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How Varying Language Improves Interview Outcomes

The focus, in a job interview, has always been on the content of the job interview answer.

Content is important, as the description given within a job interview answer determines the score the interviewer(s) allocate to each job interview answer.

In short, an employer will cross-reference the elements discussed by the applicant to the job criteria on the interview scorecard.

Generalising, the more criteria reference within the job interview answer, the higher the score an applicant will receive.

This makes logical sense. It’s the same as scoring a boxing match; the more punches a boxer gets on an appointment the more points they receive. The best boxer, or interviewee, wins.

Research is showing how the referencing of job criteria, alone, isn’t enough to create high scoring job interview answers.

What is also key to a successful interview outcome is the language, or the varying language, used throughout the whole recruitment process.

Language creates an emotional response in others, changing how an employer views an applicant, therefore affecting the scores allocated in the job interview.

Interview language. 

Highly confident interviewees have a natural tendency to utilise strong assertive communication, whereas low confident candidates fall back on weaker language. 

‘Try,’ as an example, presumes failure, whereas ‘will’ presupposes action will be taken. This small change in language, consciously choosing an appropriate verb, creates a different reaction – how they view a candidate, from the employer.

Substitute passive words;

‘Try’ to ‘will’

‘Think’ to ‘know’ 

‘Could’ to ‘Always’

‘I believe’ to ‘I’m confident’ (or ‘convinced’)

Read the following two interview answers and compare the impression gained of the two interveiwees from the language used.

“I believe I am a good fit for the team and would always try to meet my targets. In my previous position I worked on a similar task and I always achieved my KPIs.”

“I’m convinced I am a good fit for the team and I will meet my targets. In my previous position I worked on a similar task and I always achieved my KPIs.”

Weak communication.

Other language barriers come in the form of unnecessary communication.

Anxious applicants are known to add additional ‘weak’ words to job interview answers that simply aren’t required. Any low scoring words need to be removed from job interview answers.  

Say more with less.

When planning to give a detailed interview answer, candidate are advised to pick only strength words that will ensure they standout from the group.

Delete the following unnecessary sentences/words during a job interview;

‘In my opinion..’  

‘Did my best..’

‘Maybe..’ 

‘Only..’

‘Sorry..’

Any filler words.

Filler words.

An example of unnecessary communication is ‘filler words.’ Filler words are subconsciously used by nervous interviewees to fill the gaps between sentences while delivering an interview answer.

Common filler words are sounds ‘er’ ‘um’ ‘ah’ but can also include the words ‘so’ ‘like’ ‘well’ ‘you-know’. This constant interruption, created by filler words, distracts the employer from the value of the applicant’s interview answer, resulting in a lower-scoring outcome. 

“Um, well, yes I do have experience, but, er, like it’s relevant but…”

To reduce filler words applicants can replace the ‘filler word’ with silence in the form of a pause.

As filler words are used naturally while a candidate is thinking of what to say, the applicant during this time can count to 3 in their head to divert their attention. The focus on counting is a conscious process that removes the unconscious process of using filler words. 

Another technique, prior to the interview, is to practice the delivery of answering interview questions by making a mark for each filler word used. The process of recognising the number of filler words used, which is often more than expected, creates an awareness that helps to reduce this subconscious habit. 

High scoring language. 

Varied language is a key element to high scoring answers.

Finding new ways to say common words can create the desired variety to improve interview language. As an example, the words begin, start, commence, and initiate are all synonyms of one another.

As referenced earlier, words have different emotions attached to them. If asked about a particular skill, an interviewee might state they’re ‘good’ at the skill, but the words ‘great’, ‘excel’ or ‘highly skilled’ all answer the question positively, but each word has a different emotional association. Word choice, therefore, elicits a different emotional trigger from the interviewer. 

Pronouns, ideally, need to be mixed. Singular pronouns (I) help to reference personal actions in team activities, whereas plural pronouns, which research shows are in coloration with high scoring interview answers, are used by confident candidates to help build inclusion and rapport, as ‘we’ is viewed as being ‘friendlier’. 

Positive emotional terms, embedded throughout the job interview, again improve interview scoring as the words used have an emotional attachment and help applicants to communicate persuasively. 

Positive emotional terms:

Joy

Happy

Gratitude

Pride

Interest

Amusement

Excited

Hope

Kind

Negative emotional terms:

Fear

Sad

Angry

Disgust

Rage

Loneliness

Annoyed

Nonverbal communication.

A common misunderstanding of hiring decisions, is that the content of the interview answer is the most significant part when it comes to scoring an answer.

As we have discussed in previous articles, prejudices, unconscious bias, the interviewer’s behaviour and the applicant’s level of confidence create ‘filters’ that answers are viewed through. 

Studies show how nonverbal behaviour influences the interview. For example, research has shown that smiling increases attraction and likeability.

Confident communication, eye contact and posture also help to shape the appraisal of an applicant. 

Research into micro facial expressions shows how a fleeting expression can be read by an observer, even though the expression only lasted milliseconds. Therefore, faked happiness isn’t believed as an applicant’s microexpression, as an example, showed fear before the fake smile is applied. 

There are 7 basic human emotions; anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise, each with its own unique characteristics. Each expression, which is an expression of an emotion, is involuntary and outside of the awareness of the individual. 

Facial expressions can also elicit different meanings depending on the schema of the interviewer. A smile could be seen as sarcastic or joyous. 

Generally speaking, though, the following nonverbal cues will increase rapport with an employer, improving the interview scoring:

  • Initiating interaction to show confidence.
  • Giving your full attention to the employer – being externally focused.
  • Smiling and laughing.
  • Strong eye contact.
  • Gesturing to reinforce verbal communication. 
  • Taking up space with your body as this creates authority. 
  • Confident firm handshake. 
  • Head held high shows self-assurance. 

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Job Interviews During Covid

This week, the UK government announced the third lockdown to combat covid-19.

This sensible approach to beating the pandemic, has left career professionals asking how the lockdown will affect the job market?

All job sectors ride the rollercoaster of economic growth and decline, which directly affects the number of employed professionals working, or required, in a particular industry. Covid-19 has had a large effect on people working in multiple industries, similar to the banking crisis of 2008.

Covid-19 has had a negative impact on low paid and low skilled positions, including the retail, hospitality travel and tourism sectors, to name a few. But not all low-paid jobs have seen a negative reaction to Covid; Deliveroo has seen a serge in customer orders increasing the demand for delivery drivers.

The pandemic, which has directly affected the job market (the number of vacancies) in 20/21, isn’t the only driver of change. Many factors affect the job market; globalisation, government policies, supply and demand, technology and demographics – people living longer.

Covid has also been a driver for positive change, increasing vacancies in a wide range of job sectors. Since March 2020, there has been a skills shortage in the UK, mainly in the professional level sector; managerial, professional and highly skilled roles – job positions that often require a university degree.

Job roles that have been hard to recruit for have included (source; prospects):

  • Nurses
  • Design Engineers
  • Human Resource officers
  • Vets
  • Programmers

We know there are employers looking to recruit new employees during Covid-19, requiring hiring managers to plan how they will interview candidates during the lockdown.

Therefore, job seekers need to prepare for the 2021 Covid-19 job interview.

Covid related job interview questions

Job interview preparation, simply put is the ability to predict the job interview questions and prepare answers that will meet the job criteria, in a way that showcases an applicant’s competencies and unique selling point.

