Secrets of a great job interview | Q&A
Can I reschedule a job interview? How do I know what to wear? What red flags should you look out for? All this and more are answered in our first Q&A
Participants
- Emily Slade - podcast producer and host, Prospects
- Alexis Roy - talent acquisition partner
Transcript
Alexis Roy: I mean, I've said perform at an interview. And actually, that's the wrong word, because an interview is not a performance. And particularly now we're very much geared towards being your authentic self in an interview. And I spent a lot of my late teens and early 20s, giving answers in interviews, which I knew were the correct answers, but they weren't answers that were aligned to me.
Emily Slade: Hello and welcome back to Future You, the podcast brought to you by graduate careers experts, Prospects. I'm your host, Emily Slade and in this episode we speak to Alexis Roy who working in recruitment. She's here to answer all your questions around job interview in our first Q&A.
Alexis Roy: I'm Alexis Roy, I'm what is known as a talent acquisition partner or a recruitment professional and I work in house for a retailer.
Emily Slade: Wonderful. Thank you so much for joining me today on our first Q&A, we have some questions here.
Alexis Roy: It's very exciting.
Emily Slade: Very exciting. Some of them have been written by me. Some of them have been sent in by our listeners. And we're just gonna go one by one through them. They're all around job interviews. So let's dive in, shall we? All right, then this is from Charlie. Thank you, Charlie. Can I reschedule a job interview? Or will that make me look bad?
Alexis Roy: So, you know, I've re-scheduled quite a lot of interviews, I would say, like, obviously, there are things that are unavoidable. So sickness is one of those things. Obviously, if you've got carrying responsibility, sometimes the the unavoidable happens. Yeah. I would always say if you need to reschedule an interview. Do it as soon as you need to. So obviously, obviously, if you're ill on the day, that's the earliest availability, you can do that. But in advance, I'd say if you've suddenly realised that something's cropped up, always do it on the phone, if you can, just because it, it looks better. But no, it doesn't make you look bad. Obviously, just make sure that when you do eventually do your interview, that you kind of bring your A game and that you're, you know, present and ready to go. But no, it doesn't make you look bad. Obviously things happen.
Emily Slade: Yeah, of course. Okay, so you'd suggest definitely trying to speak to a human rather than sending an email or text?
Alexis Roy: I think so, I know, sometimes it's difficult, and I know there are reasons why sometimes people feel more comfortable. I'm much better on email, or in person. But I think sometimes even just for speed value, particularly if it's on the day, much better. If you have a contact number just to call up and say look, I'm not well, or something's happened at home. Is it possible to reschedule? Obviously, if they say no, there's not much you can do about that. But most people are really accommodating. Yeah, like I've had to reschedule so many recently. And actually, since COVID, it's been much more common to reschedule interviews because of people not wanting to, you know, either be in a face to face environment where they're not feeling very well, or just not being particularly present, because they're feeling rubbish. So it's not uncommon, sorry, uncommon at all. But I would just say try and do it. If it's something that's not on on the day emergency, try and do it as soon as you possibly can give as much further availability as possible as well say,
Emily Slade: Is it good to come in and be like, I have these dates available at these times. Give options.
Alexis Roy: Be apologetic, just say I'm so sorry, but X Y Z has happened. If the panel are free to reschedule, then I'm available on ABC at X Y, Z times, at least it's better than - I've had cancellations before. It's just say, I won't be attending the interview today. And that doesn't give me any relation. Because then that makes me ask more questions, which is, do you want to reschedule? Are you withdrawing? Are you still interested? Whereas at least if you're giving as much information upfront, just obviously, sometimes you can't call up and sometimes you can't do it until the day. But yeah, people are very understanding. They know that life happens, and sometimes you can't attend for whatever reason, and that's fine.
Emily Slade: Definitely, brilliant. Oh, okay. The Hot Topic. Should candidates be worried about AI? So I guess, do you know what this currently looks like? And how it's impacting interviews?
