Job interviews

Job interviews can be a nerve-wracking thing, but there are two important things to remember:

You are already good enough to get the job if they invite you to an interview; they are just seeing if you are the right fit.
You can’t control who else they are interviewing. You might absolutely smash it, but there is someone else there who has more experience or expertise than you. When you accept this, it’s actually quite liberating: all you can do is your best and then wait and see.

To prepare for your interview, start by re-reading your application. This might sound obvious, but you need to know what you said! When you were researching the job, in the process of applying, perhaps you made some notes? Dig them out and see where the gaps are: make sure you are confident that you have a strong grasp of the values and ethos of the organisation/institution, as well as the expectations of the role itself. Glassdoor has seven recommendations for what you should know about a company before you arrive for your interview.

The next step is to prepare your answer to the questions you expect to be asked. You should never attend a job interview without having rehearsed (aloud!) an answer to the very basic question: Why do you want this job?! Your answer should include:

Why you want to do this job – the specific role advertised (not a generic version)
Why you want to work at this place – demonstrate your knowledge of the company/institution
Why now – why you are seeking this role right now and how it fits in with your goals.

You should also prepare for a range of questions that cover the key aspects of the role. For an academic post, this will most likely be teaching, research and administration, but they might also ask you for examples of how you have built partnerships or for examples of public engagement work you have done.

You also need to build a portfolio of prepared answers for competency-based questions. These are the kinds of questions where they ask you things like:

Tell us about a time when you had to manage conflict.
How do you prioritise your workload when you have conflicting demands?
Describe your leadership experience.

Prospects has a helpful list of examples of these sorts of questions, to help you prepare.

Further resources

The STAR technique

This is a simple and well-known technique for structuring your answer to a question during an interview. The letters stand for: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Although preparing a STARR (with an added R for Reflection on the end) is even better.

If you were answering a question about a time you solved a problem, for example, it might go something like this:

When I worked for [name charity] a few years ago, I managed a small team of volunteers to run fundraising events. On one occasion, there was conflict in the team, because no-one wanted to run the food stall. (SITUATION)
I knew that this was an important part of the event and so needed to find a solution. (TASK)
To help resolve the issue, I spoke to each of the volunteers individually and asked them why they didn’t want to do it and what they most wanted to do on the day. Through this, I discovered that lots of the volunteers were worried about getting too hot, so we discussed how we could better ventilate the area and organise short shifts on the stall. I communicated decisions to everyone clearly, so that no-one felt resentful or kept out of the loop. (ACTION)
The result was that the event ran smoothly and the volunteers felt valued, because I also made sure they each had the chance to volunteer in the area that suited them most. I also gave specific and individualised thanks, so they knew I appreciated their efforts towards our shared goal. (RESULT)
From this experience, I learnt that it’s important not just to think about the practicalities when problem-solving, but also to understand people’s motivations and anxieties, so everyone feels invested in the solution. (REFLECTION)

Now try one for yourself!