interviews - curtin university · 04 interviews interviews 05 3 p’s of interview success prepare...

INTERVIEWSCURTIN CAREERS CENTRE

CURTIN UNILIFE

02 INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS 03

CONTENTS

Interviews ..............................................................................................Page 04

Interview Research ...............................................................................Page 05

Types of Interview Questions .............................................................Page 06

Activity 1. Your Characteristics and Skills ........................................ Page 08

Example Interview Questions .............................................................Page 09


Behavioural Interview Questions ....................................................... Page 11

Example Behavioural Interview Questions ........................................ Page 12


Practicing the STAR Model .................................................................. Page 14

Practicing the SAO Model .................................................................... Page 15

Other Important Information ............................................................. Page 16

References ............................................................................................. Page 17

Notes .....................................................................................................Page 18

e STAR Model ...........................................................

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Explore • Connect • Grow


The Curtin Careers Centre provides a range of resources for students interested in enhancing their career potential. Our services include:

• career counselling with professional career development consultants;

• assistance with job search skills and job applications, resume checks, a mentoring program and an online jobs board (Jobs & Events Connect);

• employer presesentations on campus throughout the academic year; plus

• workshops and information sessions on a range of career topics.

We also host the Curtin Careers Fair, WA’s premier university-based fair, along with faculty careers fairs and the Experience Works Fair.

Engage with Curtin Careers Centre today to reach your career goal tomorrow!

Location: Building 303, level 2

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (08) 9266 7802

Skype: CurtinCareersCentre (by appointment only)

Website: www.careers.curtin.edu.au

Access new jobs posted daily, workshop information, special eventsand employer presentations through Jobs & Events Connect.www.careers.curtin.edu.au/jobsandeventsconnect/index.html

Register to attend workshops: www.careers.curtin.edu.au/calendar/

Contacting the Careers Centre

INTERVIEWS 0504 INTERVIEWS

3 P’S OF INTERVIEW SUCCESS

Prepare

Practice

Participate

INTERVIEWS

How well you prepare for an interview is directly related to your chances of securing the position you are applying for.

Interviews are a skill you need to master if you wish to succeed in life. You become good at it by Preparing fully, Practicing and Participating. Prepare• Arrive on time. • Know the location of the interview and

how to get there. • Dress appropriately for the position you

are applying for. • Take a pen and folder into the interview

with a copy of your resume, referee details, selection criteria, portfolio (if relevant) and any key questions you wish to ask.

• Know your work history and the key skills you have gained from these experiences

• Research the company and the division/department. The time you invest in researching should increase for each extra step that you pass through in the selection process. Research pays off , but is very time intensive and needs careful time management and prioritisation.

• Prepare questions to ask. Each question should elicit information you want to understand and display your knowledge and clarity of thought. Be careful not to ask questions that have already been addressed.

Practice:• Based on the job advertisement, selection

criteria or job description you can make educated guesses about the questions likely to be asked in your interview. Prepare answers to these questions using the STAR or SAO model – you will learn more about these models as you work through the workbook.

• Role-play interviews with a trusted mentor, colleague, friend or family member – the only way to increase your eff ectiveness is to rehearse.

Participate:• The more interviews you undertake

the more confi dent you will become at demonstrating your knowledge, skills and abilities to potential employers.

• Be enthusiastic about the opportunity to demonstrate how you have developed as a professional.

• Try to keep your nerves at bay, use some of the relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and positive self-talk prior to the interview.

Many employers we talk to at the Curtin Careers Centre mention how important it is that a graduate research the company and the position they are applying for before attending the interview.

The following activity requires you to fi nd a position you would be interested in applying for and research the company and the position. The questions below are designed to help you get started, and you can write your answers within this booklet.

What is the company’s vision and/or mission statement?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is the website saying about the ‘people’ who work at the company? (this information is sometimes found under an ‘Our People’ or ‘Staff ’ tab on the website). _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Often companies have a specifi c section on their website about graduate recruitment. What personal attributes is your potential employer looking for in a graduate? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What skills, experiences, knowledge and abilities does the company value in the graduates they recruit?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How is the graduate program structured? What type of work would you be doing if you secured a position with the company?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

INTERVIEW RESEARCH


TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Interviewees often focus on their technical or job-specifi c skills and their formal qualifi cations. However, interviewers also look for evidence that applicants can work well with existing employees and that they share the organisation’s values. Your personal qualities can separate you from the other applicants with reference to these factors.