Interview questions, in the main, are embedded within a structured process with most questions relating to competencies;

‘Give me an example of completing (job criteria)’

‘How would you deal with a situation where you had to (job criteria)’

The pandemic has shown the need for personal strength as employees move to working, alone, from home. With this in mind interviewers are asking questions based on resilience;

‘How have you shown resileince during Covid?’

‘What has working during the pandemic taught you about yourself?’

‘Give an example of making an adaption during the covid-19 pandemic?’

Covid-19 related questions, as are all interview questions, are asked as the employers aim is to hire a career professional who has the skill, knowledge and experiences to complete the job duties within the workplace environment and company culture, which for many is now working from home or a blended work-office environment.

Preparing for a Covid virtual job interview

99% of job interviews will be virtual during the next 3 months.

Applicants, therefore, need to prepare for an online job interview.

Online job interviews come in two guises; a live video stream interview or a computerized AI interview.

Live video interviews, simply put, is a Q&A session with a ‘live’ interviewer. This is this general job interview that most job hunters are use to.

The above link (online job interview) will explain the technical preparations an interviewee needs to make for a video interview, including camera angles and framing.

In addition, many employers are opting to understand the industry knowledge level of an applicant through an interview presentation.

Delivering presentations as part of a recruitment process has been a long-established practice in certain job sectors, but recently we have seen an increase in employers from various industries adding a presentation as part of their interview selection process.

Presenting information is one to help an employer understand the level of industry knowledge an applicant has. In addition, many employers, due to job interviews being online, feel the opportunity to present, as well as answering interview questions, helps the candidate to relax during the abnormal online interview experience.

Robot Interviewers

A pre-programmed system that asks a job interview question before allowing the applicant to record a live answer (on average a 60 second – 2 minutes answer).

The video answers are then reviewed using a computer algorithm. This system is often used at the early stage of a recruitment process, decreasing the number of successful applicants who will then be required to attend a ‘human’ interview.

Creators of artificial intelligence interviewers will, most likely, have ambitions for the bots to be the go-to system for job interviews in the future, with cost-saving benefits to potential employers.

These high-tech systems can be used to scan applications, social media feeds and other data, to predict if an applicant is suitable for the job role or not, but also if they are likely to leave their current role for the new opportunity.

Equal opportunity leaders are worried about potential bias, inaccuracy, and lack of transparency when using an artificial intelligence recruitment system, believing that the system uses deceptive trade practices.

To pass a robotic job interview, applicants need to ensure interview answers reference the job criteria, giving examples of previous successes. Stating industry models and theories, also helps here, as stating the elements of a model ensures a high number of keywords have been used, and therefore pic up by the robot.

Interview anxiety

Research shows how a lack of job interview confidence has a direct impacts on the outcome of the job interview.

Anxious candidates will self-disclose weaknesses, have reduced eye-contact and increase the use of filler words. This combination of indicators reduce the level of knowledge and experience an applicant can express, successfully, to an employer.

If an interviewee fails to highlight how they meet the job criteria, they will score low on the interview scorecard, resulting in a job decline response.

A high number of people fear the job interview, in fact, being the center of attentions is one of the highest phobias when peoples fears are polled. The increase pressure, created from having to complete an unknown experience, of the video interview increases anxiety in the job applicant.

This double effect of anxiety; interview anxiety x video anxiety, can be disastrous to career professionals who rarely attend job interviews.

Interview confidence can be increased quickly in the main through repetition of practice. The following activities will help build up job interview confidence:

  • Understanding the structure of a job interview
  • Preparing job interview answers that state the job criteria
  • Recording a list of job related strengths and successes
  • Attending a public speaking or improv class
  • Increasing the number of online webinars, with interactive elements, you attend
  • Counting the number of urm’s and ah’s you use during an interview (as this reduces them)

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3 Hidden Forces Affecting Hiring Decisions

Logically, the most suitable applicant will be hired for each advertised position.

This article will look at how an interviewees interview performance is affected directly by the interviewer.

Prior to the job interview, many factors affect which type of candidate will apply for the advertised role; the job advert copy, organisational reputation, the salary on offer, and several other factors.

Factors, simply put, create supply and demand.

A high paid job role would attract a high number of applicants, even those career professionals who are happy in their current position.

Jobs that require a particular skill or a rare qualification will require an HR team to encourage applicants who will feel, due to the level of their expertise, can get a high paid job in a number of companies. This can lead to recruitment managers recruiting less experienced employees than they had planned to.

On the other hand, recruits advertising for common skilled jobs may receive a vast amount of applications, requiring a recruitment process that can quickly reduce the number of applicants the organisation is interested in interviewing.

Without going into too much detail, the popularity of the job role, the employer’s need for a certain skill, and the salary band of the job position, from an applicant’s perspective, increases or decreases competition.

The less competition; the number of applicants applying for the job role, the level of other interviewees’ knowledge and experience, and the interveiw performance of all candidates, increases or decreases the likelihood of an interviewee being successful or not.

Unforeseen forces

In addition to the factors affecting the number, and competency level, of applicants attending a job interview, or even applying for the job role, is the unforeseen forces affecting the applicant’s ability to highlight their level of industry-related skills.

Two types of interviewers

The size of an organisation gives a clue to the skill level of the interviewer. Generally speaking, small businesses, due to the average annual company revenue can’t afford to hire a full-time recruitment team.

Often in start-ups and small sized companies, the owner will interview applicants for the new role. Even medium sizes business often fail to use skilled interviewers for recruitment, relying on team managers to conduct the job interview.

Whereas large organisations often have an HR (human resource) team with staff members dedicated to recruitment, or at the very least offer training on: how to conduct job interviews, the barrier of unconscious bias and how to recruit high-performing teams.

In short, large business, compared to smaller companies, will use trained job interviewers.

How an interviewee’s performance is affected during the job interview.

Prior to the job interview of each applicant, the hiring manager will initially read the candidate’s application to help form an impression of the individual they will be interviewing.

The candidate’s previous education, workplaces and positions held, create an assumption. This opinion, created from the application form, creates the halo or horns effect.

A pre-interview, positive (halo) or negative (horns), impression can be the difference between an applicant being offered the advertised job role or receiving the rejection letter.

This is because humans use once piece of criteria – attractiveness, as an example, to presume another trait without having any evidence. Experiments show, as an example, how people presume an attractive person to be intelligent.

Having worked at a well known company, or attended the same university as the recruiter or stating industry facts, models and theories on the application form can create a positive (Halo) generalisation.

This belief, in this example, is that the applicant is hirable, is taken, unconsciously, into the job interview.

The interviewer, believing the candidate deserves the job role, makes subconscious micro-changes to the way they act within the job interview, which encourages a better performance from the applicant, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It is the little, seemingly non-significant, actions that affect an interviewee’s job interview performance; smiling, eye contact and the nodding of the head from an employer can be seen as signs of likeability and encouragement to the applicant.

Pre-learnt judgements

Strongly held beliefs by an interviewer have a direct impact on the outcome of a job interview.

If, as an example, a start up company believe that ‘older’ applicants aren’t creative, this belief will be hard to break even when evidence, that contradicts the opinion, is presented.

Generalisations, stereotypes and prejudices create an unfair job interview process.

Organisations, to counter the interviewer’s perception disorders, put employees and recruitment managers through mandatory unconscious bias and diversity training.

