Interview Skills

Interviews Skills

1. Interviewing skills for Managers

2. Interview skills for an employee
Purpose of an Interview
 An interview is a two-way exchange, a conversation, in which both
participants have some goals.
 The Interviewer wants to determine:
 Can the candidate do the job?
 Will the candidate fit in?
 Is this the best candidate for the position?
 The Interviewee wants to determine:
 Do I want this job?
 Can I do this job?
 Does this job offer me the opportunities I want for advancement or
experience?
1. Interviewing Skills for Managers
Outline
1. Introduction
2. Preparing for the Interview
3. The Interview
4. Communicating effectively
5. After the interview
Interviewing Skills for Managers-Introduction
 Job interviews are an essential part of making a sound hiring decision.
 Why is interviewing so important?
After you have narrowed the talent pool based on your evaluation of the
resumes you've received, it’s time to meet the most qualified applicants.
Job interviews supply firsthand information about a candidate’s career,
work experience and skill level. They also provide a general sense of
overall intelligence, aptitude, enthusiasm and attitude — and how those
attributes match up to the requirements of the job.

 Finally, they offer insight into the candidate's basic personality traits,
motivation to tackle the responsibilities of the job, desire to become a part
of the company and ability to integrate into the current work team.
Interviewing Skills for Managers-Introduction
 i. Prepare yourself for the Role:
Know what you are looking for in a candidate
Make sure that you have a detailed job description and person specification that sets out what
you really want from the person.
Learn about the organization’s vision
The interviewer should carefully review the candidate's cover letter, resume, background
information and references.
It is important to keep questions focused and relevant so they are tailored to individual job
candidates

 Ii. Skills required to be an interviewer:

 Active listening
 Verbal: Tone, clarity, volume, pitch
 Non verbal communication skills
Interviewing Skills for Managers- Preparing for the
Interview
 The interviewing Panel
 If you’re holding a panel interview, the panel needs to meet beforehand and
discuss interview tactics.
 Ideally, the interviewers (or panel) should carry out the short-listing for the
interview, comparing the individual members’ scores for each candidate and
agreeing on a panel score.
 The panel then need to agree what questions should be asked and who is going to
ask which questions, or cover which areas. It’s also helpful to discuss which areas
are most important in case some areas have to be left unexamined.
 Finally, the panel needs to agree what a ‘good’ answer to any particular question
will look like, and how far they are prepared to probe to try to obtain one.
Interviewing Skills for Managers- Preparing for the
Interview
ii. Your responsibilities before the Interview
 Select the right job requirements
 Develop structured interview questions
 Craft useful rating scales
 Assemble an effective hiring team
 Arrange for a quiet meeting place
Interviewing Skills for Managers-
Preparing for the Interview
iii. Your responsibilities after the Interview
 Let the interviewee ask questions
 Calculate marks according to the rating scale
 Ask for additional questions
 Explain notification procedure
 Give an expected start date for the job
 Describe the next steps
 Thank candidates for coming
 Escort them to main reception area
Interviewing Skills for Managers- The Interview

