Areas I feel I need to improve:

● I am good at meeting new people and making a good first impression.

● I feel comfortable talking about my personal achievements.
● I can handle my nerves well without letting them show.
● I can research a company or institution and understand their goals and values.
● I can speak clearly and confidently even when I'm under pressure.
● I feel comfortable answering difficult questions about my experience.
● I can deliver a good short introduction about myself.
● I feel confident about asking questions to make sure a job or course is the right one for me.
● I can convert my experiences into detailed answers to show that I have developed useful
skills.

Study Skills Tips:

1. Note Taking. Take notes of key learning points and questions you may want to follow up for
your own research.
2. Study in short bursts.
3. Time Management. Delaying doing things and leaving everything till the last time meaning
there is too much work to do and giving up. Avoid this by making sure you know how much
time you will need for the tasks and schedule regular times for completing them.
4. Regular Review. Scheduling time to review what you have learnt
5. Calendar Alerts on laptop or phone.
6. Suitable Space that is quiet and free from distractions. Tell people you will be studying, and
you don’t want to be disturbed. Prepare the space before you start.
7. Discuss and Share. Talking to someone about what you are studying, and learning can help to
deepen learning.
8. Further Research. Try to follow up on any aspect of the course you find interesting or
confusing. Do a quick search. Remember to consider the credibility of the source.
9. Phones and Mobile Devices. Can use it to take voice, text and video notes as well as using it
as a research tool. It can also be a disruptive distraction, be sure to control your device rather
than letting it to control you. Turn off notifications to prevent it disturbing you. All those
messages will be there when you finish.
10. Motivation Breaks. You can use your device as a motivation break. E.g. Allow yourself some
social media time as a reward each time you finish a task or activity. Make sure you decide
how much time you will give yourself as a reward. It could be 5 minutes for a self-study task
and 10 minutes for a longer task.

Understanding Interviews

Different types of Interview

● Telephone Interview. Make sure phone is charged.

● Video Interview(Live). Organise the interview background at home to give a positive
impression.
● Asynchronous(Recorded Video Interviews). Organise the interview background at home to
give a positive impression.
● Traditional Interview. Subtly mirror your interviewer’s body language to build rapport.
● Panel Interviews are when more than one person is interviewing you. Make eye contact with
all of the interviewers as you answer the question, and not just the person who asked it.
 ● Group Interviews are when you are interviewed with others. Always show respect for the
other candidates and be inclusive when carrying out group tasks.

Your interviewers will be framing the meeting with questions, but ideally you should be driving the
conversation with your answers. Taking the time to research and prepare will enable you to do that.

What the interviewer wants to know

1. What experience do you have that is relevant to this role?

a. Interviewer wants to know; Your knowledge and skills. Whether you can identify
experiences that are relevant to the job. Whether you understand the job
description.
2. What was your favourite subject in school?
a. Interviewer wants to know; What knowledge you picked up that will be useful to
them. Your passion for the subject. Your self-reflection and self-analysis.
3. Do you feel able to do all of the specific duties of this job?
a. Interviewer wants to know; If you have any questions about what the job involves. If
you understand all of the requirements of the job. Your awareness of your
limitations.
4. What do you think this job will involve?
a. Interviewer wants to know; Do you have realistic expectations of the work? Do you
understand the type of work involved? Are you aware of how this job fits in with the
wider company and its aims?
5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
a. Interviewer wants to know; Have you thought about your long-term career at the
company? Are your career goals realistic, and does this job fit nicely into them? Do
you appreciate that you need to develop even after you start this job?
6. What do you know about our company?
a. Interviewer wants to know; Do you care enough to have researched properly? Can
you show that you match their mindset and approach? Are you staying up to date
with recent news about the company?
7. Can you give an example of when you’ve worked well in a team?
a. Interviewer wants to know; Will you work well in their team structure? Can you
provide extra value to your colleagues and their work? Will you fit in with the team
on a personal level?

● Looking for someone who has thought about what they’ve learned from their experience.
People often tell you what they’ve done but they can’t always tell you what they’ve learned
from it, and what their skills are. Also, how they’re going to be able to bring those skills into
the job. So how does their experience relate to the relevant skills for the role.
● Always have a good answer for “Why do you want to work for me/company?”
● Be enthusiastic, well presented, and confident. As soon as you turn up for the interview, you
want to look people right in the eye and introduce yourself and give them a firm handshake.
From there, you just need to make sure you have done the research for the company and the
role and the rest should just flow.