The problem here is that research has shown how unconscious bias training alone isn’t enough to make the required changes needed in the recruitment of a diverse workforce.

One reason for this is that people react negatively to being ‘controlled’. It is the ‘mandatory’ element of training that creates the feeling of being ‘controlled’ meaning that a voluntary option would improve the change process for those who opted to take up the offered courses.

What is needed is a change in workplace culture, where unconscious bias training is part of a wider programme. Evidence over the last 20 years, from implementing health and safety into the workplace and into employees’ conscious awareness, reducing death and injury numbers, has shown how multiple approaches for change can be highly effective.

Common prejudices that affect recruitment processes include:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Religion
  • Ethnicity
  • Disabilities

Perceived competencies

A recruitment programme, and therefore the job interview, is designed to predict the job performance of each applicant.

The ability to predict how a future, potential, employee would act within the culture of the organisation helps employers to build high-performing teams.

The final hidden force affecting the hiring decision of a recruitment team is the interview identity associated, unconsciously, to each applicant.

As the process of asking structured interview questions helps hiring managers cross reference the applicants skill set and experiences – their competencies, against the essential knowledge and experience required for the job role in question.

The process, throughout a full job interview, is taxing. Whenever the brian has to compute a vast amount of data it will use a shortcut.

The shortcut, in a job interview, is the process of creating an ‘interview identity’.

Based on the employers perception of the candidates level of knowledge and experience, and their level of confidence, the interviewer after asking the initial interview questions will, at a basic level , categorise the applicant from incompetent to employable.

Once a generic identity has been associated to an interviewee, the interviewer will use the generalization as a filter. Similar to the ‘halo’ or ‘horns’ effect, but based on job competencies, the interviewer’s behaviour can change, positively or negatively, depending on 1 of 16 ‘interview identities’.

Interestly, highly skilled and experience applicants can miss out on a job offer due to the associated interview identity.

It is the applicants behaviour, during the interveiw start, that creates the generalisation.

Negative identities are created by:

  • Self-disclosing weaknesses
  • Lack of eye contact
  • Not knowing the job criteria
  • High use of filler words
  • Weak answer that are short and lack detail

Whereas the following help to create a positive interview identity:

  • Being a self-promoter
  • Good use of language; varying words, unique words and generally using a large number of words
  • Smiling and being seen as confident
  • Varying projection; volume, emotional voice and use of pauses
  • Using examples

Your own interview identity can be discovered by taking the interview prediction grid test:

Source:

PSU Handbook Psychology

Factors influencing recruitment process

Automated prediction and analysis of job interview performance

Interview prediction grid

Halo effect

Diversity training doesn’t work

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3 ways to answer ‘give me an example…’ interview question

One of the most common job interview questions, that comes in many guises, is the ‘give me an example of……? question.

‘Example’ questions are asked in behavioural job interviews. Behavioural job interviews fall under the ‘structured’ job interview family. During a structured job interview, each interviewee is asked the same set of questions (for behavioural job interviews, many questions will be ‘give an example of…’).

The applicants answers are captured, ideally verbatim, by a panel of job interviewers, who, whenever possible, will be the same personnel interviewing each candidate for the same position, as this is a fairer process.

Each recorded answer, for each of the interviewees, is then allocated a score from a scale that was predetermined prior to the interview start.

Scores are allocated to each interview answer based on the number of job criteria, which is an indication of the applicant’s level of sector knowledge and experience, referenced during the interview answer.

The more detailed the answer is, for each criterion, the higher the score is likely to be.

If, for example, the interview question is about risk assessments, a candidate may answer by giving an explanation of what a risk assessment is.

A second interviewee may state proven models for carrying out risk assessments. And a third applicant could highlight their knowledge of risk assessments by giving an example of previously using risk assessments in a past job role.

Each of the answers show competencies for the required criteria, but each answer may be scored differently, as the interviewers perception of each applicants level of knowledge will vary depending on the answer format the candidates have chosen.

Employers who preference behavioural job interviews believe that past behaviours are the best indication of how an interviewee would perform if offered the advertised role.

With this in mind, the applicant giving an example of using a risk assessment in a past role is more likely to be hired then the other candidates.

Behavioural Job Interview Questions.

All behavioral job interview questions, even though each question is framed slightly differently, are asking for ‘examples’ of the required skill set needed for the position being advertised.

Example behavioral interview questions include:

  • Give me an example of planning a project from the initial project brief through to the project closure?
  • Have you ever had to remain calm during a crisis?
  • What experience do you have working in stressful environments?
  • Tell me about a task you wished you had approached in a different way?
  • How have you previously handled conflict between two colleagues?
  • Describe a time when you had work with a senior manager that you didn’t get on with?
  • When you are working on multiple projects how do you prioritise your workload?
  • How have you dealt with past failures?
  • Which previous job was the hardest and why?
  • Give me an example of when you have increase income for the business?

Behavioural job interview questions are easy to spot as they generally start with:

  • Tell me a time when…
  • Give me an example of…
  • How have you…
  • Describe a time when you…

Even though each question is worded differently, the behavioral interview question is designed to encourage an interviewee to highlight their competencies through a past experience and each answer requires a real-life ‘example’.

Beware, as some employers embed the ‘example’ question within a longer worded interview question: ‘Everyone has learnt from a mistake, what mistakes have you made that has helped to improve your skill set?’

In the main, the phrasing of the interview questions naturally encourages an ‘example’ answer.

Using example answers in a job interview.

Generally speaking, real life examples is one of strongest interview answers an applicant can give to help highlight their industry knowledge and skill set.

Example answers often take the format of a story . Storytelling creates an emotional response in the job interviewer, often helping to increase rapport. In addition, a story or example, rather then just stating facts, models and theories, makes the interview answer seem more relevant to the position being applied for.

This is because a story sharing an example of using an industry skill makes it easier for the employer to associate the example with the job role that they are recruiting for.

Even with story interview answers being naturally powerful, many candidates adopting this approach fail to score high during the job interview.

The problem here is, not everyone is a great or even a good storyteller.

Stories, as do job interview example answers, require scene setting, intrigue and a conclusion.

From an employers perspective, they ideally want everyone to give a detailed answer highlighting their level of industry competencies, this way the interviewer is better equipped to predict the applicants future job performance more accurately.

If 5 job interview answers highlight how one applicant has a creative approach to problem-solving, whereas another interviewer shows a more logical approach for overcoming problems, the interviewer, knowing this, will choose which candidate will fit in with the culture of the company.

In truth, many career professionals who are skilled in their desired job role fail to highlight this unique skill set as they lack the ability to tell stories through the expression of their examples.

Most, failed, applicants when giving an example will quickly state the situation, summarise the actions they took and finally mumble the results they received from the actions they took.

It is this lack of detail that is the undoing for highly skilled and experienced industry professionals, who fail to be successful on a regular basis during job interviews.

3 different approaches for answering questions with examples.

I will share 3 ways to answer the ‘example’ job interview question. In behavioral job interviews it is advised to use a mixture of the three approaches as this ensures that each answer structure is different, which helps to keep an employers interest.

Each approach will answer the same question to help highlight the variations of each interview formulation: ‘give me an example of being successful?’

Start with a question.

Asking the employer a question at the start of the interview answer creates a pattern-interrupt.

A pattern-interrupt is a process where the mind expecting a certain response to an action, becomes, initially, confused when the response is not as expected.

