Telephone job interviews are, in the main, viewed by employers as a recruitment cost saving process.
Think about it, to deliver a structured job interview requires time, resources and of course money. It makes much more time to plan for a face to face job interview than it does a telephone one.
With employers receiving hundreds of suitable application forms from high skilled applicants, recruiters need to be able to reduce the number of job seekers they will eventually offer a job interview to.
Initially, the employer will reduce the ‘suitable’ applicants down to a reasonable number through the application process, but as the number of applications received for each position rises, the employer needs to add in a ‘screening’ interview which is designed to result in only the most suitable candidates being offered a face-to-face job interview.
The telephone interview is the most common way to ‘screen’ applicants.
What questions are asked in a telephone interview?
A telephone screening interview is short. Unlike a structured job interview, where each interviewee is asked the same job interview questions, the telephone screening interview is an investigation.
Employers, after reading the job applications from applicants that they feel have the required skills and experiences, still need to reduce the applications to around 6-10 applicants that they will invite to a job interview.
While reviewing the application forms, employers may require specific information to ambiguous statements: “12 years sector experience…” The conscious interviewer will be asking “12 years experience in the same position? company? level of responsibility?”
It is this specific ‘data’ that will be the basis of the screening interview. In this way, each screening telephone interview will be different.
Out of all the common interview questions asked, the ‘what is your greatest weakness’ question, is among the hardest to answer.
Candidates, applying for an advertised position within a new organisations, struggle to answer a direct interview question that deliberately focuses on a negative, not a strength, because they believe that a ‘negative’ interview answer will score low, on the interview scorecard
Who is asked the ‘weakness’ interview question?
What many applicants don’t consider, is that all interviewees will be asked the same ‘weakness’ interview question.
Some of these applicants will try to influence the job interview by not directly answering the question: ‘I don’t have any weaknesses!’
This answer is weak within itself. It is the same as being asked ‘are you a team player?’ to then talk about working on your own initiative. Employers ask each job interview question for a particular reason – they want to know something specific about the applicant that is relevant to the job vacancy.
Job seekers who state: ‘I have no weaknesses’ will be scored low.
Interviewers are really asking ‘how do you develop?’ or ‘what have you done to improve an area of development?’
Mainly the ‘weakness’ interview question is asked for low skilled positions or within the ‘supportive’ sector that needs career professionals to be lifelong learners.
How to approach the ‘weakness’ question?
We have established that the ‘weakness’ question is really about a candidate’s approach to development. More specifically, self-reflection and development.
The 3 step process to answer the ‘weakness’ interview question is:
Self-reflection – identifying a weakness or area of development
Upskilling – taking action to develop the weakness
Ability test – completing a self-check to ensure the weakness or area of development has been overcome
How to answer ‘do you have any weaknesses?’ Interview question.
The 3 step process, when answering the interview question, can be framed with an opening and summary.
Interview answer opening.
“I believe everyone has areas of development…”
“One of my strengths is recognising my weaknesses, so I ca develop my skills….”
“Because I believe in self-development, I am always self-assessing my skills…”
Interview answer 3 step process.
Self-reflection – “…an example of this is when I (give an example of a self-development process IE during an employee review, completing a skill test, via a mentor, etc)…”
Upskilling – “….to develop this skill I focused my time on (add actions you took to improve the (area of development)…”
Ability test – “….I knew I had improved on this area when (give an example of using the skill with confidence and competence)
Working for a government department, a civil service administrator is responsible for the administration of government policies to serve the public.
Civil service administrative tasks can be a front or back-office job. Front office includes dealing directly with the public, requiring an additional set of skills. In fact, for each civil service role, duties will vary.
In this sense, applicants need to carefully read the job description to help predict the job interview questions. Below is a list of the most common interview questions and answers for a civil service administrator.
Civil Service Administrator Job Interview Questions and Answers
Each of the commonly asked job interview questions can be phrased differently for each particular job interview, but the required answer (meeting the job criteria) will be the same.
Read the interview question, relate the question to your own experience and skill set, and use the example formats as a basis to create an answer that will score high during the job interview.
Civil Service Administrator Interview – have you worked in a government office before?
Of course, the ideal answer to any interview question is ‘yes’, but if you haven’t worked with a government office don’t worry that this will be a barrier to employment.
The ‘experience’ question is designed to check that the applicant has the required competencies to confidently complete the day-to-day duties of a civil service administrator.
The opening statement to the interview answer needs to state clearly the administration experience the applicant possesses.
“Yes I have 12 years experience working in government offices, with the past 5 years being spent at …..”
Or for non-government experience, pass this question by focusing on the candidates office experience.
“For the last 22 years, I have worked in administration where I have been responsible for….”
For each version of the answer, the interviewee should state experiences and skills relevant for the role they are applying for.
“…my strengths include (list duties that match the job criteria) …”
Civil Service Administrator Interview – give me an example of dealing with customer/service users sensitively
As a civil service front-of-house administrator, the employee will be dealing with customers, and their sensitive issues, on a daily basis. Even back of office administrators often communicate with customers (this could be online or via the telephone), therefore, all administrators in one form or another need to possess customer service, interpersonal and communication skills.
