it rather than waiting for someone else to do it.
(3) Tell me about a time when you worked under close supervision or extremely loose supervision. How did you handle that situation?
(4) Give me an example of a time when you were able to be creative with your work. What was exciting or difficult about it?
(5) Tell me about a time when you were dissatisfied in your work. What could have been done to make it better?