Alexis Roy: Yeah. So I'd say that AI is not something to be worried about, like AI is there to enhance the human experience rather than to take away from it. It's already involved in quite a lot of interview processes anyway, which you might not necessarily be aware of. So in some, particularly with volume type interview, so if people are hiring hundreds of people at a time, it's simply not practical to have people doing face to face interviews or virtual interviews because it's a lot of scheduling. It takes a lot of time. So what you might have is what are referred to as pre recorded interviews, where you attend as the candidate, but where you will have questions written on a screen in front of you. So it'll say to you, can you tell me about your CV, for example, and then it will give you a specified period of time to record your response on video. And then either a talent acquisition partner will go through those responses and judge them as a judge and assess them for want of a better word that will assess them. There is another type of AI where it will take your responses and actually assess them itself, which is one step further using AI. There are pros and cons to that. But actually, the speed at which that kind of platform can help an interview processes is really good, because it means Yeah, people are being seen a lot quicker and actually a process from a commercial perspective, particularly if you're a commercial organisation. You can fill roles a lot quicker, rather than having the to and fro of trying to arrange virtual interviews. So they can be really good because you can also do it in your own time. So if you're doing your interview at 10 o'clock at night, that's entirely up to you record your responses when you feel like your actual best self. We also like in the talent community can use AI, note takers, so they're becoming more prominent as well. So I've used note takers previously where I'm having where I'm in in an interview, or having a telephone conversation with someone. And rather than me taking physical notes and AI note taker sits in the background, and all it does is it records the interview, and it will create both transcripts, but it can also then create a summary. And that'll either be in question and answer format or in a sort of summary format, which you can then use to kind of assess post interview. And that can, those are really useful because it means that when I'm having a conversation with you, I'm having a conversation with you, and I'm engaged in a conversation. Whereas what you often find in kind of traditional interviews is that you're listening to what someone's saying, you're processing the information, and then you're writing it down. And it creates quite a stilted environment and quiet and that the engagement levels not quite there because you're not really lit, you're not actively listening. Yeah, you're hearing but you're actively listening. So those are brilliant, because it means that actually I can just focus on the person in front of me. So what I and it also removes bias because in the summaries where I might write something, how I hear it, an AI note taker doesn't have bias. Yeah, it literally just gives you a summary, which is really, really useful. Yeah. So no, I wouldn't say you should be worried about it, actually, it enhances the whole experience. And actually, for certain roles in certain industries, it's actually incredibly helpful, because it means that you as a candidate, are put through the process a lot quicker, and a time. And in a way that's probably more beneficial for you than it is me calling up and saying, are you free on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, what times can you do me go? It doesn't make any kind of sense from a time perspective. So no, I understand why people are kind of nervous. Yeah,
Emily Slade: This is from Flo. She says, I always get stuck when they ask if I have any questions at the end. What kind of questions should I have prepared? And is it okay, if I don't have any?
Alexis Roy: I would always say you should have something even. So I would always have questions prepared based on the role itself. So make sure you've got something to ask about the role. Those questions might be answered during the course of the interview. Yeah. So then I'd have questions prepared on the company itself. So obviously, before you go to an interview, obviously, look at the company website about us, maybe they've got reports, maybe they've got yearly results, whatever it might be, and have some questions on that. Again, they might answer those in the course of the interview. So then I would have things banked like, what are your expectations of me within the first six months if I were to be successful in this role? Or do you have any concerns that I've not covered? In anything that I've answered so far? Is there anything else you want to ask me? Or you could ask things like, how would you describe the culture in this business? Because you're then putting the focus back on the interviewer? So how would you describe the culture? What do you think is the best thing about working here? So make it very interviewer centered, rather than just random? Because then you're actually focusing on them as people say it could be Yeah. How would you describe the culture? What do you think the best thing is about working here? What's the most challenging thing about working here from your perspective? Because they probably won't have covered all of that off? Yeah, that's what I'd say. I would always at least try and have one question. Just because it looks like you've prepared and you've got, you're engaged in the conversation, although I appreciate depending on the role that you'd go for. You might not have any at the end of it.