‘Example’ interview questions are designed to see how the applicant has previously dealt with a situation (similar to a situation that they will face once employed).
When giving ‘examples’ applicants must embed the skills and qualities they used to gain a successful outcome. Don’t simply state the situation, several actions, and an outcome. Instead, explain the strategy behind the conversation.
3 steps for answering ‘example’ interview questions
Step 1 – set the scene. Describe in detail the customer, how they were feeling, their communication style, and the sensitive issue.
Step 2 – focus on thinking. Explain the strategy or thought process you went through to ensure the approach you took best fitted the situation. Give detail here by explaining that normally you would do X, but due to the nature of the situation you did Y (as this shows creative problem-solving skills)
Step 3 – conclude. Finally discuss what happened post the conversation, etherizing the positive outcome.
Civil Service Administrator Interview – when report writing, what do you think about?
As a civil service administrator, there will be an expectation to produce accurate and high-quality reports.
In many administration job interviews, a literacy test will be mandatory. In addition, the employer will ask questions are report writing,
A strategy for answering ‘skill-based interview questions is to set out the steps required for the task. As an example for report writing you may;
Quantify what is required
Research, collect data, find evidence
Plan the report structure depending on the intended audience
Draft, analyze and rewrite the report
Process report
A process answer needs to be wrapped around with a confirmation opening line that confirms the applicant is an experienced report writer, and a summary to close the interview answer.
Civil Service Administrator Interview – how would you ensure you are adhering to a high number of complex procedures?
Working in the civil service can be a stressful career, due to the tight deadlines, having to support customers with their complaints, and having to follow processes and procedures that often change.
The employer here is asking how the employee can adhere to the many processes embedded in the civil service sector.
By explaining the applicant’s understanding of procedures can help an employer to identify a strong or weak employee.
Initially, discuss how it is important to understand the ‘aim’ of a policy or procedure (by understanding the aim, employees are more likely to adhere to the policy) before embedding the process into business as usual.
Next, give an example of following a complex procedure in the workplace. explain the consequences of not complying with the process and, in the example, set out the outcome that was created from following the procedure.
Civil Service Administrator Interview – give me an example of your research skills
Research skills are paramount in the civil service sector. As a key skill, the answer to the ‘research’ question must showcase the applicant’s research skill set.
Stay away from giving an example that states an easy piece of research. Instead, explain the complexities of research- did the applicant use qualitative or quantitative data? Why does the data source matter?
By stating problems and solutions to research problems only helps to highlight an applicant’s research knowledge. After explaining the complexities of research, the interviewee can give a research example.
The example can explain the reason for the research, any potential barriers to the research project, and the actions the applicant took to gather and write up the research knowledge they found.
Civil Service Administrator Interview – tell me about a time you worked as part of a project team
A civil service office is a team within a much large, national, team. Within the office team, smaller project teams will be put together to complete mini-projects. Therefore, teamwork skills in this role are a must.
To answer ‘project’ interview questions, compared to answering an interview question relating to business as usual, the applicant needs to set out the reason and objectives of the project “I was part of X project, the project was a 2-year project designed to X, Y, and Z…”
Because ‘projects,’ within the civil service, are commonplace, applicants need to discuss the project tools they can use; Gantt charts, risk assessment, finance sheets, and how they utilize the tools within the project.
Finally, state the impact the project had on business as usual.
10 job interview pieces of advice, tips and suggestions to help ready you to face the interviewer.
This is a quick summary to help ace the job interview. Click the links for more a detailed breakdown of interview advice.
Job Interview Advice – What are the things you should never say in an interview?
A job interview is designed to test if an applicant is a ‘good fit’ for the organisation.
As each company is different, they all have their own values and vision, applicants should approaches each job interview differently.
But, a career professional excels in an organisation that has a culture that fits, naturally, with their temperament. In this sense, applicants can be themselves , and say whatever they like – for some interviews this would result in a job rejection (but the career professional may not of enjoyed working within this culture) or a job offer (and is likely to excel)
Saying that, though, there is a couple of common mistakes applicants make during the job interview; the common no-no’s during a job interview:
Don’t talk about salary until an employer brings this up
Don’t put up barriers by stating that there is an expectation to work out a long notice period
Don’t ask personal questions unrelated to the job sector or company
Job Interview Advice – How do you make a good impression during the interview
Likeability is the key to interview success
A confident self-promoter, research shows, is more likely to gain employment then a quiet applicant who easily self-discloses weaknesses.
Each Interviewer asks different types of interview questions. A good rule of thumb when answering any job interview question is to state, confidently, that you have the required skill or experience
“In my last role this was one of my main duties…”
Second, give an example “an example of this was….”
And finally create a summary “to end I have 6 years experience of (skill)..”
Job Interview Advice – How to prepare for the job interview
Job interview preparation is key to a successful career.
Once an applicant has been invited to the interview, it is the employer who will start the interview, often by making small talk (to relax the applicant)
Applicants need to be polite by introducing themselves to the other interviewers.
The applicant, to come across well at the interview start, can create a conversation by asking the interviewer questions rather than just answering their questions.
