In semester two I attended a Careers Service talk on interviews.
In all honesty I was hit by the ‘nearly graduated and no career plan as yet’
panic! Like many other students in my position, the majority of my previous
experience of interviews has been an ‘informal chat’ for a part-time job. It’s
always been a one-to-one affair and has usually lasted all of ten minutes. So
the idea of a lengthy formal interview with a panel, which I believe is typical
of many graduate positions, breaks me out in a sweat!
The Careers Service talk was full of helpful tips to
minimise the stress before attending an interview. Simple things like finding
out who will interview you,
understanding the dress-code (if in doubt, overly formal is always
better than not formal enough!), having your travel or accommodation sorted, and
ensuring you get there early, can all make the experience go smoother. The Careers
Adviser also explained that the interview should be a 2-way process; you should
be asking the questions to make sure it’s the right job/company for you, as
well as you being the right person for the employer.
Although the talk was helpful, just attending isn’t going to
make me the world’s best interviewee. I already know that my weakness lie in
self-confidence and overcoming nerves, so I think that’s something I’ll need to
work on separately. I didn’t realise that the Careers Service has interview
software so that you can practice your interview technique - I think that this
will be my next step!
For help preparing for interviews, look at our guide
to ‘Interviews and assessment centres’ or watch our online talks – Understanding Interviews 1 and Understanding Interviews 2.
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