Emily Slade: And is that fair to say to be like, Well, you've answered all the questions that I had. I did prepare.
Alexis Roy: If they say like, you know, have you got any questions for us? And you go, well, actually, I had a question about X, Y, and Z, but you've covered that all very amply. And of course, conversation. So I think I'm okay at the moment. But if I do suddenly think of anything, am I okay to contact you after the interview? That's absolutely fine. But I'd always try and have something.
Emily Slade: Are there any any no no's? Are there any, like, how the bonuses work like pay? Like anything around wage salary? Holiday, all of the, like positive things in the workplace? Should you avoid talking about that sort of thing? Or?
Alexis Roy: That's an interesting question, actually. So I am of the belief that we are moving towards us having to put salaries on adverts, which isn't always the case everywhere. And there are countries where that's actually been, you can no longer ask somebody what they earn. But you also have to stipulate what you're paying. So I suspect that will happen at some point in the UK when I don't know. But if you've applied for a role directly, you've not seen a salary. And no one's asked you at that point. What this no one's talked about salary? I think it's perfectly okay to be like, actually, the one thing that's not come up at this point is the remuneration for the role. Can you talk to me a little about that and the benefits of working here? I think it's okay to ask it. Again, if that's not come up. But if you've gone through a recruitment consultant, I should say that if an agency representing you that is their role to handle that for you, so don't bring that up in the interview, because that's the consultants job to kind of handle all of that side of things. But yeah, there's just trying to think if there's anything that's a no no to .
Emily Slade: Is there anything that if you said it, they'd be like, get out?
Alexis Roy: I can't think of any...
Emily Slade: How badly can you ruin this interview, I guess is my question.
Alexis Roy: I don't think there's anything. I mean, a good question to ask would be like, you know, what does the rest of the process look like when am I likely to hear what your timeframes for this role? All of that sort of thing? I can't think of anything specifically apart from just behaving objectively disgusting. Which you wouldn't do ideally.
Alexis Roy: If you've made it all the way through the interview, and managed to behave politely and professionally, I suspect you're not going to suddenly fumble the last question, but I can't think of anything specific. But generally, if you wouldn't ask it in normal life, don't ask it, would be my advice.
Emily Slade: Noted. Excellent. How do you make a good first impression?
Alexis Roy: Ooh, good question. So I think like for interviews, specifically, I think be on time is always and not just on time be slightly early. I have the opposite problem in that I'm always far to early.
Emily Slade: I was gonna say, is there such a thing as too early?
Alexis Roy: I mean, if you're turning up the day before, it's probably a step too far. Like, I have a problem, and I am working on it. But I would say you know, if an interview starts, whether it's face to face or virtual, if it starts at two o'clock, 10 minutes, 15 minutes before is fine. If you're encroaching on other meetings, or interviews that have taken place, there, maybe that's a tad too early. Yeah. I mean, by all means, if you're, what I would say is, check your if it's a virtual interview, check your tech in advance, right. So they'll send you a link, make sure the link works, make sure your laptop, your sound, your lighting, everything's working as it should, in advance, then on the day of the interview, log in 15 minutes beforehand, again, to make sure that nothing's broken or stopped working in the interim, and you can just have it hanging in the background. And then you're prepared ready, don't start joining a call at two minutes to two, only to realise that, actually, nothing's working. And then you're flapping and you don't know who to contact. And just so to make a good impression, make sure you're there ahead of time, whether it's virtually or physically. Be present, make sure you've got no distractions, make sure you actually you want to have this conversation. engagement looks different for all, you know, all sorts of reasons. But make sure that for your engagement level that you know you're there and present in the conversation. And make sure that you're prepared that you look like you've done some research, you actually know the role that you're going for and the business that you're going for. And I'd say also just make sure that your environment is appropriate. Because you know, I've hosted interviews where someone's logged in from Costa for example.
Emily Slade: Oh, wow.