It is important at the interview start to communicate with confidence, discussing sector-related information as this creates a positive interview identity.
Job Interview Advice – How to be more confident in a job interview
Applicants can use mind tricks to increase confidence
Imagine a positive interview where everything is going well. By imagining a confident version of yourself creates the feeling of confidence
Remember industry-related successes to remind yourself of your high level of sector skills
Stand with confidence as the mind-body connection makes you feel confident if you stand with confidence
Job Interview Advice – What common mistakes do people make in a job interview?
There are 3 key mistakes applicants make who constantly fail in job interviews. These interview mistakes are often unconscious but have a terrible effect on the outcome of the job interview
Self-discloses weaknesses, past mistakes and negative traits without being promoted by the interview panel
Talk to quickly (and therefore not understood) or say to little (and not hit the job criteria resulting in a low scoring answer)
Makes no effort to build likability or rapport with the employer
Job Interview Advice – How does a structured interview work?
Each applicant, in a structured job interview, is asked the same 10 job interview questions. The question, recorded on an interview scorecard, comes with a scoring mechanism, often a score of 1-4.
The more job criteria a candidate states the high a score they will receive, with the highest-scoring applicant being offered the advertised role.
Probation officers work with a caseload of offenders to support each of them to make better life choices to reduce reoffending.
Probation officers can work in the community, in the courts or within prisons. Each probation officer is tasked to work collaboratively with the police, prison service, social services, housing agencies and a range of professional agencies to create a supportive program that will reduce reoffending.
To be successful in a probation job interview, applicants need to showcase a range of skills and qualities from interpersonal skills to teamwork, from case management to report writing.
During a probation officer job interview, applicants will be asked to give evidence on how they meet the job criteria. Each ‘essential’ job criteria for a probation officer will be discussed and challenged through a number of job interview questions.
Due to the complexity of work that a probation officer has to undertake, and therefore highlight in the interview, the applicant needs to prepare and practice the most commonly asked job interview questions.
Why have you applied for a probation officer position?
To be a probation officer you will either have a Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) – this is an industry recognised probation officer qualification and/or a number of years experience working with ‘challenging’ behaviors.
When explaining why you have applied for a probation officer role, the applicant can first state their level of knowledge and experience “Last year a passed by PQiP and have been working with ex-offenders as part of a local initiative…”
Follow up the opening statement by giving an example of relevant skills: “When working on X project, I was responsible for (case management, effective decision making, working with offenders, etc)
And end the interview answer with a short summary “I applied to work with youth offenders, rather than adult offenders, because (reason)…”
What do you have to consider when case-managing a large number of offenders?
Case-management questions are asking about an applicants organisational skills.
Start with an example: “In my previous role I successfully managed a caseload of 55 ongoing cases…”
Next, state the skills and strategies that were used to ensure that all key tasks and duties were performed on time and to a high level of quality.
“When case managing, I found it important to utilize management tools. As an example of this I would manage by time by using X tool, this allowed me to A, B and C…”
In addition, applicants can explain a common problem relevant to case managing offenders and state the solution: “When working with X company, we found that 50% of offenders would not attend their 3rd probation appointment. To increase attendance on the 2nd appointment, that many offenders attended, I would (add strategy)…”
Why is accurate report writing important for a probation officer?
Any interviewer that starts a question by asking why X is important is telling the interviewee that this is a key duty/skill that is required for the advertised role.
At the start of the interview answer, candidates can reassure the interviewer by agreeing to the statement “I agree report writing needs to be accurate….” The agreement with the interviewer increases liking.
After the ‘agreement frame’ explains the reason why (the applicant) agrees with the statement embedded within the interview question: “…because the reports probation officers write can be used as evidence in a court of law….”
End the interview answer by stating the process utilized in previous roles “To ensure accuracy of my reports I (make notes, write the reports during a meeting, check and recheck accuracy, etc)…”
As one of the key duties of a probation office, this question is bound to come up during the job interview.
How would you risk assess an offender?
The risk assessment is based on two key; the risk of reoffending and the risk of risk of serious harm.
When answering the interview question, applicants need to show their understanding of risk management. Interviewees new to this sector need to discuss their knowledge base, while experienced probation officers can give a real-life example. Either way will help create a positive interview identity from an employer’s perspective.
Explain risk level, who is at risk, protective factors and how the applicant would go about completing the risk assessment – what evidence they would use?
How would you support an offender not to re-offend?
The re-offend question is the bases of the job role. There are many approaches and potential answers here.
In short, this question allows an applicant to discuss their unique selling point – the reason they should be hired for the role.
A strong opening answer can win the interviewer over “in all my previous roles I have been able to reduce the number of re-offenders on my caseload by an average of 30%..”
By stating a confirmation of ability, creates interest. Follow up this opening line by stating the process used to achieve the stated results.
“To lower the number of re-offenders I…….”
Examples could include:
“Help to plan the diary management of offenders with community orders, this simple strategy ensures offenders attend their agreed number of hours working in the community”
“I have a collaborative approach with external agencies to ensure the offender has all the basics; housing, benefits, medical care. This collaborative approach not only reduces the hours the probation service needs to put in to support an offender but also ensures an offender doesn’t feel they have to offend to survive.”