A non-interview example of this would be an adult putting their hand out to shake another adult’s hand, but instead of accepting the handshake, the other adult presents the first adult with a welcome dance. This interruption of what is the norm creates shock.

In the job interview, asking the interviewer a question when the interviewer presumed the applicant would simply answer the question creates intrigue, especially when the question is designed as a ‘hook‘.

An example could be: ‘would you be interested in knowing how a computerised system saved over 35% of the overhead cost of one of your competitors, through the use of a simple algorithm that I created?’

Any bold statement that references increasing profits or saving overhead cost (this can be framed as increasing production, reducing staff turnover or building a customer base) helps to create interest.

After the opening question, that has resulted in the employer wanting to hear the story, the applicant can simply start the example from the beginning.

How to structure the example answer.

When using examples it is important to set out the problem or barrier the organisation was facing and how, if a solution wasn’t found, this barrier was going to have a negative impact on the business.

As an example, stating that ‘the increase in online shopping on competitors websites was going to result in the loss of a large workforce that would cost a predicted £x in redundancy fees, which would put this business model back by 5 years’ sounds more disastrous than simply saying ‘more of our customers were shopping on competitors websites.’

The lesson here is to give the negative outcome to any potential problem, not just the problem itself.

Once the situation has been explained fully, which also adds to the intrigue, the next step is to state any actions that needed to be carried out for you to be ‘successful’- these actions must highlight your thought process, any unique skills you possess and the solution.

‘I knew we had a short period of time to create more income. As an experienced manager, with 20 years of industry experience, I knew that simply improving the website wouldn’t be enough. What was needed was an activity that would put our brand on everyone’s lips – we needed to create something that would go viral, increasing hits to our webpage.’

‘My process was A, B and C..(add the steps you took to create a success)

  • Don’t focus on the idea process, the ideas you thought about and disregarded. Instead, discuss the idea that you took forward to create a success
  • Reference only 3 main tasks, steps or actions you undertook, as a longer answer can become boring breaking interviewer rapport
  • When discussing each task, step or action summaries what it was you did, as you don’t want to confuse the employer with too much information

Once the detailed description of the steps you took has been discussed, the interveiw answers need to end with a positive outcome.

‘The result from these actions was (add positive outcome)

Start at the end

The second approach to answer the ‘example interview question is to start the answer by stating the outcome:

‘My greatest success was when I single handedly gained the largest sales contract.’

This power statement, again, creates interest. How? the employer is thinking.

An intrigued interviewer will listen more intently to the interview answer. The more intently the employer listens the more details they will record on the interview scorecard, increasing, if the criteria have been mentioned, the interview scores.

The second part of the interview answer, giving an example, follows the process mentioned in the above example.

Using industry models and theories.

The final way to answer the example question is by stating a sector-related model or theory at the interview start.

By stating the steps required within a model or theory, the applicant, is likely to meet many of the job criteria on the interview scorecard.

‘My success comes down to my ability to be well organised. When faced with competing deadlines, new project starts and month end reports, it is easy to become overwhelmed and stressed. To combat this I used the ‘time management matrix’ model. The model…(explain whichever model or theory you are discussing)’

This section should be kept relatively brief, highlighting the key elements of the theory or model being explained.

Next, give the example which reaffirms that you have met the job criteria for the high scoring interview answer.

‘3 months ago I had two competing demands from two high profile customers. To decide the urgency and importance of each demand I compared the pros and cons of working on each customer’s demands first. This allowed me to collect the data required to use the time management matrix model, allowing me to choose logically what actions to complete first…’

To end the ‘model’ example interview format summaries the power of using well-established models.

‘Using the model in my day-to-day tasks ensures that I am able to confidently meet any new challenges head-on without having doubt in my own abilities or without becoming stress, as others do when unforeseen situations present themselves. ‘

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Understanding strength-based interviews

Human resource interview research is designed to find the best way to predict job performance by reviewing predicted performance of a job interview applicant to actual performance within the workplace.

To date, the most successful interview format for accurately predicting job performance is the structured job interview. The flaw of the structured interview is the design of the interview questions.

A structured job interview uses behavioural and situational interview questions. This set of job interview questions, in the main, focus on competencies, asking if the applicant can complete the business-as-usual job duties.

Only asking questions based on job duties, does not take into account motivational factors within the workplace. A career professional may perform better in one organisation over another due to the culture of the company.

Interviewer’s, therefore, need to ask questions relating to the company culture and the personal values and motivational traits of each applicant to better predict the potential employee’s job performance.

The aim of strength-based interviews.

Strength-based job interviews, which focus the interview questions on what an applicant ‘enjoys’ within a workplace, help an employer to cross-reference the company culture and job duties against the candidate’s answers. 

Strength-based interviewers ask questions to help to uncover a candidate’s interest and best working styles. Whereas situational and behavioral interview questions, in the main, have a focus on the applicant’s ability to complete the required duties recorded on the job criteria form. 

Initially from the field of positive psychology, the idea is an employer, by identifying an applicant’s strengths required for the advertised role, will hire a high-performing team.

By focusing the questions on what the applicant enjoys should result in an employer recruiting an applicant who will enjoy working within the culture of the company, thus, hiring a highly motivated employee.

Strength-based interview questions then ask;

‘What do you like to do?’ instead of ‘What can you do?’

How to answer strength-based job interview questions.

With strength-based interviews, there is no right or wrong answer, instead, employers are looking for honesty to create a good match between employee and culture.

Strength-based interviews should be two-way. If the applicant answers truthly and is then rejected for the job role, this, long-term, should be a positive outcome, as it is unlikely that the candidate would have responded well to the company culture.

Interviewees still need to present answers confidently, highlighting a high level of knowledge and experience for the job role in question. Being ‘honest’ still requires self-promotion.

The ‘can-do’ vs ‘enjoy to do’ interview both have advantages and disadvantages, for both the employer and interviewee.

What is important for a career professional is to be able to recognise the type of interview question being asked. 

Strength-based interview scoring.

All interviewers, to help predict job performance, require applicants to give an honest answer.

A frank applicant has to be careful. Even though an interviewer’s objective is to hire the best candidate, in terms of job performance for a ‘typical’ day, an interviewee, answering questions with a ‘typical’ behaviour answer will be scored lower than a competitor who only states ‘best’ performance answers confidently, due to the interview scoring system. 

This is true with strength-based job interviews. Even though strength-based job interview questions ask ‘preference’ questions, each answer, to showcase the candidate’s level of knowledge and experience, often include an ‘example’ of the preferred approach.

Each real-life example needs to show how energised (or motivated) the applicant is by what the job entails. 

Some employers use a blended approach, with a mixture of behavioral or situational interview questions and a set of strength-based questions. Whereas other employers use only one interview format.

For all options, interviewers allocate a score for each applicant’s answer.

For blended strength-based interviews, the interviewer will either score the answer in a similar way as they do for the structured job interview, as each strength-based interview answer should be accompanied with an ‘example’.

When all questions are strength-based, many interviewers will ask additional questions to pin down an applicant’s motivational factors, using the combined answers to help them score the applicant on a large sliding scale.

In addition, the employer will ask multiple questions, framed differently, based on the same criteria or strength.

Strength-based interview question examples.

‘How would you respond in X situation?’

‘Do you prefer to be told what to do or to do tasks in your own way?’

‘How would colleagues describe you?’

‘What do you use to measure your success?’