Alexis Roy: And while yes, they might have amazing internet, you've got people behind you, you've got background noise or stress. It's very distracting. So make sure the environment that you're interviewing if it's a virtual interview is appropriate. And if it's a physical interview, yeah, just make sure they're on top If you're polite, make sure you're polite to everyone.
Emily Slade: Yeah, like the receptionist.
Alexis Roy: Yeah, everyone you meet, be nice to them. Because they might ask.
Emily Slade: Yeah they'll ask them what you were like.
Alexis Roy: And also for your scheduling interviews with a recruitment administrator, for example. Be polite, be polite to everyone that you speak to, which obviously, if you're a normal, nice human being, you will. But you should be kind of remembering all the way through that process. All of those touch points are people that talk together and who work together. And so your impression that you create, through all of those touch points will create a rounded picture of you as a person. So it's just something to bear in mind.
Emily Slade: Just to veer slightly off of this on, anything around uniform and dress. I feel it's a bit of a squiggly area is they'll either tell you they like or do they tell you they expect you?
Alexis Roy: So it used to be very sort of, kind of showing my age here. But sort of in the 80s and 90s and early noughties, it was very much women must wear a blouse and a suit, and men must wear a suit and a tie. It's a little bit more fluid now. And I would say if you're unsure, ask right. Because certain industries, it's very different. So media, for example, will dress very differently to finance and law. My advice would always be show that you've made an effort. Yeah, so definitely, if you if they're normal dresses, shirts and trousers for men, for example, maybe put on a tie, like just show that you've gone above and beyond. But I would say ask if you're not sure, because you can also there is a thing about being authentic to yourself. So if you're not a suit and a Thai person, and you're going to be uncomfortable in that, yeah, so then there needs to be and there has been a kind of element of relaxing of the traditional must wear suit for an interview with the whole kind of people being their authentic selves and so on. But I was probably suspect that if you are very suited and booted, you probably wouldn't be going for somewhere that wasn't that kind of environment anyway. But yeah. Be authentic to yourself. Ask the question, if you're not sure.
Emily Slade: Yeah, and just look like you've got out of bed in time. Even a virtual one, where you've got your jim jams on underneath. Do you have any fun stories of like, has anyone ever turned up to an interview in a onesie?
Alexis Roy: No, but someone has. So in COVID, I think because everyone just sort of the lines were blurred in terms of what was acceptable. We didn't know how to interview virtually is an odd concept and get that. But my advice of if you wouldn't do it in a face to face interview, don't do it virtually still stands. A guy that I was interviewing, I could see him sort of like fiddling around on the desk, and I didn't know he was doing. He was rolling himself a cigarette, which he then lit. Yeah. And started smoking during the interview, which you know, it's 1970s. Cool, but not go for it. And because I'm British, I just didn't raise it. I don't know if that's okay.
Emily Slade: Was there a mark against them? Because of it? Did you then have an impression that went into the, you know, would they have not gotten further in the application process because of it? Or was it just something that you were a bit?
Alexis Roy: I just sort of internalised it and thought I'll raise that with the other person interviewing with me, because obviously, you can't say anything at the time. But I just remember thinking you wouldn't do that if we were sitting in a room with you. Yeah. So clearly, you feel comfortable at home. That's great, wonderful. But I wouldn't recommend it as something to do in a virtual or face to face interview. But like, it's an hour, wait until the end of the hour.
Emily Slade: I mean, the confidence that must have exuded, quite impressive.
Alexis Roy: It was it was a confusing time. I think we were confused, probably.
Emily Slade: and stressed and, you know, whatever else. Okay, so we've kind of already covered this. If you're interviewing online, is there any etiquette to follow background outfits etcetera? So we've kind of covered that. Was there anything else you'd want to add?