“My ability to be trust and rapport with an offender allows them to open up to me. This mentoring approach has been proven to help me find the underlying issues the offender has and therefore gain the offender the right support to help them live a normal life.”
Most career professionals will state that the job interview is the most fearful activity they have to undertake. They are wrong! In fact, more people fear public speaking above all else.
Therefore, the job interview presentation is twice as scary.
To help applicants to have interview success, the following interview presentation guide gives a step-by-step process, from the construction of the interview presentation to the delivery, designed to help interviewees pass the job interveiw presentation section of the job interview.
How to create a good interview presentation
Presentation preparation is key.
The 3 steps to create an interview presentation are:
Step 1 – know your audience
Step 2 – time your speech
Step 3 – plan your delivery
Know your audience
The first task for any public speaker is to know what to say.
Employers will send candidates a presentation brief explaining the duration of the presentation (often 10-15 minutes), the topic/presentation title (or questions that need answering) and any additional requirements (must use slides, add a Q&A section to the presentation).
Once you have the ‘rule book’ or brief for the presentation, the next step is to think about the audience. Interviews that require a presentation will often have 2-3 interviewers assessing the interview performance.
Remember – the interviewers will want the applicants to perform well, as they are looking to hire the best applicant for the vacancy.
When the candidate enters the room, the lead interviewer will confirm the duration of the presentation and any of the key rules (Q&A).
It is up to the interviewee to start and stop the presentation within the allocated time slot. The audience, the interviewers, will remain quiet throughout the presentation. This can be off-putting for some presenters, or a positive for others.
The interviewers use the presentation to test presenting skills if that is a requirement of the job role, or for most non-teaching positions, the interviewers use a presentation to check the applicant’s level of industry knowledge.
How many slides do you need for a 10-minute interview presentation
A commonly asked question for interview presentations is how many slides to during a 10 minute presentation.
The answer is as many or as little as you like. Not the best answer I know, but what the presenter needs to decide is what will make them a more confident orator?
Two possible choices:
Maximum slides – having 10-20 slides to flick through has one key advantage; data, information and prompts can be added to the slide deck helping the interviewee to stay on track during the presentation, increasing delivery confidence.
Also, additional slides moves the audiences eye contact away from the speaker and onto the powerpoint (a positive for anxious speakers)
Having a high amount of slides can be a negative as some speakers, especially nervous speakers, will be overwhelmed by having to flick through slides that are linked to the speech.
In addition, some speakers with a large slide deck will rely on the slide deck in preference of practice – a big no-no!
Minimum slides – the second option, therefore, is to have minimum slides (2-3 slides) This shows confidence and encourages all eyes to be on the speaker.
By being the focus within the interview presentation, rather then beautiful visual slides being the main focus, employers will increase rapport through the confident, well-rehearsed, delivery of industry-related information.
If, however, the present lacks confidence the all eyes on them approach can be daunting.
The number of slides required for a 10-minute speech.
Returning to the question. A good rule of thumb is 1 slide per minute. This allows enough verbal communication vs visual data to create a professional style speech.
Interview presentation structure
When preparing for an interview presentation, applicants will no doubt google ‘presentation structures.’ There is a wealth of knowledge online, with speaking structure advice stating ‘add an intriguing hook’ ‘start at the end’ ‘use storytelling’ and any number of suggestions.
For an interview presentation keep it simple (unless you are an experience public speaker).
The easiest speech stuck to adopt is a 3 step speech structure:
State what you will be discussing
Discuss the topic
Summarise what you have discussed
Remember, for most interview presentations you are not being marked on your oration skills, rather the interviewer is looking for sector knowledge and insight.
By stating clearly what the presentation will cover makes it easier for the interviewers to record the essential criteria during the speech, as they know that each section is about particular criteria.
In the main, there will be 3 key points that each interviewee will be trying to get across, with sub-point for high skilled complex job roles. Step 2, discussing the topic, is the most important part of the interview presentation.
During step 2 give examples, state facts and discuss any relatable sector knowledge. If the presentation requires the applicant to discuss multiple criteria break the tep into 3 sections “to explain (criteria) I will discuss A, B and C. A is when….”
To end the presentation, it is important to summarise what has been discussed. The summary remains the interviewers of the applicants sector knowledge and experience as well as making it clear that the presentation has ended ” to conclude…..”
Body language tips
Non-verbal communication is just as important as verbal communication during an interview presentation.
Just before the applicant speaks, a good speaking trick is to pick a spot, front and centre, on the stage and stand with legs shoulder width apart. Stay silent for a few seconds, then open the speech with a solid line without moving from the chosen spot – this comes across as confident.
Move with purpose
After the first line the speaker can ‘move with purpose.’ After saying a statement, the speaker can move across the stage before discussing the next point. During the movement the sides can switch to the next one in line.
This creates hits 3 speaking element; visual aids from the slidedeck, movement which helps keeps an audience engaged and a focus on the speaker when they have an important point to make, achieved by speaking when standing still.