‘When working to a deadline, do you prefer to make decisions or to be told what needs to be done?’

‘Who do you look up to and why?’

‘Describe a perfect day?’

‘What task do you most enjoy doing?’

‘What task do you always start first?’

‘Do you prefer starting or finsihing tasks?’

‘Does this position play to your strengths?’

‘What would you dislike about this role?’

‘How do you prefer to be managed?’

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What Unconscious Bias Means in the Job Interview

Recruitment decisions are influenced by unconscious bias, this is a fact.

Organisations, being aware of unconscious biases, continue to look at innovative ways to create a fair hiring process.

Currently, the structured job interview is the best interview model for reducing the impact of unconscious bias. This is because the structured interview, compared to an informal job interview, uses an analytical system – awarding different points to applicant’s answers, based on the relevant information given in the interveiw answer referenced against the job criteria for the advertised position.

What should happen, in a fair job interview, is that 2 applicants stating they have the same experience, skillset and qualifications during an interview answer, are awarded the same points.

But in reality, due to unconscious bias, two similar competent applicants are awarded different scores.

Understanding Unconscious bias

Unconscious bias or implicit bias, influences the employers scoring, increasing points to an applicant they unconsciously favour, or reducing points to an interviewee they unconsciously discriminate against, based on any number of reasons or groups (race, gender, age, weight, religion, values, beliefs, the list is large)

What is important to remember is that the bias is unconscious, outside of an employer’s awareness. An interviewer, through their own personal experiences, will make a decision influenced by a stereotype at the back of their mind.

An example of this is having 10 people describe a doctor working in a hospital. You can try this yourself. Describe what the doctor is wearing, the doctor’s hair colour, their body language. Also, is your doctor male or female?

Most people, in fact about 99% of people, will imagine the doctor to be male – this is unconscious bias in play; your experiences, maybe from TV shows, books or due to historically most doctors being male, you quickly make a snap judgment based on your experience.

This process is natural, everyone does it. The mind to make quick decision uses stereotypes when making everyday decisions without the conscious brain be aware of what is going on at the subconscious level.

Evidence has proved how unconscious bias affects the job interview process, either positively or negatively.

What is conscious bias?

When making an unconscious decision there is no malicious intent, it is purely a natural process. Whereas conscious bias is a decision being made based on prejudice.

An example of conscious bias or prejudice is a start-up only wanting to hire ‘young’ people because they believe older applicants won’t have the energy to work in a new innovative organisation.

How unconscious bias affects the job interview.

Applicants need to be aware of unconscious bias.

To make a generalisation, there are two types of recruitment biases; positive unconscious bias and negative unconscious bias.

Positive unconscious bias.

Biases, in the job interview, can have a positive affect on the interview outcome.

If for example, an employer finds commonality with an applicant they will favour them more than other interviewees without similarities. This is affinity bias. Employers will naturally hire a team that is similar to themselves.

Affinity bias hiring can create a friendly culture, as everyone is on the same page, but can put an end to growth and diversity, as experiences, which can create ideas, are all similar.

For a job applicant, though, they can use affinity bias to help gain an offer of employment. Using social media a candidate can analyse the interviewer to find similarities which they bring to the employer’s attention, subtly, during the job interview.

What you have in common isn’t important, what is important is having commonality, which can include; interest, experiences, background, education, age, gender or even a similar sounding surname.

In the job interview, an applicant might be explaining how they left school with no qualifications due to being dyslexic, and only achieved career success through hard work and a strong work ethic.

An employer, with a similar story themselves, hearing this, will naturally create rapport with the applicant, unconsciously scoring their interview answers higher than they may have without recognising a shared background.

This process of ‘liking’ can be created prior to the job interview and influence the interviewers scoring of applicants through confirmation bias.

An employer, themselves, finding a similarity, say on the applicant’s application form, will make a snap-judgment. If for example, the employer and the candidate both attended the same university, the interviewer, without evidence, will presume the candidate to be a ‘good fit’ as they believe that getting an education at the university they attended means that the applicant will have the skills and work ethic for the advertised job role.

The employer, now with a positive opinion of the applicant, will unconsciously encourage the candidate to perform well, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The halo effect is similar. A none specific piece of information, such as the name of an organization the applicant previously worked at, shapes the opinion of the interviewee before, or even during the job interview.

If an employer holds a certain company in high-standing, due to an exceptional reputation and an applicant states that they have worked for this organization for several years, the employer will associate their positive emotional feeling for the company to the applicant.

In this example, the employer, unless they question the applicant, doesn’t know if the applicant was viewed as a good or poor worker by the company they previously worked for.

The horn effect is the halo effect opposite – a negative bias based on none specific data.

What is beautiful is good, bias links attraction to positive attributes. This means an attractive applicant can be seen as more employable based on their looks alone.

The time of the job interview also influences the job interview outcome. Often the first interviewee is viewed as the base-line applicant. This is classed as contrast bais where employers make opinions of one candidate based or compared to a previous interviewee.

This means the first interviewee is the baseline applicant, with the employer subconsciously asking is the current applicant better or worst than the first?

Negative biases

Decision fatigue bias is the recurring problem of employers squeezing many interviews into one day – to get it over with!

By the end of a full day of job interviewing – consciously scoring many applicants against the job criteria, employers become tiered, resulting in a deterioration of accuracy.

Applicants to overcome this common barrier need to bring energy, enthusiasm and intrigue to the job interview, to wake up the interviewer and get them interested and listening.

A well-known bias is gender bias. This particular bias works on two levels.

Level 1 – generic gender bias. This is where an interviewer perceives one gender to be more hirable than another. Research shows that males are nearly twice as likely to be hired over a female.

Level 2 – job roles in gender bias. Some interviewers, unconsciously, will believe that a certain gender is more suited to a particular job role. An example of this is civil engineering, where research shows a stark difference in the number of male and female civil engineers in managerial positions, the gender imbalance is also linked to pay and recruitment practice in general.

Ageism is another common bias where opinions are based solely on an applicant’s age rather than their experience and skill set.

Less known is name bias which, research has shown, links a ‘name’ to ‘suitability’. One study found that ‘white’ sounding names received 50% more interview offers than non-white sounding names.

Another study looking a religious bias found that employers offered more job interviews when they received an application from ‘Mo’ instead of ‘Mohammed’.

Unconscious bias and the job interview.

The job interview is designed to create a fair process to help employers hire the most suitable applicant, by predicting (or attempting to) job performance.

But, unconscious bias, especially when an interviewer is unaware of how biases work, influence the interview outcome. It is important to remember that biases are unintentional and unconscious.

Even though unconscious bias is a natural process, employers can learn to overcome this negative process by becoming aware of the various biases that affect the job interview outcome.

Some employers have taken action and will remove an applicant’s name, age and gender from an application form to make the recruitment process fairer.

In the job interview itself, employers can be directed to provide evidence for the reason of a recruitment decision, helping the interviewer to make a more analytical choice, as unconscious decision making is an emotional process.

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Don’t Fall For This Interview Trick

In a structured job interview points are awarded to each applicant based on their interview answers.

Some employers, as well as using the traditional structured job interview, will use out-the-box recruitment tricks to test the suitability of each applicant.

This week a candidate attending a job interview, with an undisclosed employer, failed before the job interview officially started.

On the ‘Life Pro Tips’ forum on Reddit, a Chief Financial Officer explained how a male applicant failed the company values test. She wrote: “Today, a candidate blew his interview in the first 5 minutes after he entered the building.”

