Employment Workshop III

Today’s workshop is about interview.

If we get invited to attend an interview it means the employer likes what they’ve seen so far and we meet their criteria on paper. Therefore, the employer would like to see whether we fit the person specification. For us, interview is another chance to sell ourselves and assess the employer or job.

There are five interview types:
· One-to-one;
· Panel;
· Structured / Competency-based;
· Biographical / Chronological; and
· Telephone.

Practicalities for an interview are:
· Be on time;
· Be pleasant to everybody;
· Dress appropriately;
· Remember the importance of body language and eye contact;
· Be positive, enthusiastic;
· First impressions count – assessment begins as soon as you arrive; and
· Be yourself.

Basically, these are the types of questions that will be asked in an interview:
· Biographical;
· Open / closed;
· Behavioural / competence based;
· Situational; and
· Inappropriate.

Here are some frequently asked interview questions. We should consider our answers to the following questions and be able to provide evidence for each answer.
· What have you gained from the courses you have studied?

· Why do you want to work for us?
· Why do you want this job?
· Why do you think you’d be good at this job?
· What qualities do you think will be required for this job?
· What makes a good teacher / sales assistant / receptionist?

· What have you gained from your work experience?
· What are your strengths?
· What are your weaknesses?

· Tell me about a time when you have had to adapt your way of working.
· This job requires dealing with difficult customers. What experience do you have of that?
· You will be expected to travel to different offices. How will you cope with that?

Anyway some of the interviewers ask difficult questions as below:
· Tell me about yourself.
· What are your strengths / weaknesses?
· Sell me this pencil.
· What encouraged you to apply for a job with us?
· When were you last angry?
· We have seen 5 others today, why should we employ you?
· If you were an animal / biscuit, what would you be?

To answer any above questions, we must think about why they are asking us the questions and what they are designed to test.

I gained a lot of knowledge from this workshop, hope you will gain some from my sharing too. You’re welcome to discuss if you have any question.