Eye contact
Confident speakers have a natural ability to hold eye contact. When making a point look at one of the interveiwers and hold their gaze through the point being made. at the end of the point flick yoru eyes across the other interveiwers. On the next point pick a different interview to maintain eye contact with.
Holding eye contact increases rapport, as the audience feels part of the speech – you are talking directly to them. It is also hard for an interviewer to lose concentration when they are maintaining eye contact, keeping the interview panel engaged throughout the presentation.
Open gestures
As well as highlighting the candidate’s competency level, the interview presentation also increases or decreases candidate likeability. Likeability can be increased through the speaker’s body language.
Crossed arms is a sign of defensiveness.
Open gestures; palms facing the audience highlights friendliness.
Smile increases warmth.
Talking with hands shows confidence and reinforces the vernal point the speaker is making.
Hand covering mouth, or ear rubbing while speaking is a sign of deceit.
Stay calm during the interview presentation
Each year psychologist poll people’s biggest fear and each year public speaking ranks as the number one fear.
Being anxious in a job interview only ends badly.
Increasing confidence is relatively easy. First, you need to understand how the nervous system affects the job interview outcome, by setting off the fight or flight response;
The thought of failing increases the heart rate which sends a signal to the brain stating that you, the applicant, are in danger. Once the brain detects a threat, the fight or flight response kicks in.
The mind can only truly focus on one thought – if you imagine being confident in a job interview; seeing yourself as charismatic, charming and a great communicator, your emotions (through the mind/body cycle) will be in confidence mode.
List Interview Successes
Focusing the mind on interview strengths rather than interview failures, increasing job interview confidence. The same process is used for daily affirmations. If you repeat to yourself your strengths you will believe these to be true, therefore perform better in the job interview.
Interview Humour
It is well known that smiling increases likeability with an interviewer. But a second additional benefit comes from smiling – it relaxes you. Thinking of something humorous, or even laughing at the fact you feel so nervous when all you have to do is talk about yourself for 45 minutes, can be enough to make you smile, and therefore relax.
To help applicants pass job interviews, career professionals can take the job interview prediction test to determine their interview identity.
Seven million years ago, when humans first roamed the world, the only job was survival.
To access this career, the ‘job seeker’ didn’t require career guidance, they were simply born into the tribe. The job in question was hunting and gathering, and of course reproduction.
The first job market
As the hunter and gatherers settled down and became farmers, ‘jobs’ as we know became more integrated into daily life with each tribe member (or now farmer or field hand) having an expertise.
Farmers, toolmakers, carpenters, the original doctors (or medicine men, as they were known) and other essential workers were required to keep the population well fed and safe, with each generation improving their skill set and knowledge to survive in the new world.
As farms became towns and towns turn into cities, more specialist careers were required; ironmongers, horse breeders, herbalist, butchers, jewelry makers. Before long, there were lawyers, politicians and soldiers.
Family Careers
Initially, skills were passed down from one generation to another, with each family teaching their children the skills of their trade. Observational learning started at an early age with children supporting their parents and older siblings to help keep food on the plate.
A career was necessary to survive. If a family couldn’t sell what they created, they could easily find themselves on the street.
Apprenticeships originally started when a family who didn’t have children (or enough children to keep up with demand) took on other children as apprentices. The first apprenticeships were originally a contract of servitude.
Industrial Revolution Jobs
By the 1800s the world had the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution saw the increase in a need for low-skilled workers, as large factors required hundreds of humans to be cogs in the industrial machine.
Career choices were made on where a person lived (and class status) rather than personal preference. Living in Manchester increased the likelihood of a factory career, or a fishing profession if you lived near the coast.
Careers and livelihoods depended on an areas success, not the skills of an individual.
Transport opened up the job market
As transport links (the invention of motorcars and railways) allowed people to move with ease to new areas, allowing individuals to chase the jobs of their dreams. This created competition for jobs.
The technology was also changing the job landscape, with machines being used to automate basic tasks, which led to the Luddites movement.
The first recorded job interview.
Thomas Edison, in 1921, was the first employer to be recorded to have used a recruitment process. The assessment used was to test the knowledge of job applicants.
When the famous inventor Edison required a new staff member he would receive hundreds of applications. But the problem Edison faced was his new employees did not have the required knowledge for the job role.
Instead of hiring ‘anyone’ Edison created a test to check the applicant’s knowledge and experience.
Edison Interview Questions
What is the first line in the Aeneid?
Who was the Roman Emperor when Jesus was born?
Where is the River Volga?
What is brass made of?
Who assassinated President Lincoln?
Modern Job Interviews
Next came face to face interviews, assessment centres and practical exams. Technology continues to influence the job interview; the invention of telephones leads to telephone screening interviews, the internet creating video interviewing and artificial intelligence creating an online automated (non-human) interview process.
To help applicants pass job interviews, career professionals can take the job interview prediction test to determine their interview identity.
Post higher education, accessing the world of work can not only be daunting it can be harder then expected.
Having a degree doesn’t guarantee job offers. In fact, for many industries, a degree is a minimum requirement, not a gold standard.