Building Rapport with the Candidate

One interviewer will generally lead the interview, they should:
Introduce the members of the interview panel and outline the process of the
interview.
Explain broadly what the interview is going to cover and who is going to
ask questions. It is also useful to explain what other members of the panel
will be doing: making notes, observing, or perhaps adding supplementary
questions.
Start off the process with a simple question such as ‘Tell us what you do in
your current job’.
Interviewing Skills for Managers- The Interview
 Asking the Right questions
Interview questions generally take three forms:
i. experience- or competence-based questions
These questions are designed to explore what the candidate has done, and the skills that they have
previously demonstrated. They take the form:
“Tell me about a time when you….”
“Can you tell me how you have gone about solving a particular problem that you have faced at
work?”
These questions have one big drawback: they don’t explore potential. What a candidate has previously
done may not translate to your organisation or your job.
If you are interviewing candidates who don’t have much work experience, it’s hard for them to
demonstrate the skills from the past. It’s therefore also helpful to use a few hypothetical, or problem-
solving questions.
Interviewing Skills for Managers- The Interview
ii. Hypothetical questions
These questions are designed to explore how candidates will deal with the problems that are likely
to face them in this post. You may provide them with a written statement of the problem, perhaps
as half a page of bullet points, or just outline it to them, and ask them to consider what they would
do to address the problem.
Many interview processes use a candidate presentation to explore this area, for example asking
candidates to present on what they see as the first five issues to be addressed in the job and how
they would go about doing so.
iii. personal awareness questions
These questions are designed to explore the fit between the candidate’s needs and what the job or
organisation can offer. For example, you might ask the candidate to tell you what motivates them,
or what strengths they bring to the job. Good questions of this type ask the candidate to rank their
requirements or strengths. This enables you to assess how personally aware they are, and also
whether you can provide the necessary motivation and/or use their strengths.
“Please tell us, in descending order, the top five factors that keep you motivated on the job”
“Tell us the most effective ways of managing you”
Interviewing Skills for Managers- After the Interview
 Being Fair and Transparent
 Your final decision should be based on the scores you have given
each candidate.
 If, when you get to the end of the process, one or more interviewers
feels that the ‘wrong’ candidate has emerged as successful then it’s
helpful to examine why this is so. Have you missed a key job skill?
Or was there something that they said which should have resulted in
a lower score?
 It’s fine to revisit the process and come up with a different answer,
as long as you can justify it in the event of an appeal by the
candidate. At this stage, the role of the independent assessor, if there
is one, is to ensure that the process is fair to all candidates.
 2. Interview Skills for an Employee
 Interview = A meeting with an objective

 Employer’s objective is to find the best person for the job

 Employer: reviews candidate’s experience and abilities
Can you do the job? (skills, abilitie, qualifications)
Will you do the job? (interest, attitude & motivation)
How will you fit into the organisation? (personality)

 You: impress employer and assess position on offer

What does this position offer me?
How does it fit with my career plans?
Preparation is the key to success
 Review own skills, experiences and qualities
 Check CV
 Anticipate questions and identify relevant examples
 Prepare key selling points
 Research organisation
 Websites, reports, articles, company literature, etc
 Contacts with knowledge of organisation or sector
 Relevant articles in the press
 Personal visit or telephone call
 Research job and occupational area
 Job description – or similar
 Current issues
 Prepare your questions
 Practice
Stages of an Interview

There are three stages:

1. Before the interview
2. During the interview
3. After the interview
 Before the Interview
1. Read about the job/occupation.
2. Interview people in the department
3. Build your network
4. Practice interviewing
5. Dress for success
6. Visit the organization
7. Have an agenda, know what you want the interviewer to learn about you
8. Anticipate what questions will be asked
9. Know your Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Accomplishments
10. Relate your KSAs to the position for which you are applying
11. Know who is interviewing you
12. Prepare and practice answers to typical questions
 During the Interview
1. RELAX!
2. Answer the questions using the “PROVE IT” Method
3. Ask intelligent questions about the organization
4. Don’t volunteer negative information about yourself
5. Be honest
6. Have eye contact with the interviewer
7. Be believable, be yourself
8. Say positive things about your former supervisors and working
conditions
9. Find ways to let the interviewer know you are a team player
 After the Interview

1. Evaluate the interview

2. Write a thank you note to the interviewer
3. Follow up
4. Contact the interviewer for feedback
5. Express your interest in the position even after the position is filled
Watch the Body Language

 First impressions very powerful

 Allow time to relax
 Dress appropriately
 Entrance, introductions & handshake
 Smile and make eye contact
 Be aware of own movements
 Watch body language of interviewer
Typical Questions
 About you
 Tell me about yourself - Bring me up to date with your CV?
 Why did you choose that particular degree programme?
 What experience have you had that is relevant to this post?
 What would you consider your major achievements to date?
 About the job
 What interests you about this job?
 What do you know about this organisation?
 What other options are you considering?
 How do you see your career developing – 5 years?
 If you were Head of Department, what would be your priorities?
 General knowledge
 What do you think of the Government’s policy on college fees?
 What’s your opinion of the Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus?
 Other Type of Questions
 “What if” Questions
 No experience - how are you likely to respond to a situation
 Probing Questions
 How exactly did you deal with the situation?
 How did you know it worked?
 How did you feel about the outcome?
 Could you have handled it differently?
Types of Interviews