Alexis Roy: Yeah, so I just sort of there are considerations for virtual interviews that maybe don't seem obvious, because you don't have to think about them in a physical context. So like I said, don't do them in a public space. So don't have children running around in the background, don't be in a cafe or a playground, whatever it might be, like, make sure you're in a quiet space. But also think about the lighting, which sounds really stupid. But the number of times, I've joined a team's meeting, for example, and I sit next to a window. And most of the time, when it's very bright, it actually makes you look like you're in a cave, and you're not visible. And obviously, the interviewer wants to see you. Yeah, so make sure you have a kind of play around in terms of like, where's your Wi Fi the strongest. So don't choose a room where the Wi Fi is particularly weak. But make sure that where you do choose to sit is uninterrupted. There's decent sound, there's decent light, I always blur my background. And I would kind of encourage people to do the same just because whatever you've got behind you, whether it's you know, art or curtains, or whatever it is, people will naturally look at what's behind you and go, that's nice. Yeah. Like, it's when he said golden interesting bars wonder where they get that. And suddenly, you're not listening to the person that's talking to you. Yeah, blow your background. That way, no one can see what's behind you. If you don't want to blur it, at least make sure that it's presentable. And you haven't got like a wardrobe or clothes flying out and stuff or animals wandering around in the background, that actually, that's a point, from my perspective. I've got dogs and the number of times they have interrupted me in meetings. So just make sure that if you've got young children, like I do dogs, like I do, that if you've got a particularly important meeting, that they're not present. It's like, you know, like I said, at the start, like life happens. And sometimes people will interrupt you, but ideally, in an interview, make sure that people are out the house, or at least definitely out of the room. Yeah. And yeah, that your sounds working your lights, appropriate, that kind of thing.
Emily Slade: So this is from Tom, should I consider having notes for my interview? Or will it make me look unprepared?
Alexis Roy: Interesting. Do you know what I think notes are fine, as long as you're not reading verbatim, I would say. So if someone says, Tell me about yourself, and you then literally read like a page of prose? It it. It probably doesn't, it doesn't create a platform for that level of engagement with the other person is what I'd say. But if you need notes, particularly if you're asking, being asked to do a presentation or a task, then notes. Absolutely. But also, if you just want to be like, Oh, actually, I noted on your website that X, Y and Z or I noticed in the news that ABC, just so you've got them as a prompt, that's absolutely fine. But as I say, don't, don't read directly from it. Because then they don't want you to read they want you to have a conversation, have a dialogue. So absolutely fine for you to take notes.
Emily Slade: Maybe like stick, would you recommend sticking to like one A4? I often find that I follow the like STAR method, which is situation task action result, nailed it. And that if they're like, tell us a time where you showed great customer service, and you want to do that with well, here's the situation. Here's the task at hand that I did, here's the action that I did to do it. And here's the result of that. And that's a fully rounded question. And of course, the second somebody asks the best customer service you've ever delivered is you've forgotten anytime that you ever worked in retail. So yeah, again, is it just a case of having like, remember when you did this like bag in loft?
Alexis Roy: You know, like, Yeah, whatever it is, the situation, use it to prompt yourself, don't write it all out. And if it's going to make you kind of stare at the table constantly referring to it, then I would maybe try and have something that's a bit sort of easier to remember possibly, or to recall. Also, with interviews, now, sometimes they're competency based. So where you do the star format, sometimes their strengths base, so you would format your answers slightly differently. And sometimes they are, how do you deal with conflict, which is a lot more about your potential in the hypothetical, because particularly for people who have not had a role before, maybe it's their first role or second role, you won't have a great deal of experience to do a competency based question on. So we would look more or say we like talent acquisition partners might look more for your potential at dealing with a situation or your approach to a situation rather than any kind of tangible example that you might have. But it's you will be told before an interview, whether it's a competency based strengths based or whatever. But yeah, absolutely use notes to kind of prompt yourself if you need to, but I would just make sure that they're kind of limited, and they don't make you look down a lot. Because they want you to have a dialogue not to read off a bit of paper.
Emily Slade: How do you ask the more general ones? Like, how do I deal with conflict? How do you how do you like...that feels? So like a big question to me. I'm like, wow.