The Interview Hidden Test

What many job applicants fail to understand is how an opinion of each interviewee is created at the initial employer meeting – as the applicant walks through the employers door.

On reddit, the hiring manager explained how the receptionist greeted the candidate, he was “dismissive” she stated.

The receptionist then attempted to engage the applicant in a conversation, but was again confronted by poor people skills “again, no eye contact, no interest in speaking with her.”

Unknown to the interviewee was the truth that the receptionist was in fact the hiring manager. In the end she asked him into the conference room and explained ” how every single person on our team is valuable and worthy of respect”

The employers goal here was to check personal qualities – is the applicant a team player?

She later explained to the applicant he wouldn’t be a good fit for the company and thanked him for his time before ending the interview.

Why Trick the Applicants?

Some career professionals will view this type of interview test as underhand.

These days applicants can search for commonly asked job interview questions by industry, and even by company.

Research allows each candidate to prepare the ‘prefect’ high-scoring interview answer which can damage the recruitment process.

Research shows, how an applicant, being aware of the interview questions, can distort the interview in such a way that the employer believes that the interviewee will perform better then they actual will do.

This distortions can result in suitable career professionals being rejected for job roles they are highly suitable for.

In addition, employers also need to hire a team that meets the organisations culture and values. This is why some hiring managers ‘trick’ the applicants.

Interview Observations

One customer service employer invited all applicants to an all-day interview.

Around 100 potential canadines attended. Each interviewee was asked to stand up in front of the other candidates and deliver a 1 minute introduction speech.

The employer went on to explain how they valued customer service – listening and communication, and these skills would be assessed during the 1-minute talks. In addition, they asked for all candidates to be polite and listen to whichever speaker was on stage.

What wasn’t discussed was how the interviewers, who were situated around the room, were observing the seated applicants, not the interviewee on stage. they were looking for who was listening or who was ‘on their phone,’ which candidates were encouraging and which were dismissive.

The golden rule for the job interview is to be professional from entering the employers building to leaving, as you never know who is watching!

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Tips for Online Interviews

With an increase in organisations opting to deliver job interviews online, applicants don’t only need to learn how to create job-winning answers, they now learn to become experts in video calls.

Video calls sound easy. You turn on your computer or phone, speak to the camera and that’s it – or is it?

The virtual setup is key to winning job interviews.

Most job seekers understand the importance of their wardrobe choice on the interview day. What you wear creates the first impression; the snap judgment made at the initial introduction before the start of the job interview itself.

The virtual setup is the same. A mumbling applicant asking ‘can you hear me’ or a poor internet signal distorting how the employer views the applicant both result in a negative impression.

Covid has increased the number of online interviews and employers, releasing the cost-saving benefits of recruiting virtually, are likely to continue with this trend. The Covid interview is here to stay.

The question that all interviewees are asking is how they can pass the online job interview? Because we live in a virtual world, where social influencers speak daily online, we can learn the techniques they use when presenting via online video.

This article will cover:

  1. How to create the perfect professional video frame
  2. How to reduce technical problems when interviewing virtually
  3. How to increase likeability even though you are being interviewed online

Virtual Job Interview Tips

After speaking to actors, directors, professional public speakers, online trainers I have compiled a list of tips to help any career professional, no matter which industry they are in, to pass a virtual job interview.

Create a professional frame

Framing refers to the image seen on the video call.

This little adjustment, in how an applicant sets their camera, makes a big difference in the none-communication of the applicant.

For job interveiws the 3 most common frames are:

  1. Full shot (FS) – FS shows the whole body from the head to the toe.
A female interviewee - full body shot, head to toe

The advantages of a full shot is that the employer can see, and the therefore gain additional non-verbal communication, the applicants body-language.

If using a full shot it is necessary, wear a lapel microphone connected wirelessly to the computer or the employer will struggle to hear the interview answers.

The full shot is best used for delivering an interview presentation, especially if using props. But even in this scenario the full shot still has several disadvantages.

The negatives include:

  • It is hard to see the interviewee’s facial expressions which express emotion – a powerful rapport-building tool.
  • The full shot will include the environment – if the applicant is using a bedroom camera, this can look inappropriate.
  • Without professional lighting, the room can look too dark which is far from ideal for an interview of any type.

Employment King recommends staying away from a full-body shot frame.

2. Medium Close Up (MCU) – MCU shows from the chest to the top of the head.

Medium head shot of a young interviewee, chest to head.

The medium close up is the best of all frames. The chest-to-head shot is far enough away to allow employers to view gestures while observing facial -expressions.

A lapel microphone is always an advantage but not required for a medium close-up. Another advantage is that the candidate can see the employer’s faces, enabling them to ‘read’ how the interview is going, or if an interview answer hits the mark.

Two-way communication is perfect with the MCU. Another plus for the medium close-up frame is that it encourages the employer’s attention and is more intimate.

The key, though, is the close-up allows employers to view gestures. Gestures, as most know, are a non-verbal communication tool. But, more importantly, research shows how using gestures improves communication because the person (the interviewee in this instance) using hand movements will improve their language organisation skills. Gestures help organise the formation of sentences, of the interview answer.

Employment King recommends using the medium close-up for 99% of job interviews, but even with this recommendation there are a few weaknesses with this frame:

  • Removes 50% of body-language
  • Often space is created on the left/right-hand side of the interviewee

3. Close Up (CU) or Extreme close up – Interviewees face fills the screen.

Close up headshot, older white male

By far the most common frame used in job interviews is the extreme close up. It maybe the most common but it isn’t the ideal frame for a virtual job interview.

The close-up does have one major advantage – the employer can easily see facial expressions. Micro facial expressions have a powerful, subconscious, effect on the job interviewer.

Being able to observe a close-up of an applicant’s face, allows an employer to see if they are excited or bored, their interview identity. But, unknowing to the interviewer, the applicants micro facial expression also influences the interview.

If an applicant shows contempt, disgust or joy, as an example, the interviewers mirror neurons, pick up the micro-expressions, and feel the same emotion. So an applicant feeling ‘joy’ influences the interviewer to feel ‘joy’ which can create an association between ‘applicant’ and ‘feeling good’.

The extreme close-up is, well, a bit weird and should be avoided. No one once to view an extreme close-up; warts and all!

Other negatives include:

  • No room for gestures
  • The face looks too big and can be off-putting
  • Employers can see clearly stubble, make-up errors, hair in places it shouldn’t be!

Camera Angles Change the Psychology of the Interview.

The angle of the camera changes the overall impression from, both, the employers and applicants’ perspectives, as the angle of the camera affects the psychology of the interview.

In a job interview, there are 3 commonly used camera angles:

Low Camera Angle.

When shooting from below the person above can seem larger than life – they look big, imposing in the frame.

In the idea of an online interview, the employer will feel at ease, relaxed when talking to the applicant. If the camera angle creates intimidation the employer will want the interview to end quickly.

On the opposite side of this effect is the ‘nostril’ problem. Rather than a low-framed camera angle creating intimidation, shooting from below with a close-up frame can result in 50% of the screen being covered by the applicant’s nostrils – not a good look for anyone, especially in a job interview.

Often interviewees using a laptop or phone, due to the appliance design, will default to this angle without a second thought.

From Above Camera Angle.

The opposite camera angle will then have the opposite effect.