Research and Values

What to research

● Research the values of the company, their mission, what products they are proud of, what’s
their bread and butter, and the types of people that work at that organisation(e.g. use
LinkedIn and see their social media networks).
● Research the role you are applying for to make sure your strengths and values fit that
organisation
● Look for newspaper articles about the company. Information about recent events will help
you to come across as knowledge in the interview. Think about recent news about the
company and how this might apply to the job. Referencing a recent piece of news about the
work of the team you’ll be working in, often comes across well in an interview.
● Do a little research on the interviewer and understand the role in the company and how your
role would fit in with theirs. Spend 10-15 minutes on this. You don't want to waste time
researching this when you could be spending time thinking more about what your skills are
and how you are going to talk about them.

Why research

● Interviewer is very likely to ask about what you know about the company and position. They
do this because they want to know whether you care about the position, to try to fully
understand their position, and where the job fits into it. Also, to see whether you are diligent
and thorough in your approach.

Why us?

Identify points at which you connect the company, or university, to your own values or personal
preference. Look for things about the company.

Your values

Make sure your values and strengths match the Company and know the Company.

Answering Common Questions

Types of Interview Questions

1. Classic. Those which form the basis of the interview. They are the ones you are most likely to
be asked. These tend to be open-ended questions and as such you will need to have a clear
idea about what you would like to convey about yourself clearly and concisely without
getting side-tracked. Includes questions such as:
a. Tell me about yourself
b. What are your greatest strengths?
c. What are your greatest weaknesses?
d. What will you bring to this role?
2. Career Ambitions. Focused on the Job you’ve applied for. They will be looking for an
indication of planning, commitment and understanding how this role fits into their company
and how your role might develop over time. Includes questions such as:
a. Why do you want to work here?
b. How does this job fit with your career plan?
c. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
d. What motivates you?
e. Why do you want to leave your current job?
 3. Character. They are trying to get to the heart of who you are and what you might contribute
to the role you are applying for. It is important to be honest, and to have taken some time
before the interview to reflect upon your natural strengths.
a. What are your core values?
b. Who do you admire and why?
c. How do you maintain a good work-life balance?
d. Why should I choose you over other candidates?
4. Competency. They ask you to show an example of when you have displayed specific skills
relevant to the job, and they will often relate to your past experiences. In these questions,
they are looking for evidence of the specific competencies they are asking about. You need
to come prepared with concrete examples from your experiences that demonstrate how you
had a substantial role to play in achieving a successful outcome.
a. Can you tell me about a time when you worked as part of a team? This is a broad
question and forces you to provide a good example of how you think a team best
operates and crucially what you did within that team.
5. Curveball or creativity. Increasingly, companies are interested in finding out how creative you
are and if you can think on your feet. These may be questions which will reveal your personal
values, or they could be questions that test your ability and to think creatively, or it could be
questions to show how you work through problems. The point of curveball questions is not
to get a specific answer but to see how you handle being put on the spot, and learn more
about the way you think :
a. What kind of superhero would you be?
b. If you were a biscuit, what kind would you be?
c. What’s the most creative way you can break a clock?
d. How many bubbles can you fit in this room?
e. How many fridges are delivered in a year?

If you prepare for these different types of interview questions, you can enter the interview with
confidence that you will be able to handle any question that the interviewer plans to ask. For each
category of question, think about what you would like to convey about yourself. Write a short
paragraph about yourself for each of the categories of question.

The STAR technique

Interviewers often ask competency questions about how you have reacted in a challenging situation
in your past. These are questions like 'Can you tell me about a time when you had to work with a
difficult colleague?' or 'Tell us about a time when you made a mistake and how you handled it.' It
can be tricky to answer these types of questions so it's a good idea to think of examples that you can
use before the interview and to structure your answers using the 'STAR' technique.

STAR(Situation, Task, Action, Result) is a technique that can help you to structure your answers. Using
it, you should be able to; give concise, complete answers to questions.