Alexis Roy: Yeah, it's so you kind of have to be hypothetical that someone says, How do you deal with conflict? So well, you know, if I was presented with X situation, this would be my approach. And then you can feed an example into it nice if you have one. So for example, when X Y Z happened, but generally, it's more to see what your approach would be if you were to deal with it.
Emily Slade: This is from Abigail. How do I ask about money?
Alexis Roy: Cool. So I've touched on this earlier, I'd say if you if you've applied for a role, and there's been no salary advertised, and at no point anyone's discussed it with you, and you're a direct application to that role, you've not been represented by a consultant, then I would just say, look, really great to hear about the role have really enjoyed the conversation so far. I just wondered if you could talk to me more about the remuneration and benefits for the role, because obviously, it's not it wasn't on the advert. And I don't think we've discussed that so far. That's absolutely fine. You can ask about remuneration, they'll either say to you, yes, the range for the role is this. Or they might tell you, that is a specific salary. It just depends on the role, but it's absolutely okay for you to say, if it's not been spoken about at the time. If it was on the advert, then I'd almost be tempted not to because if you've been given a range, yeah, then you know what the range is?
Emily Slade: And is that then something that when they offer you the job, they'll offer you something within that range? And then is that your opportunity to potentially negotiate that if you're like, well, actually, I believe that I should be at the other end of the range. Could it come up in the interview where they're like, come on, where in the range do you think you'd be?
Alexis Roy: They might not ask you where in the range you'd be, but they might ask you what your expectations are. There is a general trend to move away from asking people what they're on, because of that plays into things like gender pay gap and minority pay gap. But they might say, what are your expectations? My advice would be that whatever you've said, in your application, or whatever you say, in your interview, is the figure you stick to purely because the question might come up with you say, if the range is 25 to 30, for example, 1000. And use that you've said on your application, I'm looking for 27 and a half, if they then say so you're looking for 27 and a half and you don't know I'm looking for 29 The question then comes up. How have you increased that? Yeah, but it's a genuine question. Yeah. Genuinely, like, yes, change for that figure to have shifted.
Emily Slade: It could have changed in that like, well, I've moved house. I'm now further away from the office. So my commute would be longer?
Alexis Roy: Exactly. So just be prepared to be able to justify why that expectation has changed. But yeah, if it was on the advert, and you're aware of what that advert was, then I would be probably disinclined to bring it up, because they'll probably just ask you what your expectations are. They may bring it up in the interview and say, can you tell me what your notice period or and salary expectations are? But if at no point it's been discussed, then absolutely, it's fine to say can you tell me a bit more about the remuneration and benefits? And as I said earlier, if you're represented by a recruitment agency, then that's their job to do that. And they will probably tell you don't discuss money. We'll we'll pick that side of things up
Emily Slade: now. And then I guess it's just about knowing, you know, what you need like exactly coming in with a figure that you've figured out because of your Yeah, lifestyle or whatever.
Alexis Roy: Yeah, exactly.
Emily Slade: This is from Dan. It's said you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you. What red flags should you look for during an interview?
Alexis Roy: Interesting. So, I mean, obviously, like I said earlier, like an interview is as much like just humans having a chat, right? So if anyone asks you a question that you would feel uncomfortable about in normal, kind of not interview life, then that's probably a red flag. So if they ask you anything to do with a protected characteristic, for example, yeah, that's a red flag. If anyone asks you, Are you intending on having children? What's that kind of thing? That's not okay. And that's a question that shouldn't be asked. Although I would hope that at this point in time, maybe people have stopped asking questions. But yeah, as a general rule, I would say if they ask you, anything that makes you personally feel uncomfortable, I can't think of an example other than a protected characteristic. Anything to do with protected characteristics, or anything that makes you genuinely feel uncomfortable as a person is probably a red flag? And that's, you know, for you to kind of, then decide whether that's something you want to progress with, or I would suggest probably not. It's just to bear in mind that if if you think Oh, that feels like a bit of a weird question, it probably is. to kind of take that on board.