1. Remote interviews
2. In-person interviews
3. Team interviews
4. Stress interviews
5. Case interviews
6. Competency Based interviews
 1. Remote Interviews
 A remote interview is typically done early in the interviewing process
and it is typically a screening interview.
 It might be over the phone, Skype, or video conference.
 The primary objective of the screening interview is to remove you
from active consideration before scheduling an in-person interview.
 Common reasons for being weeded out at this stage include:
i. discrepancies between your resume and actual experience
ii. poor verbal communication skills
iii. or lack of the qualifications outlined in the organization's job
description.
2. In-person interviews

 Thein-person interview is on-site at the company's

location.
Panel
Team of people
Hiring Manager
 3. Team interviews

 A unique format for the in-person interview is the team interview, or panel
interview.
Typically you meet with a group of interviewers around a table in a
conference room.
Members of the interview panel may be from your prospective department or
may be a cross-section of employees from throughout the company.
One of the most important things to remember in an interview like this is to
make eye contact with everyone on the panel, even when responding to a
question posed by an individual panelist.
Just take your time and treat every member of the team with the same respect
you would the hiring manager.
 4. Stress interviews

 The interviewer snarls at you and asks you, so why the hell should I hire
you for anything?
 Welcome to the so-called stress interview.
 The stress interview is a specific format designed to evaluate how you
respond to hostility, how you respond to terrible conditions, high pressure
stress.
 Some companies use these interviews, these stress interviews to find out
how you handle stress.
Stress Interviews...continued

 You'll know you're facing a stress interview if you're facing several

interviewers who glare at you, or who fire questions that are rude, rapid
pace.
 Or if you face an interview who ridicules everything you say or
challenges every answer,
 who stares out the window and seems to be completely uninterested in
anything you have to say.
 Those are deliberate tactics to subject you to stress.
Surviving stress interviews

 Remain calm
 keep a sense of humor
 avoid getting angry or defensive.
 It'sa game to see if you will become depressed, hostile,
or upset when facing adversity.
5. Case Interviews

 A caseinterview is a job interview in which the applicant is

presented with a challenging business scenario that he/she
must investigate and propose a solution to.
 Case interviews are designed to test the candidate's
analytical skills and "soft" skills within a realistic business
context.
 6. Competency-based Interviews
 Company identifies key skills required for job
 Designs questions to elicit evidence of skills
 Emphasis on past behaviour as predictor of success
 Teamwork: Describe a team project you worked on. What problems arose? How
did you deal with them?
 Communication Skills: Describe situation when you had to persuade others to
support your view. Give an example of any reports you’ve written which illustrate
your writing skills
 Interpersonal skills: What kinds of people do you find it difficult to work with?
How do you handle those situations?
 Taking Responsibility: Describe a time when you took responsibility to achieve a
challenging goal
 Problem-solving: Tell about a time when you had several tasks to manage at one
time with conflicting deadlines.
Preparing for Competency Interview
 Identify the competencies required for job
 Review job description or ask for information
 Define each competency in behavioural terms
 Identify past experience to illustrate how you demonstrated that
behaviour
 Prepare examples for each competency
 Practice talking about your experience
 Try to give a complete answer - STAR
Responding to Competency Q

 Q Give me an example of a problem you encountered. How did

you approach it. What was the outcome?
 STAR response
 S: Describe the situation
 T: Explain the task/problem that arose
 A: What action did you take?
 R: What was the result or outcome?
 What did you learn from this experience?
Matching Skills to Requirements

Employer needs Your evidence

Communication Presentation to class

Team work Example from Coop
Leadership Class rep, Committee
Initiative Fundraising for charity
Customer Care Working in Superquinn
IT Designed website
Commercial awareness Business pages
Your Answers

 Listen carefully, seek clarification

 Illustrate answers with real examples and evidence
 Be positive – constructive criticism
 Keep answers specific and succinct
 Take time to respond
 Be alert to interviewer’s body language
 Speak clearly, smile and show enthusiasm
 Know what you want to say, and find the opportunity
Qualities Employers Seek
 Good all-round intelligence
 Enthusiasm, commitment and motivation
 Good communication skills
 Team work ability
 Ability to solve problems
 Capacity to work hard
 Initiative and self-reliance
 Balanced personality
Competencies required by X Company