Situation. The first thing that you need to do, is to give your interviewer some context; What was the
situation? What was your role within it? E.G. “My class was divided into teams, four people per team.
Within that, I was…”, “My school was running an event, I was asked to…”, “I knew I had to get some
experience in banking before applying for internships. So, I researched different roles and
discovered…”, “I’m interested in painting, and so I joined an amateur painting class. I was set a
number of challenges in that class, such as…”.
Task. Next, you should outline exactly what it was that you needed to do. What was your challenge?
Were you doing this alone or in a group? Were lots of steps involved? Crucially, what was your final
group? E.g. “I had planned to give everyone in the team a specific role, but there were several people
who wanted to be in charge. This caused a number of arguments and obviously distracted us from
our main goal. It also wasted a lot of time.”, “I was busy focusing on the schedule and order of the
acts, but then a colleague came up to me and told me that one of the acts had pulled out at the last
minute. The act was going to be a big part of the show…”, “I had to write a 2,500 word essay, but at
the same time I had a lot of additional commitments; I couldn’t fit everything in, so I had to decide
which I was going to put to one side.”.

Action. The third step is to specifically detail the actions, that you took to achieve this goal. Did you
have to arrange the team in some way? If so, how? Did you have to conduct some analysis? If so,
how did you do this, and why did you do it that way? E.g. “So, we suddenly had a huge party of
guests coming in for service, and too few people to serve them. I met with my manager and we came
up with a plan together; I would manage the current team over the next day and keep the restaurant
running, but she would phone an agency to see whether we could get some additional, temporary
staff into help us with the service for the large group”, “I made sure that I researched the race route
thoroughly, making notes of all the water points so that I knew where I could get a drink as and when
I needed it. I also structured a running programme for myself, because I knew that I had to make
incremental gains in practice runs if I wanted to run a personal best time in the race”.

Result. Finally, explain the result of your actions. Focus on yourself and be concise – did you achieve
your own goal? Why/why not? Importantly, you must outline how you are defining success. Is it an
official result or is it in terms of progress – of an idea, a project, or even your own development? E.g.
“I didn’t quite get the mark I wanted, and what was frustrating. But I went away and thought about
how hard I had found the task and how little time I had to do this in because of my illness. I came
away a lot happier in knowing that I had pushed a lot harder.”, “We won the game, which was great,
but I had to analyse my own personal performance as well. I hadn’t really been assertive enough
sometimes during the game. I spoke with my coach and he agreed, so since then we’ve been working
on ways to improve.”, “The whole event was a success. We got feedback from people who attended,
tracked how many people liked and reposted our social media messages, and overall, the feeling was
very positive. We even made the local newspaper.”.

Dealing with unexpected

Curveball Questions. Try to relate the answer to the job you are applying and your
personality/values.

If you were a superhero, superpower would you choose? Time travel ability, as being able to go back
in time, see how societies developed, speak to great minds in past/future, and prevent crimes from
occurring in advance. Not all crimes can be prevented with superhuman strength or speed, e.g.
Financial crime, so time travelling ability is the best. Useful in actuary, as modelling the future.

Curveball questions can be scary, but don't panic. Take a breath and remember that there isn't one
correct answer to the question. It's your opportunity to demonstrate your ability to stay calm, and to
show that you have creative or analytical skills.

Reflection Task
Think of two or three experiences you can use to answer the following questions. It's fine to refer
back to the same experience for a couple of questions, but not for all of them:

Tell me about a time you worked as part of a team.

Tell me about a time you overcame a difficulty.

Tell me about a time you used your creativity to solve a problem

● Keep a notebook to record skills you have, along with evidences and examples. If you refer to
it regularly, you may manage to avoid the dreaded interview brain freeze.

Pitching Yourself
Tell me about yourself

Each of the student's answers starts with a strong overview statement which demonstrates one of
their strengths. Make sure you choose a strength that is relevant to the role and feel free to show
some or your personality and passions as well. Follow this with some other strengths and some
examples of your achievements.

● Notice that the question ‘Tell me about yourself’ isn’t an invitation to list out information
that is already available to the interviewer from your application or your CV, nor should you
start by giving your name or where you grew up. It’s a chance to give the interviewer a sense
of who you are and what motivates you.