What is a graduate scheme?
One option for graduates is a ‘graduate scheme.’ A graduate scheme is a 1-3 year structured training programme designed by an employer to support a new graduate to gain a level of industry competencies.
Even though a graduate scheme is an employed training scheme, starting salaries can be high. The negative side of a well paid training programme for graduates is the competition for each graduate scheme vacancy.
Graduate schemes vacancies often go live between from July-Nov. The recruiting process is often long and can include a CV, application form, assessment centers and competency-based interviews, with most employers looking for graduates with a 2.1 grade.
In addition to a well paid graduate job, most employers will offer graduates a full time position once the graduate scheme has ended.
What is a graduate job?
A graduate job is essentially a job for graduates, often the first position the graduate accesses after university or higher education in a further education establishment.
Graduate positions are those roles that require the applicants to possess a certain level of knowledge and skills gained from completing a degree level course. This level of industry knowledge reassures the employer that the graduate will be able to complete sector related activities.
The application route for a graduate job is the same process for employed jobs in each sector, with a common recruitment process comprising off application form, assessment and panel interview.
What is an internship?
Another option for graduates (and current students) is to apply for an internship. The internship, which often last around 1-12 months and can be full or part-time, is a chance for the ‘intern’ to gain sector experience by becoming employed (some internships are voluntary) and taking on sector related duties.
Even with the voluntary internships and for all paid internships, the graduate needs to apply for the inten position as they would a full time role.
Graduate Job Interviews
For all 3 options; internship, graduate job or a graduate scheme, the graduate will be expected to attend and pass an interview as part of the recruitment process.
Questions asked to graduates vary from the commonly asked job interview questions, even though there is some overlap.
Graduate interviews will generally be split into 3 sections, with interview questions being asked on the applicant’s degree course, their industry knowledge in the form of technical questions and work ethic.
Graduate Interview Questions
Applicant’s degree course interview questions
Tell me about your degree course and what you have learnt from it?
What has been your biggest achievement during your time at university?
What grade did you achieve and was this what you expected to achieve?
What part of the degree course did you least enjoy?
Why did you choose that particular degree?
Technical (sector related) interview questions
Technical interview questions varying depending on each industry but will often come in the following format:
What does (add abbreviation) mean?
How would you complete X process or system?
What is your understanding of (sector model/theory)?
Do you have any (industry) related experience?
How is technology changing the future of our sector?
Work ethic interview questions
Did you have a job while studying?
What examples of working collaboratively can you provide?
What would your teacher/professor say about you?
Explain how you would contribute to meeting the organization objectives?
What would you do if a deadline was approaching but you only had 30 minutes until the end of the working day?
How to become a chartered structural engineer – UK
Structural engineers, once qualified, can become ‘chartered’ by passing an IStructE interview, which checks that the structural engineer has a high level of knowledge of all of the 13 core objectives of the IPD (initial personal development).
In addition, to become chartered, the structural engineer needs to complete the chartered membership exam, produce a 2-page experience report (similar to a CV) and possess an IStructE accredited engineering degree.
IStructE Interview
The IStructE chartered interview will last for around 1 hr, including a 15-minute presentation.
The data shows a 75% interview success rate.
The interview can be conducted prior or post the taking of the chartered membership exam.
Chartered Membership Exam
The exam, required to become a chartered engineer, will last for seven hours and is split into two sections; the preparation of a design proposal and calculations, in which each section is worth 50% of the total marks.
Structural engineers will be tested on their knowledge of structural engineering principles, explaining structural design concepts and their ability to find viable solutions to engineering design problems.
As part of the seven hours long exam, the engineer can choose 1 of 5 questions with each question having two sections; design proposal and calculations. Both parts of the question must be satisfactorily answered to achieve a pass;
Section 1 – design proposal looks at functional framing, load transfer and stability.
Section 2 – calculations for the form and size of principle structural elements.
IStructE professional review interview
The IStructE interview is essential a competency-based interview. During the interview, each engineer will be asked to present a 15-minute presentation
IStructE interview presentation
The presentation should last around 15 minutes and be focused on presenting evidence of the candidates involvement in the work stated within the portfolio, showing engineering and technical content and innovation.
IStructE Interview Questions
Engineers will be asked around 10-20 interview questions, with high marks being allocated to interviewees who reference the 13 core objectives (showing knowledge and experience) with confidence, creating a positive or negative impression of the applicant’s competencies, their interview identity.
The interview questions are, in the main, relating to the candidate’s portfolio to check the engineer’s level of knowledge and understanding.
The interviewer(s) aren’t trying to catch out the engineer, instead, they are looking at the interviewee’s competency level and knowledge of the core objectives.
Tip – Bring evidence of your work and personal development to show during the job interview.
Remember – You will be interviewed by at least two interviewers.
Here is a list of some potential IStructE interview questions applicants may be asked, and therefore need to prepare for. Remember, unlike a job interview where the employer is asking questions relating to a set of criteria they require for the advertised position, in the professional review interview, the interviewers are asking in-depth questions based on the applicant’s portfolio to check (and collect more evidence of) the engineers level of competencies and experiences.