 Adaptability
 Integrity
 Innovation
 Teamwork
 Initiative
 Drive for Results
 Know the Business
 Open Exchange of Information
 Makes Difficult Decisions
Your Questions

 Training programmes
 Career development opportunities
 Types of projects & responsibilities
 Reporting structure
 Performance appraisal
 Profile of staff
 Questions about topics raised in interview
 What happens next?
What creates a bad impression

 Poor personal appearance

 Negative attitude – evasive, using excuses
 Lack of interest and enthusiasm
 Lack of preparation
 Poor knowledge of role
 Failure to give concrete examples of skills
 Over emphasis on money/rewards
 Lack of career plan
ESTABLISHING THE FIRST GREAT
IMPRESSION

 To make a great first impression, use your EMPATHY skills.

 But
what is empathetic and what does it mean to have
empathy skills?
 The
best answer comes from Dr. Helen Riese, who teaches
empathy at the Harvard Medical School.
EMPATHY
E-EYE-CONTACT
 All human beings have the innate
desire to be seen.
 So it's very important to make good
eye contact with the people we
meet, especially the people we
meet during the job interview
process.
 We definitely need to make good
eye contact when we offer a person
a firm handshake.
M-MUSCLES IN YOUR FACE
 The M stands for the muscles in
our face.
 A person can learn a lot about
us by watching our facial
expressions.
 During a job interview, we need
to be upbeat, interested and
interesting and likable.
 It begins with our smile.
P-POSTURE

 The P stands for posture.

 This behavior includes the body posture, our hand gestures, eye
movement and the use of space.
A-AFFECT OF A GOOD STORY

 The A stands for the effect a good story has on

another person.
 Stories are a universal language of thoughts.
 We all appreciate a good story, one where we
can share feelings of joy or hope or
conquering a challenge.
 Sharing a good story can give even the
most averse people a sense of commonality
and community.
 T-TONE OF VOICE
 The T stands for tone of voice.
 It's our tone of voice that tells others how we feel
about our message, and it will influence how they
will feel about our message.
 We need to speak at the right pitch, at the right
speed for the situation.
 When we're in front of a big crowd, we need to be
proud and loud.
 Don't be afraid to speak up.
H-HEARING THE OTHER PERSON

 The H stands for hearing the other person.

 Listening is one of the most important skills we can
have in life, both at work and at home.
 We probably spend more time using our listening skills
than any other kind of skill.
 Like other skills, listening takes practice.
 We need to both hear and understand the other person.
Y-YOUR QUESTIONS

 If we want to make a big first impression, we need to ask

quick questions too.
 But we don't want to ask too many questions that can be
sometimes annoying.
 Arrive at the interview with three questions that we want
to ask.
 For example, a good question might be, I see that your
company has five core values and then you would repeat
those values to them. As you look at the company's
future, which core value do you think is most important?
PROMOTE YOURSELF WITHOUT
SELLING OUT
 Four Components to Promote
Yourself
1. Know your intentions
2. Promote what you believe in and
own it
3. State the Value Proposition First
4. Be Yourself
 1. Know your intentions

 Knowing yourself, your intentions, what you want and don’t want,
and what you will and will not share is as important in shaping
how you promote yourself as is what you promote.
 You need to go into any opportunity with the end in mind.
 But….be cognizant of the difference between self-promotion and
shameless self-promotion.
 It’s the difference between promoting “me” and promoting “we”.
2. Promote what you believe in and own it
 While you certainly are expected to introduce yourself,
it’s your ideas and solutions that will reflect well upon
you.
 Share examples, show your passion, translate the
difference you have made, and most importantly focus
on for whom.
 When you let people know what you stand for, what you
believe in, and how you can improve conditions
associated with your beliefs, you are sharing
authenticity.
 3. State the Value Proposition First
 The value proposition, also called the “what’s in it for me”
proposition, is something we all need to consider when self-
promoting.
 Your audience, your listener, is listening out of more than simply
courtesy.
 They’re listening for solutions to their problems, for benefits to their
organization, and/or for truly interesting information that adds value
to their knowledge base.
 They are not listening to simply allow you to state fact after fact,
accomplishment after accomplishment, or skill after skill.
Boring……and also somewhat obnoxious.
 They are listening for the value proposition. So, start with it first.
Snag their interest.
4. Be Yourself
 We’ve often heard the saying, “fake it ‘till you
make it”.
 But its purpose is to solve a problem temporarily.
 It is not a standard way of being or connecting with
people.
 When you are self-promoting, the person you are
promoting needs to actually be who you are…not a
manifestation of who you’d like to be or believe
you should be.
 If you’re not naturally loud and outgoing, don’t try
to be. Quiet is just as good.
 The 30 Second Elevator Speech

 An elevator speech is a clear, brief message or “commercial” about you.