Your strengths and weaknesses

What are your strengths? Interviewer wants to know if you know yourself and if you can prove your
best skills match what they want for the job. Identify your strengths that will be useful for that role,
then give an example of when you have used it, and the positive impact it had on the situation. Keep
the role description in mind.
Example: Tom: “I'd say I was probably best at breaking complex tasks down into segments, and then
treating those segments as sort of mini projects in themselves. I work best if I don't feel
overwhelmed by a huge amount of work, so each segment helps me to focus on a particular problem
before moving on to the next one. A big part of that is being able to identify the order in which things
need to happen – I have to outline which problem or issue needs to be addressed before moving on
to the next in a logical fashion. That also helps me to stay focused on the overall goal of the large
project so that everything stays on course.”

Interviewer Feedback: “Tom had a good answer for this question; it was interesting to hear about
how he personally breaks things down. He clearly knows how he works best and why. That sort of
self-awareness is very valuable, because it tells me a lot about him as a person and whether he will
fit into the organisation. It would have been good if he could have provided a specific example of a
time when he's worked in this way, rather than keeping things generalised.”

What are your weaknesses? Interviewer wants to know if you know yourself and show awareness of
areas you need to develop in relation to this role and have you started taking steps to improve in
these areas. Show evidence that you’ve compared your CV to the job description, and deal with any
weaknesses head on by showing ways in which you have taken skills to develop your skills or sort out
areas for improvement.

Could you run through your CV briefly and just pick out a couple of key things from it that you think
are important for this job? Sara: “No problem. You'll note my A-level grades meet the minimum
requirements for this role and are in relevant subjects. In particular, my economics degree should
stand me in good stead as it included real-world case study examples to review and assess, many of
which were similar to this company. Alongside that, I've completed an internship in a bank, where I
was based in the IT team. That exposed me to the sort of data protection regulation and IT systems
that I expect to be part of this role, given the job description, and my team worked within an Agile
methodology, which I know is something employed by this company.”

Interviewer feedback: “Sara answered that question best. She understood that I wasn't asking her to
just repeat what was on her CV, but that I wanted to know more about her experiences and
knowledge. She picked out some connections between her experience and what the role required
and highlighted that she had an understanding of the work we do by relating a similar experience in a
bank.”

Work isn't everything. What do you do outside of work? What are your interests?” Tom: “I've got
several interests, but the main one is making videos. I love filmmaking, so I make videos about
subjects that interest me and upload them to YouTube. I regularly get several thousand views on
each video, which is exciting. This has exposed me to aspects of the business world, and I've
gathered an understanding of how online advertising revenue works. That's actually what interested
me in this role; I've gathered an understanding of e-commerce, and that seems to be a large part of
what this job involves.”

Interviewer feedback: “Tom had an excellent answer for this question. Not only had he really got
involved in something, but I was impressed with his ability to relate it back to our job and how it
would help us as a company. I think his knowledge is going to be a really good asset to our team.”

Making a good first impression

Making a good first impression at an interview is vitally important. Body language is one of the key
factors in how this first impression is formed.

Stand up when the interviewer enters the room. Give a good firm handshake while you are still
standing. Smile. Make good eye contact. Sit upright and lean forward slightly. Sit with your hands
apart, don't fold your arms.

First Impressions
Ways to make a good impression straight away:

1. Read joining instructions and check journey time. Aim to arrive early but not too early.
a. If something unforeseen happens, call the company or interviewer and tell them you
will be late.
2. Look smart/professional. Dress for the position you are applying for.
3. Be friendly and polite to everyone, from the receptionist to the interviewer. Shake hands,
make eye contact and smile. Make sure it is firm when you hand shake and don’t be afraid to
make polite conversation if the opportunity arises.
4. Be organised. Have a folder ready with your CV and cover letter. Consider bringing a portfolio
if going for a creative role.
5. Good body language. Aim to look comfortable when you sit down for your interview, but
don’t relax too much, keep a natural posture, and avoid crossing arms. Show enthusiasm,
calm and confidence in the way you sit, and keep an open body position so interviewers
know you welcome the questions rather than fear them.
 6. In case of something going wrong, simply apologise and move on. They will be impressed by
your calm and professional approach.