Many questions asked will be to clarify ambiguous statements or missing details from the applicant’s portfolio. An example of this would be “who made the decision to do X?” which checks if the candidates level of authority on a project and therefore their experience and knowledge level.
Example Interview Questions asked in a IStructE professional review interview.
Where do you sit within the organisation?
Was this a collaborative project?
How do you decide what technologies are relevant to your project?
Can you tell me a about a practical engineering problem that you had to overcome?
When you worked as part of a team, did the team members report directly to you or was it part of a matrix management system?
How did you communicate across a multifaceted project or organization?
How did you explain technical information to none technical project team members?
Who made the decision to go forward with the project once the initial cost estimation had been reviewed?
How did you risk assess the project?
(When discussing a project) What was your role in that project?
What are your development objectives for the next 5 years?
How do you keep up to date with industry regulations?
Is there anything more that we should know?
An informal interview, therefore, is a conversational job interview that has no structure and scoring process, resulting in hiring decisions being made ’emotionally’.
IStructE Technical Interview Questions
In addition, the interviewers will asked engineering technical questions – in fact around 80% of the interview questions will be technical, relating to the applicant’s portfolio of work.
What are the sub-grades of steel?
Where do you connect ground water relief drains?
What would be your criteria for determining if more stability structure was required?
What about maintaining the continuity of the slab for diaphragm action?
Would it have been better to tie the wall into the slab with resin anchored reinforcement?
For the Typical Internal Stability Framing – what was the reasoning for designating all connections as moment-transfering?
What are your thoughts on the provision of torsional reinforcement in the downstand beam supporting the cantilever?
How do you provide out of plane stability for the steel option?
How do you provide ties between the precast floor and the wall?
What is the reason for the lateral stability columns being internal?
What column base idealisation was selected?
How would you justify a moment-resisting pad foundation?
Where, and what kind of moment connections would you have proposed for the glulam option?
How would the height of a piling rig influence the final option in a restricted height environment if the bedrock was deeper than anticipated?
How would you agree on the limiting influence on the buried services from the foundations with the owner of the services tunnel?
How would you design against vehicle crash loading?
Are there any special considerations for working in close proximity to railways?
How would you deal with a breach of health and safety on site?
The type of job interview questions being asked during recruitment processes has started to change. Why? Because commonly asked job interview questions are predictable, allowing interviewees to create and rehearse their answers prior to the job interview.
The well established, and easy to predict, job interview questions are being asked less frequently because a pre-rehearsed answer makes it difficult for an employer to accurately predict a candidate’s job performance – the goal of a job interview.
‘Are you a good team player?’ – to obvious for a modern day interview.
‘Have you ever taken a day off work?’ – the data is now gathered via an employer reference.
‘What motivates you?’ – predictable, with many answers lacking real substance and therefore insight into the employee’s work ethic.
Instead, a new style of personal-value interview questions are being asked, designed to uncover an applicant’s work ethic, motivational style and to predict a candidate’s job performance.
These interview questions are harder to predict as the questions don’t come up during a ‘job interview question’ Google search….until now!
New Interview Questions
What is the vision for your career?
At face value, this question feels like an employer is being friendly, asking about the applicant’s longer-term objective. Reading between the lines it is obvious that the employer is really asking about employee retention.
Open interviewees might well discuss different sectors they are interested in or mention starting up a business, some may talk about promotional opportunities and becoming an industry expert in the position they are applying for.
There are no right or wrong answers, from an applicant’s perspective, but to get hired employers are looking for a recruit who they can train up, support and develop, and in return an employee who desires to work, for a long timer within their organisation.
What was the decision for accepting the position at your last employer and the decision for leaving them?
A very cleverly worded interview question that strikes at the heart of the matter – an employees motivational pull.
Research shows that career professionals will spend a similar duration, give or take a year or two, with each employer. Answers like ‘I felt it was time to move on’ are clues to this employee’s mindset.
Mentioning a ‘challenge’ for both parts of the question indicates that the employee becomes easily bored.
‘Wanting to be part of a bigger organisation’ can show that an applicant has ambition.
One of the best ways to answer the second part of the question is for the applicant to state how they were very happy with their current employer and only decided to apply for another role after a friend shown them the job advert knowing that (the applicant) had always wanted to work for this organisation.
Imagine you had £7000 to spend on professional-development, what would you do with it?
Many of these new tricky interview questions can daunting, but often the roots of the question relate back to a traditional interview question(s). This question is a new version of the ‘what do you do to keep up with your professional development?’
When answering the question split the answer into two parts. Part 1 what you have currently done to develop your skills and Part 2 how you would spend the £7k
“I would love to have £70000 to spend on professional development. Over the past 2 years, I have focused on developing X and have completed X training courses, gaining skills that I have used to (give a unique selling point)…”
“…If I had £7000 I would want to develop (add specialist knowledge) as this could be used to (generate income)”
This interview answer template is saying 1) I am a lifelong learner 2) I utilise new learning to help to company achieve its objectives 3) I have all the basic industry knowledge so I would only require specific training that could add value to the organisation.