The interviewee, who has chosen this angle (naturally used by interviewees on a traditional computer as the camera is often attached to the top of the screen) can, themselves, feel vulnerable as they constantly feel as they are looking up at the employer who hovers above them.

The ‘bald head’ approach, named as the camera points down on an applicant’s head, which with a poor lighting set can create a shine effect, also results in a lack of face visuals, again affecting the number of emotions an employer can read on the applicant’s face.

This shot distorts the applicant’s features, with interviewees looking smaller, but with large eyes and forehead, creating an overall ‘weak’ impression.

Straight On Camera Angle.

The ideal camera angle is straight-on.

Being straight-on creates a more realistic job interview scenario, with the applicant and employer having a face-to-face type impression. This eye-contact creates the feeling of honesty which if highly required in a job interview.

Creating Eye Contact Online.

One of the most crucial skills in a job interview is the ability to hold eye-contact.

Eye contact is important as it is associated to confidence as we form low opinions of applicants who avoid direct eye contact. Emotions, are also enhance when an applicant has good gazing skills.

The barrier, here, is the screen. In the main, applicants will use a PC or laptop for their job interview. When listening and speaking, it is natural to look at the person during the communication. But this creates a problem when being interviewed remotely.

When an applicant is watching the interviewer on the screen the applicant’s eye contact is looking down, not in the eyes of the interviewer. This is because the camera, in most cases, sits above the screen.

When looking directly at the camera lens, not the screen, the employer will feel they are receiving direct eye contact. This small change in where to look increase an applicant’s perceived confidence level.

Tip – During the opening of the interview answer, look at the screen. When making a key point, giving specific facts, or any other important information, look directly into the camera lens for a few seconds.

Improve Online Rapport.

Rapport is significantly harder to build online, compared with face-to-face meetings.

The computer is the barrier that needs overcoming. Face-to-face, applicants (who are enthusiastic) come across more enthusiastic when in person than virtually, even if the enthusiasm is at the same level.

This is because it’s harder for an interviewer to read non-verbal communication online.

Overcoming this hurdle is easy. Enthusiastic applicants need to bring more enthusiasm. If, in real life, you are 50% enthusiastic, online to gain the same effect you need to be 70-80% enthusiastic.

Rapport is gained through communication:

  • Increase volume
  • Improve diction
  • Enunciate when speaking
  • Slow down and create a good speaking pace
  • Add emotions to your spoken words

Using the communication tips, and the non-verbal communication suggestions above will, when combined, have a massive impact on the rapport between an employer and the interviewee.

Technical Problems.

Anyone giving a general job interview advice will suggest setting off early to ensure you are not late for the job interview, often suggesting to ‘set off early encase of traffic’.

The underlying advice here is to be prepared – anything can go wrong.

Online is the same, applicants need to be prepared for anything that can go wrong. In the virtual world, the problem won’t be lateness, rather it will be more technical.

Technical Tips.

  1. Plug your computer directly into the router as this produces the best connection – stay away from wifi if you can.
  2. If in the interview there is an echo, turn your microphone on mute when the employer is talking.
  3. Close down any other apps to reduce sound interference. An example of this is the ‘ping’ noise you hear when receiving a new email.
  4. Lighting – remove any lights from behind you as this creates a dark image, and be aware of a string frontal light and this produces glare. Natural light is best, but if lighting of needed set it up so the light is in front of you but off to the side.
  5. Have a backup device. Depending on the interview platform; zoom, teams, or google meets, depends on how the computer responds. A chromebook or tablet, as an example, may not work for certain platforms – always check in advance.
  6. Have any presentation slides on a pen drive as a backup.
  7. Use a lapel mic for better audio quality.
  8. Check your internet upload speed – this changes the quality of the video stream.

Chris Delaney

Chris Delaney is one of the leading job interview coaches in the country, helping career professionals to successfully pass job interviews. Delaney is the author of several job interview reference books including ‘what is your interview identity’

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What interview questions will I be asked during covid?

Understanding the job sector during Covid

The Covid19 pandemic has impacted not only the way a business operates, but the recruitment process of an organisation.

It has been precited that around 24% of the UK workforce is at risk due to Covid, with low skilled job sectors being hit the hardest.

Government policy has affected particular job sectors differently. Hospitality, as an example, had a 73% of their employees furloughed due to the closure of restaurants and bars. Whereas, the education sector, with the government keen to keep education institutes operational, has kept staff in work.

In comparison, other low skilled jobs have seen an increase in staff recruitment. Amazon, due to an increase in online shopping recruited over 15000 warehouse and delivery staff and supermarkets collectively interviewing and recruiting 50,000 new staff members.

The STEM sector has been affected in different ways with data showing the potential of growth and declining job roles within the STEM sector. Renewable energy, as an example,  looks strong as 46.4% of UKs electricity being generated from renewable energy sources which will create jobs in this sector.

Other areas: computer programmers, project managers, and accountants are currently recruiting for new staff, as Covid isn’t having the same effect on staff turnover as it is in other job sectors.

Companies like Amazon warehouse have a pre-set of job interview questions, but due to changes in working conditions, with many career professional now working from home, employers are asking additional Covid-related job interview questions.

The Covid Job Interview

Two things have changed, in terms of the interview process, during Covid;

1 Most organisations have moved to a virtual hiring platform with 80% employers surveyed saying they are now using a video platform to interview candidates.

2 Interviewers are now asking Covid-related interview questions as part of the recruitment process

The following list of Covid interview questions will not be asked in its entirety, rather employers will ask sector related interview questions in the main but will also choose one or two of the questions below, embedding them into the job interview.  

In short, job applicants need to be prepared to answer Covid-related job interview questions.

Covid-Related job interview Questions

How would you ensure you met your deadlines and targets while working from home?

This interview question is all about self-management.

Pre-covid, when all employees worked from the company premises a manager would check-on, support and coach employees to meet deadlines and targets.

Good managers, seeing an employee struggling would go-over and offer support. Now most employees are working from home, a manager has to support their teams remotely. Even with regular checks, virtual meetings and catch up calls, employees more than ever before have to self-manage.

To answer the self-management question, employees can use the ME(model/example) job interview formula; explain a time a management model such as the urgent/important model, and follow this up using an example (ideally while working remotely)

The example should explain;

The situation – an example of having various tasks and deadlines

The Actions taken – using the model give a realise account of what was prioritise, why one task was more urgent than another and how you reviewed each task/target against the deadline.

The outcome – explain the feedback you received for achieving multiple targets/deadlines

How do you stay motivated while working from home?

It is easy to become demotivated or distracted while working from home. Even high work ethic employees struggle when they don’t work within the company premises.

The explanation, though, is relatively simple. Explain to reduce distractions that you have set up an area dedicated to work (this could be an office, or the end of the dining room table) and how in this area you only have work related equipment.

Next, go on to discuss how you plan breaks so the routine of the day matches the routine of working in the company premises. And how you use to-do list, calendars and the urgent/important model to prioritise tasks.

End, by explaining how research shows that having exercise and plenty of fluids decreases anxiety, so with that in mind you go running once a day.

What changes have you had to make while working from home?

On the face of it employees haven’t made that many changes since they have moved to a remote working environment, apart from the obvious – they are now working from home!

This interview question isn’t really asking about physical changes IE you have set up an office in the spare bedroom, even though you could start the interview answer explaining the ergonomics of working from home.