Dealing with nerves

Try breathing exercises

Symptoms of nervousness I suffer from; I start to talk really quickly; I get tongue-tied and can’t
speak.

Final Impressions

the questions you ask can help you stand out at interview and how you can end your interview in a
positive way. Have futuristic questions. Also, everybody loves talking about themselves, so if you
have a question to ask the interviewer, they will like that. Keep it to 2 or 3.

Good questions to ask; What do you enjoy about working for the company? Who would I be working
with? What learning and development opportunities are available? How will this role help the team
with the biggest challenges they are facing right now?

Things to do after the interview

Write a thank-you email to your interviewer. This can really help you stand out if they are choosing
between several good candidates. In your email, make sure you re-iterate your excitement for the
role and company and mention what you think you can bring to the company. Keep it brief though,
and, send it within 24 hours of your interview.

Write some notes about your interview while it’s still fresh in your mind. What questions were you
asked? Which did you answer well? Which could you have answered better? This might feel
uncomfortable, but it will help you improve your answers for the next time.

Record yourself answering these interview questions for the opportunity that you have in mind:

Why do you want to work here? or Why do you want to study this subject?

What is your greatest achievement?

Tell us about a time when you used your initiative to solve a problem.

If you were a Monopoly piece, which one would you be, and why?

Watch the video afterwards and makes notes about how you could improve your answers and the
impression you make.

Record yourself a second time and see if you can make some improvements.

SMART Objectives
Keep a Skills Notebook
I will begin to record the things I feel I do well.
I will keep a weekly notebook reflecting on skills I have.
I will make sure that each skill I list contains evidence and examples of how I have demonstrated it.
At the end f the month, I will read my skill list and consider how I would present these skills in an
interview situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

I will research the most frequently asked questions at interview, consulting up to five different
creditable websites.
Every day, I'll choose one of the questions and think about how I would answer it.
At the end of the week, I'll ask a friend to ask me the questions.
After I've answered the questions, I'll get my friend to give me feedback on my performance.

Watch Other Interviewees

I will learn from articulate and successful interviewees.
I will research people who are able to give polished answers in interviews (whether for jobs or
academic courses).
I will watch a video once a week and reflect on what the interviewee does well, making notes on
their technique.
After a month, I will collate the techniques I have learnt and aim to adopt these techniques into my
own interview practice.

Additional Reading
TARGETjobs Employer Hubs
A series of articles giving advice on how to respond to interview questions, separated by employer.
Look for employers with the 'How to get hired' label.
https://targetjobs.co.uk/employer-hubs

The most important 30 seconds of your career

A piece by the BBC asking Quora users for interview tips and tricks.
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160513-the-most-important-30-seconds-of-your-career

The most powerful words to use during your interview

Some useful advice in using powerful words to convey detail and meaning in your interview answers.
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/powerful-words-for-job-interviews-4123781

Where do you start researching for an interview

Guardian Jobs and Personal Career Management provide a helpful list of key places in which to focus
your research.
https://jobs.theguardian.com/article/where-do-you-start-when-researching-for-an-interview-/

UNIVERSITY INTERVIEW ADVICE

Oxford Pathways: Admissions Interview
Advice and information from Oxford students who went through undergraduate interviews, and from
tutors who have conducted these interviews.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/interviews?wssl=1
Oxford Interview Advice from St. John's students
Students from St John's College, Oxford, give their advice to students from their own experiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qyIQVoF3cc
Helen Swift: A tutor's eye-view of Oxford University admissions interviews
A video diary from the perspective of an Oxford Fellow and Tutor, who actually conducts these
interviews.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhkz5YrJ4jI
University of Cambridge interview advice
Two videos and further written information about how to prepare for undergraduate interviews at
the University of Cambridge, and what the interview will actually be like.
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/interviews
UCAS interview tips
General advice about university interview preparation for UK universities, from UCAS (the
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service), which operates the application process for the vast
majority of applications to universities in the UK
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/after-you-apply/undergraduate-interview-invitations

JOB INTERVIEW ADVICE

How to Ace an Interview: 5 Tips from a Harvard Careers Advisor
Linda Spencer, Career Services Advisor at Harvard University, provides five key pieces of advice for
your next interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHDrj0_bMQ0