Emily Slade: I tend to get nervous before interviews, or what ways can I prepare myself to ensure that I get through it smoothly?
Alexis Roy: I think nerves are really like a really important part of an interview. To be fair, if like, if you're nervous, it means you care.
Emily Slade: I was gonna say if you're not nervous, I'd been worried.
Alexis Roy: It's fine to feel confident. I think nerves are like what keeps you engaged, because it shows that you actually care about the outcome of this situation. Obviously, do your prep. So look at the role profile, look at the company website, look on, if you've got access to LinkedIn, look at the people who are going to be interviewing you kind of get a sense of who they are. As long as you've checked that your tech or the your journey to the interview place if you're doing a face to face, or all fine. That should kind of help with any kind of nerves around. Oh my god, am I gonna get there on time? Oh, my God, is my sound working? Oh, my God, I can't get my laptop to work, try and alleviate any of those concerns by being as prepared as you possibly can. And then I think actually, in the interview itself, if you're nervous, it's fine to have water, ask for a drink. And if someone asks you a question, you don't have to answer immediately. It is actually fine for you to take a couple of seconds and say can I just take a moment to think about that? Yeah. And then to give the answer rather than racing in with the first thing that comes to your mind, which might not be your best example. It might not be articulated as best as you would like it to be. So it's fine to take your time they would rather you gave the right not the right answer the answer that is best for you, rather than the first thing that comes to mind. And I would also say that interviews want you to do well. They actually want to find the person for the role. So they're not there to catch you out. Yeah, it's not we're not trying to find ways for you to slip up. We actually want you to give great answers we want to have read Good conversation. So I would absolutely rather you spend five seconds, 10 seconds just thinking about what you want to say and then formulating your answer. Rather than just being like, oh my god, I have to say something and then just blurting out, whatever comes to mind. Yeah. So I would say, take your time, prepare adequately know where you're going or know how you're logging on, and everything's fine. And that should help and breathe. Yeah, amazing.
Emily Slade: What are some of the most common interview questions? And how can I prepare for them?
Alexis Roy: Cool. So I would say most interview's will start with something like, tell us about yourself, which is normally just a nice warm up question. And some people go one way or the other, some people will just be like, my name is Lex.
Emily Slade: I was gonna say, whenever I'm confronted with that, I'm like, that's the hardest question because I've not prepared for it. Like, what do you want to know? Like, how, how much of this do I go into? Alexis Roy: So I think, say who you are, talk about what you're doing. I'm a such and such at so and so. Currently, I've had X Y Z experience in A B C. Give yourself a sort of potted history.
Emily Slade: Okay, and like hobbies? Can you say like, I'm a big runner, and I completed a marathon last year? Or is it best to try and stick to like more professional things? Alexis Roy: No, I think particularly if you're earlier on in your career, and you maybe don't have as much wealth of experience to lean on, then absolutely to be like, I'm a keen runner, or I play this sport, or I sing in this group, or just to show you've got an element of something else to you. But particularly, actually, if something might have transferable skills into the workplace. So for example, if you play a team sport, actually, that's really interesting, because it shows that you work alongside other people, and that you can work as a team and that you're potentially competitive, or whatever it might be. There are elements of that kind of hobby, which might help your day to day roles are absolutely mentioned, mentioned hobbies, if it's appropriate. But yeah, they will normally ask you tell us a little bit about yourself. They might ask you, why did you apply for this role, which means you have to remember why you've applied and what you've applied for.
Emily Slade: And not just being like, because I need to pay rent.
Alexis Roy: Yeah, exactly like a particularly if you've gone, and I completely understand why, why this happens. But if you've gone on to a job site, and applied for 1020 jobs, just like scatter gun your CV, and people call you up even and go. So what made you apply for this role? You think I can't? Who are you? I don't know what I've applied for? It doesn't show that you're particularly invested in that role. Yeah. So keep a note. Obviously, if you're in an actual interview, you presumably know what you're interviewing for. But they might ask you why this role? Why this company? See, be prepared to talk about what interests you about that particular business, whether it's a charity, whether it's a commercial organisation, you know, whatever it might be, have a reason why you're applying to them, because people want to know that you're invested in them. And that role, not just any role. Yeah. I would say they're probably the top three. Yeah, roll company and a bit about you. So be prepared for for those three.