Instead, the question is asking what do you do differently to complete business as usual tasks. If for example the job role is a call agent, and in the office the employer used automatic calling system, the employer wants to know what you now do to meet any targets?

To answer use a 3-point structure:

Point 1 – explain any differences ‘I don’t have access to an automatic call system…’

Point 2 – discuss actions you took to improve your current situation ‘…. instead I have manually inputted all the numbers onto a spreadsheet, that I can then click to create an automated call…’

Point 3 – point out the pro’s and con’s ‘…initially this took some time, but once I started to make calls I could do this as fast as being in the office…’

What considerations do you have to make when communicating from a home office?

The communication covid-interview question is mainly asked ion job roles where employees need to contact customers, give regular updates to the board, deliver online training sessions, etc.

The employer wants to do if an employee is planned and prepared. The answer would vary depending on the job role but in the main the interview answer should cover:

  • Reducing background noise
  • Planning for a break in internet connection
  • Talking slower with better diction as this translates better online
  • Stopping interruptions from family members entering the room
  • The background (no messy houses) and outfit (some people think its fine to wear casual clothes in important meetings because they work from home)
  • Technology – using conference call share the screen, comments box etc

Give an example of handling stress during Covid?

The whole situation of covid has been a stressful experience for most people.

When answering the stress interview question, applicants could use covid as an example. But ideally, be more specific. What parts of working from home and the job role could be potentially stressful? What can you do to overcome this?

An example of this could someone working in supply-chain management There day-to-day stress of this job role is getting the chain to work smoothly, which includes the collaboration of suppliers. This ‘stress’ has been increased with many suppliers reducing workforces or working from home – all creating delays in communications.

Once a job related ‘stress’ has been explained, the interviewee can then share their plan to manage the problem and therefore manage the ‘stress’. In this case the plan could include bring suppliers onboard well in advanced of an order, asking for regular meeting slots with commonly used suppliers.

What employers are looking for is an employee who can predict stress points 9these can be personal) and actions they can take to reduce stress.

What has working from home or working during Covid taught you?

Covid for many people has been stressful, but also it has taught many people new things about themselves that they weren’t aware of; resilience, organisational skills, creativity, motivation levels. Some employees are unaware of their skill set because of the way they are managed or because of a process driven job role.

The pandemic, initially, had a gap where employers were unsure what they could do, how they can create output with their team working from home. Some employees sat back and waited for direction, while others suggested ideas, took the initiative, found creative solutions to industry problems.

When discussing what you learnt about yourself, first detail the problem covid created within your company. Explain what it was you did to make a positive difference and how this action was then replicated within the larger team, having a bigger impact on output.

Are you willing to work from home as part of business-as-usual?

Employers have found that a resilient workforce can have the same output as they do while working in the company premises. The bonus for an organisation is a reduction in overhead cost. More businesses are now looking to increase the number of working from home employees even post-covid.

This question is checking that the applicant is happy to work from home long-term. The answer depends on the individual and if they actual are happy working from home, if not, this position isn’t most likely the right one for you.

Are you happy to return to the office fulltime post-covid restrictions?

The opposite to the above question is being asked if you are willing/ready to return to the office premises.

Some staff have had to take on extra, as an example, caring responsibilities. Some employees now only want a job where they can work from home.

The employer here, knowing that they require a company premises based team need to ensure they are hiring an employee with the same mindset.

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What is a structured job interview?

The most common barrier to a successful interview, its the applicant’s lack of understanding of the job interview process. The equivalent is like entering a baking competition and not knowing a recipe.

This article will explain the job interview process with a view to helping career professionals prepare, and therefore, pass the job interview.

99% of employers use a structured job interview as the main element of their recruitment process. The structured job interview, research has proven, has the ability to predict job performance.

Structured interviews can be a face to face or a virtual job interview.

An explanation of a structured job interview

A structured job interview is the process of asking the same interview questions, based on the job criteria of the advertised position, to each applicant.

Each interview question, referenced in an interview scorecard, is allocated a point system. Depending on the applicant’s answer, and if the applicant references enough of the job criteria, the interviewer will score each answer a point(s). The highest number of total allocated points, or scores, results in that applicant being offered the advertised role – as long as the totaled score is above the minimum score required to be offered a contract of employment.

Interview scorecard

An interviewers scorecard will state each of the interview questions, allowing the interviewers to ask each question in the same format, to help create a fair recruitment process.

Each question is then split into, on average, 4 levels of answers with 1 = negative, 2 = good, 3 = effective 4 = expert, with each employer having their own numeric scoring system.

Under each interview question an example of what a 1-4 socirng answer would look, to assist the employer in allocating points to interviewees answers.

Common practice is for interviewers to write verbatim the candidates interview answers during the job interview, and once the interviewee has left to review the answers against the criteria on the interview scorecard with a final review of all applicants taken place once all candidates have been interviewed.

Interviewees, at the stage, will discuss and compare answers and scores with one another before adding a final overall score to each applicant.

Structured job interview questions

There are two types of structured job interviews; behavioural job interview and a situational job interview.

Behavioral job interview.

Employers using behavioural interview questions will frame the interview question on past behaviours.

The idea is that past behaviours best predict future job performance.

Behavioral job interview questions:

  • Give me an example of being successful in a job interview?
  • Have you ever had to negotiate a salary offer?
  • What experience do you have in this job role?

Situational job interview.

Situational job interviews frame the questions as a future scenario.

The belief is job performance can be predicted by an applicant stating how they would go about the task.

Situational job interview questions.

  • If you were successful in a job interview, what would you be doing?
  • How would you approach a salary negotiation?
  • Tell me how you would achieve your targets?

How to pass a structured job interview

No matter how the job interview question is framed (behavioural or situational), the answers, if they reference the job criteria, will be scored high, therefore, increasing an applicants chance of being hired.

In addition to simply referencing the criteria job, applicants need to show their level of industry knowledge and experience. Using industry language, sector-related abbreviations and quoting models relating to the job role can increase the allocated points given to an applicant.

Even though a structured interview is a logical process, the use of stories and examples often score high marks, as long as they are relevant.

The use of a structure with the interview answer, listing key requirements and making comparisons makes the understanding of the interview answer easier for the interviewer to digest.

Finally, an applicants confidence levels and their communication, tonality and if they sound passionate about the position increasing scores; in this sense the same answer can be scored higher depending on how the answer was delivered.

2 types of interviews

The 2 most common job interviews are

  1. A structured job interview
  2. An informal (unstructured) job interview

A structured interview can be 1-2-1 or a panel interview. The structured interview can be a situational or behavioural interview, or often a blended version of the two types of structured job interview questions.

The informal, unstructured, job interview is a conversation between the interviewer and applicants. Unlike the structured job interview, in an informal job interview there are no set questions and the questions that are asked aren’t graded on a interview scorecard. In fact the outcome of an unstructured job interview replies mainly on intuition.

The end of a job interview

At the job interview end, the employer will ask each candidate if they have any questions?

It is important to prepare questions to ask the employer. The questions should be unique and insightful. Don’t ask about salary, number of holidays, as this information come sup during a final job interview.

Good topics to ask about include:

  • Professional development
  • Company growth
  • Sector related information

Chris Delaney

Chris Delaney is one of the leading job interview coaches in the country, helping career professionals to successfully pass job interviews. Delaney is the author of several job interview reference books including ‘what is your interview identity’

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