If you were me, what question would you ask you to uncover your weaknesses?
The framing of this question is perfect. The old ‘what are your weaknesses?’ interview question was pants, resulting in most interviewees saying ‘once I spot a weakness I develop my skills to overcome it.’ This response got a bit boring!
The update version is brilliant, with the interviewer putting the owness on the applicant. To be sure, the employer will be asking a follow up question to your reply.
(Candidate) ‘I would ask about X project I worked on’ (employer) ‘what happened on X project?’
Who has shaped you and what did they do?
Mentor-related interview questions are great as you can kill two birds with one stone by giving a two-part answer; requesting a mentor and how the mentor helped you to grow.
By explaining how, due to your passion for professional development, that you wanted to improve (a certain skill or knowledge) you approach a (mentor) This shows how you take it upon yourself to improve your skillset, that you can recognize potential areas of improvement and how you are proactive and confident enough to approach a work mentor.
When discussing the mentoring process stay away from when discussing the mentor’s experience in detail, just reference this before focusing on what you gain from being a mentee and more importantly how you implemented what you learnt into business as usual.
Why are you passionate about our brand?
The core of the interview question is ‘why do you want to work for us?’ But organisations, the bigger companies; Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Disney, etc want to hire passionate employees.
Brands like Amazon are bringing to life their vision. Think about it, Amazon started off selling books and now have their ‘Prime’ services including; Prime TV, Prime Music, Alexa. This global vision is only achieved by hiring staff that can live the company values. To achieve this recruitment goal the hiring team requires passionate employees.
Discuss what it is you love about the company, their products, innovation, way of working.
Tell me about your current teammates?
Requesting an opinion about a team member, manager or organisation creates an insight into the candidate’s temperament.
Answering with ‘they are good but need me to lead them’ doesn’t show leadership, instead it hints to a poor teamwork attitude.
‘X team member was great, they would explain each project, set us a task, and check in to ensure we could meet the project deadlines.’ This type of interview answer highlights that the applicant will need micro-management and lacks initiative.
A good answer, to this question, would be one that explained how collectively you would share ideas to achieve an objective, but when required, for a project with a short deadline as an example, the applicant would take the lead. Giving a couple of different real-life examples will ensure the interview answers meets the marks for the interview scorecard.
What didn’t you add to your CV because you thought is was unprofessional?
On average a CV is only 2 pages long – far from enough to add all of a career professionals’ experiences and skills. In addition, many applicants will miss information as they will deem it unimportant for the job role they are applying for.
When answering interview questions about missing information, the applicant still needs to bear in mind the essential criteria recorded in the job description – don’t go to off-script.
Talking about an earlier job role (after leaving school) and how you gain a skill that you have continued to develop over the course of a career works well, as does joking about a random hobby, before relating how the skill gained from (hobby) is utilised in the day to day task in your current role.
How old was you when you started working?
With many career professionals now working from home or having flexible working contracts, work ethic is high on a recruiter’s radar.
Being asked about what seems an unimportant period in your career is one-way employers understand the motivation of the person they are interviewing. As for example, an applicant talks about how they started a part-time job at the age of 14 to earn extra money for a new pair of trainers shows a person’s attitude towards life, and work.
Applying for additional work experience or volunteering to gain new skills shows work ethic. Even for those who started work at a later stage in their life, answering the question by saying my first job was when I was 25, previously to this I….(give a detailed explanation of what the interviewee did and the reason for their choice) allows an employer to understand what drives the individual.
If we had a review session in 12 months’ time, what would you be discussing with me?
The answer to the review interview question depends on the industry each applicant works in. What is required for all sectors is the ability to think about the objectives of the advertised position; to increase sales, meet project targets, team leadership, increasing website hits) and explain how you be discussing the steps you took to achieve the objective (and then explain each step you took).
You could also say your pay rise, but that joke doesn’t always go down well!
Tell me about a time when you almost failed and what you did to succeed?
When discussing a negative, which this interview questioned is designed to make you do, interviewees need to think about how they will frame the negative.
To answer the ‘failed’ interview question, follow this simple 3 step process
Step 1 – explain the situation, task or project
Step 2 – detail the failure – here is where you set the new frame; you can reference the external forces that created the failure – a most recent example would the impact of COVID which was unpredictable.
Step 3 – showcase your ability and skill set by explaining the actions you took to make the failure into a success.
Personality Interview Questions
One new style of job interviewing is strength-based interviewing where questions are framed with options or to check an applicant’s preferred style of working. The interview question focuses on what the applicant enjoys doing rather than what they can do, allowing recruiters to hire candidates that match their way of working, while reviewing the interviewee’s ability to meet the minimum standard required to be hired.
Some example strength based interview questions are:
Are you better at finding a problem or a solution?
Do you prefer to start or finish task?
Don’t worry about answering these questions as there are no right or wrong answers, you are stating your preference. You can, if inclined to, research the company to understand how they operate to give you an idea of the ‘perfect’ answer.
As an example a ‘blue-sky thinking’ company may ask “to achieve an objective do you implement well-used methods or think out the box?” For a creative company, they may prefer an answer relating to being ‘innovative’.