Emily Slade: Perfect. Thank you. This is from Sophia. How important do you think it is to know about the company beforehand, so I think that might be the last one. And it's a perfect, I think sort of we've covered quite a lot there already. Alexis Roy: So it's super important. Particularly if it's a particular industry that maybe you're not familiar with. So if you've never worked in a legal practice before, or if you've never worked in finance, they're very different in terms of sector and specialism and how they operate. So it's really important that you do some background on who they are, the size they are, what kind of areas they operate within, really important because if they say to you, what do you know about us? And you go. No, yeah, nothing. It doesn't show that level of preparation. Yeah. But also, again, they want you to join them. So they want to know why you want to join them. And if you've ever really got any reasons behind that, they might question why that is. So yeah, definitely have a reason why you're joining them.
Emily Slade: Perfect. Well, thank you so much. This has been very useful. So hopefully, that's been really good for everybody listening. Alexis Roy: Hopefully people find it. Interesting. I think sometimes interviews are seen as a little bit of a kind of mysterious, or stressful and I see what I've seen is stressful, because you're like, Oh, my God, I have to perform.
Emily Slade: Yeah, I think it's that it's like, I have to step up and, and prove myself. Alexis Roy: I think, I mean, I've said perform in an interview. And actually, that's the wrong word. Because an interview is not a performance. And particularly now we're very much geared towards being your authentic self in an interview. And I spent a lot of my late teens and early 20s, giving answers in interviews, which I knew were the correct answers, but they weren't answers that were aligned to me. So if someone had asked me, Do you really like working as part of a team, I'd be like, "yeah, I really like working as part of a team." And then I'd get six months into a role. And be like, I hate this. Because actually, I prefer working on my own. I'm much better as a sole contributor. Of course, I can work as part of a team, but I don't like a lot of team, but it's just the way my brain is wired, is wired. So what I would say is that, don't try and second guess what the interviewer wants you to say, be true to yourself, and what you feel your answer is, if you then don't get the role, it's not the right role for you. Yeah, and that is genuinely true. And it comes with kind of a summary also in this but with years of experience is that by giving the answer you think they want to hear, if you then get the job, you may not be happy in that role. And ultimately, that's not the right thing for you. So, so if I went to it for an interview now for a role where I had to be suited and booted, and I couldn't have my tattoos on show, and I couldn't wear my nose ring. That's not the right environment for me, and you shouldn't try and pigeonhole yourself into something that you think should be the right role. Ultimately, you may not get every role that you interview for, and that is fine. But if you're going to be authentic in your interview, and give them the answers that are right to you, you will end up in a role and an environment and a culture that ultimately supports you and is the right one for you. So that's what I'd say.
Emily Slade: That's brilliant advice. Like yeah, so I guess the the key to crushing an interview is definitely knowing who you are you having a good understanding of who you are. And that seems simple. But actually, I also think it's a quite a big ask because I think, you know, you can go years and be discovering yourself. So think about it. When you're doing that application process and obviously it can get really stressful and you can start mass applying to everything out of the fear of like, Oh God, I need a job. Yeah, and stuff, but just do try and take that time and remember like, who you are and what you want and try and seek those out. Alexis Roy: Yeah, absolutely.
Emily Slade: Perfect. Thank you Alexis Roy: Cool.
Emily Slade: Thanks so much to Alexis for joining me today - for more information on how to prepare for a job interview you can head to prospects.ac.uk. If you enjoyed the episode please head to Apple or Spotify and leave us a review. If you have a question that didn't get answered today, there are more Q&A's on the way, so send them in via our Instagram - you'll find the link in the description, or email podcast@prospects.ac.uk. Thank you as always to you for listening and good luck on your journey to Future You.
Notes on transcript
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