INTERVIEW SKILLS

It is currently week 8 of the Applied Professional Practice module and the aim of today's lecture was to give us useful tips and advice whilst facing an interview. Lee Houghton talked us through some of the most common questions we could get asked during an interview and tips on how to succeed. First of all, he started off talking about the importance of having a good Portfolio. In the artistic field, a Portfolio replaces a cover letter (which is a written explanation of a CV). A Portfolio can be physical and a digital (or both). Lee suggested to always have a digital Portfolio because it is easier for an employer to look at and to scroll through (and this should also be accompanied by a website).

some of the things to do to prepare yourself for an Interview

PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW

There are different types of interviews: Video (where you record yourself and send it over to the employer), Telephone/Skype/Zoom (live interviews), Panel, one to one or group interviews. I have never come across to the term Panel interview before. As Lee explained, this is a formal type of interview and it usually involves a desk with three people sitting in front of it. A one to one interview is usually described as an informal chat (but really is an interview in a more informal setting). What you should first do is to put yourself in the interviewer perspective and prepare yourself for some of the questions they might ask you. For instance, to do so, always look back at the job adv you have applied for. To succeed in an interview you must be prepared therefore, you should always do some research on the company (on their websites for instance).

Lee gave us some extremely useful tips:

1. Always try to turn up way earlier than the actual interview. Getting to the location before the set time will calm you down (and you won't risk being late). The same advice should also be applied for an online interview (prepare all you need around an hour before).

2. -Some employers score your answer 1 to 5 (five is the best score), even tho is not always the case (just to bear in mind).

3. -Always try to dress appropriately.

4. -Surveys showed that 33 per cent of employers decide whether to hire someone within the first 90 seconds, therefore making a good impression is vital.

5. -Body language is also very important to generate an excellent first impression. Always try to smile and be yourself.

6. -There are websites that can give you a general idea on the questions you might get asked in an interview (even tho you shouldn't rely on these too much!).

7. -Always ask for feedback, especially if you failed the interview. Doing so will help for future interviews.

Throughout an interview, there are many questions you might be asked: warm-up questions, competency, behavioral, scenario, technical, challenging questions. The last category usually involves describing your strengths and weaknesses.

STAR TECHNIQUE

Above, is the STAR technique, which I had never heard before:

-S (describe a setting-scenario)

-T (explain the task or objective)

-A (what action did you take?)

-R (what was the outcome, result).

This is a very effective technique to answer questions you are asked in the best possible way.

Throughout the presentation, he showed us useful examples of good/bad way of answering questions.

MY REFLECTIONS

This lecture has been extremely insightful and useful. All these tips are definitely going to help me out for whatever interview I will face in the future. The timing seems quite perfect, especially because lately I have been applying for some part-time jobs. So far I have not been successful but I am sure that when I will have the chance to be called for an interview I will scroll through these notes for some help. I might also try to give a look at a LinkedIn Learning course, just to have a different perspective on how to handle an interview. Learning how to properly behave, or how to deal with the pressure of facing an interview was something I was really keen on doing, especially now that I am attending my final year at University.