Interviews are often the most daunting step of the application process, but they’re also the most important. This article outlines 4 interview tips that will prepare you for your upcoming applications.
1. Practise common interview questions
While interview questions come in many different forms and variations, the main groups of questions include:
Motivational/behavioural – questions around who you are as a person and why you’re applying to that company
Situational – how you would react in certain scenarios and what soft skills you would bring to the job
Technical – questions around specific technical (finance, accounting, economics etc) knowledge you have learnt at university or developed in previous roles
We’ve prepared a list of possible interview questions here to get you started, and many online forums or university careers centres will also publish extensive preparation resources. Practising responses beforehand helps to ease your nerves when you get asked a question you’ve prepared for before. When practising, make sure that your responses are genuine stories rather than scripts, and avoid sounding stilted or rehearsed.
2. Know who you’re interviewing with and what they’re looking for
It’s critical that you read up on the company and role you’re interviewing for. Know why you’re applying to that company and that position. Find out more about the work they do and their culture by reading blogs or papers they publish. This allows you to get to know the company a bit better and deliver more tailored responses during the interview. If they list particular skills in their job advertisement, try and prepare some responses demonstrating how you embody those skills. Try to also ask your HR representative for the names of your interviewers, so that you can read about their experiences and past roles. Who knows, you might even find that you share the same hobby or sporting interest your an interviewer – definitely a good conversation starter!
3. Use the STAR technique
Have you heard of STAR before? It stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, and is a really useful way to direct your train of thought when answering a behavioural question. For example, if an interviewer asks you to describe a time when you worked in a team, you would first talk about the context and your task, then you did in that scenario, and the results of your actions. Your action and the result are the more important aspects to your answer, so make sure you spend time developing these. Make sure to also focus on your contribution, instead of talking about “we” all the time.
4. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask
The interview is a chance for the company to assess whether you’re a good fit for them, but also a way for you to determine whether you want to work for that company. This means you will have the opportunity to ask your interviewers questions. What’s more, preparing thoughtful questions to ask are also a good way to help you stand out among the crowd of applicants. We’ve prepared some ideas for questions to ask here, so check out that blog if you haven’t already.
All in all, interviews are often the first time you interact face-to-face with a company, so it’s natural that you might feel nervous. However, remember that interviews are, in the end, a two-way conversation, so after you’ve done your preparation, try to relax and head into it with a smile! Good luck!