It communicates who you are, what you’re looking for and how you can
benefit a company or organization.
 It’s typically about 30 seconds, the time it takes people to ride from the
top to the bottom of a building in an elevator.
 The idea behind having an elevator speech is that you are prepared to
share this information with anyone, at any time, even in a short elevator
ride.
Continued..

 Itis important to have your speech memorized and

practiced, as this is really just about you!
 No one knows you better than you do. Your elevator
speech needs to sound natural, flow quickly, and
leave the person you just spoke to with a clear
understanding of who you are, what you can do, and
what you would like their assistance with.
 AN ELEVATOR SPEECH OUTLINE
Most Important 10 points: 6. Tell why you are interested in your listener.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS
ABOUT YOU
7. Tell what very special service, product or
1. Smile to your counterpart, and open with a solutions you can offer him or her.
statement or question that grabs attention: a 8. What are the advantages of working with you?
hook that How or in what ways do you differ from others?
HOW DO YOU DO IT
prompt your listener to ask questions.
9. Give a concrete example or tell a short story,
2. Tell who you are: describe you, and if you show your uniqueness and provide illustrations on
are currently working, your company. how
you work.
3. Tell what you do and show enthusiasm.
CALL FOR ACTION
WHAT DO YOU OFFER 10. What is the most wanted response after your
4. Tell what problems have solved or elevator speech? Do you want a business card, a
contributions you have made. referral or an appointment for a presentation after
your elevator speech?
5. Offer a vivid example.
WORD LIMIT OF ELEVATOR SPEECH

 The elevator speech is:

 absolutely not longer than 25 to 30 seconds
 or - in words - approximately 80 to 90 words
 or - in sentences- 8 to 10 sentences
Tips

 Rehearse your 30 second elevator speech with a friend

or in front of a mirror.
 The important thing is to practice it OUT LOUD.
 You want it to sound natural.
 Getcomfortable with what you have to say so you can
breeze through it when the time comes.
Examples of Elevator Speech-University Students
TOP 10 MOST WANTED SKILLS IN INTERVIEW
10. Problem Solving Skills: Employers want to know you can make decisions. You can solve
problems.
9. Planning and Organization: You know how to plan and organize your time. Managers
want to know you can set goals and reach them.
8. Flexibility and Adaptability: Organizations expect you to be flexible and adaptable. You
can manage multiple assignments and tasks, you can set priorities, you can adapt to changing
conditions, and work assignments.
7. Interpersonal Skills: You have good interpersonal skills, you have a high emotional IQ,
you know how to get along with others, and minimize conflict. Employers want to know you
can relate to other people and cultures with sensitivity and awareness.
6. Strength of Character: you are honest, you have integrity, loyalty, strength of character.
Your supervisor certainly expects you to be trustworthy and honest.
TOP 10 MOST WANTED SKILLS IN INTERVIEW
5. Technical Skills: you have the skills you need to actually perform your work. Firms want
you to know you have the skill set to do the job, of course. But that's not all.
4. Teamwork: You can work confidently within a group., You let your voice be heard and
respect what others have to say. Because so many jobs involve working in groups, employers
want you to be able to work well with others. To fit in with the team.
3. Self-Motivation: You are a self motivated person, you take initiative, you work hard.
Organizations don't want people who always have to be told what to do. They want you to
take responsibility for your work.
2. Evolutionary Skills: You know how to learn, and how to continually improve. Every
potential employer wants to know you can grow and evolve in your work. And now the
number one skill that employers are looking for.
1. Communication Skills: you are a clear, concise, and effective communicator. Employers
want you to be able to speak and listen effectively.
10 Tough Interview Questions and Ten Great
Answers
 Visit the following link:
 https://collegegrad.com/mastering-the-interview/ten-
tough-interview-questions-and-ten-great-answers