It can be useful, in preparation for your interview, to refl ect on the type of employee you aim to be. Do you enjoy collaborative work? Are you competitive and enterprising? What are your strongest interpersonal skills? Where are your weaknesses? How do you manage a heavy workload? What ethical framework do you carry into your workplace? What type of work-life balance do you seek?

A job interview is like a sales pitch. Each answer you give makes an impression of some kind, so it is important to think carefully about what it is you really want to communicate to the employer.

The keys to an eff ective sales pitch are good product knowledge and good knowledge of what the customer wants. Your research will help you to understand what the customer is looking for, but it is also important to have a good self-understanding.

When answering an interview question, it is helpful to think about why the employer is asking it. What do they really want to know? There are two main types of interview questions. If you can recognise these you might fi nd it easier to decide on the structure and the content of your responses.

Traditional* Interview Questions Traditional questions are often also

referred to as textbook, generic, common, or opinion questions. These questions require you to discuss your qualifi cations, your job-specifi c skills, your professional experience and the personal characteristics that you bring to the workplace. They provide an opportunity to expand on the material in your written job application, so you may fi nd it useful to prepare additional information for use in interviews.

Behavioural Interview QuestionsBehavioural questions require you to provide detailed accounts of specifi c events from your past experience. The underlying principle of behavioural interviewing is that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour in similar circumstances. Note the phrase ‘in similar circumstances’. Employers want to know how you have demonstrated the specifi c skills, knowledge, experience and personal attributes you claim in situations similar to those you might encounter in the position you are applying for. Telling a story is a good way to eff ectively answer a behavioural question.

Behavioural based interview questions tend to focus on transferrable skills. The interviewer is interested in the steps you have taken and the skills you have used in past situations to achieve positive outcomes as a way of predicting how you might negotiate particular types of situation in your new workplace.

*There are many sub-categories of questions associated with diff erent elements of personal and professional identity. Kelly Sharp (2010) uses ‘traditional’ as an umbrella term to draw out the contrast between these ‘showcase’ questions and ‘scenario –specifi c’ behavioural questions. See Sharp, K. 2010. ‘The new types of interview questions: behavioural–based interviewing is a whole new style of questioning’. Available at http://www.suite101.com/content/the-new-interview-question-a198388. Accessed 18-01-11.

STAR or SAO models can be used eff ectively to structure your response to these types of questions.

Both traditional and behavioural questions require you to provide information about personal characteristics , transferrable skills and technical skills, knowledge and experience.

1. Personal characteristics include values, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, and interests.

2. Transferable skills are shaped by personal characteristics and are developed through a number of diff erent work/ life roles including education, training, employment and other forms of professional development such as work experience and volunteering. For example throughout your studies at Curtin you are developing Graduate Attributes in conjunction with your discipline specifi c technical skills and knowledge.

3. Technical skills, knowledge and experience are the industry, discipline or professional specifi c skills, knowledge and experience you have acquired through a variety of work/life roles.

Describe some of your personal characteristics, your transferrable and technical skills. How are these demonstrated in your interactions with your colleagues in the workplace or your fellow students in the classroom.

Your personal characteristics might include your values, philosophies, beliefs, life goals, interests, values, personality, strenghts and weaknesses.

Transferrable skills can be acquired through all work and life roles and include skills such as communication, self management, team work, organisation and planning, initiative and enterprise, commitment to lifelong learning, problem solving and your willingness to use technology (The Department of Education, Science and Training and the Australian National Training Authority 2002).

Technical knowledge, skills and experience refers to discipline or job specifi c skills acquired through training and professional development, education, employment and /or work experience, volunteering and other life roles and experiences.

Use the space provided overleaf to describe and defi ne your own personal characteristics, tranferable skills and technical knowledge, skills and experiences.

TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS


ACTIVITY 1. YOUR CHARACTERISTICS AND SKILLS

Example question: Why do you want to secure a graduate position with the Department of Foreign Aff airs and Trade?

“I chose to study international relations at university, as I am passionate about human rights and tolerance between cultures. Having also worked part time as a Recreation Assistant with the Catholic Migrant Centre, I have developed a sense of social responsibility which has drawn me to apply for a graduate role with the federal government agency that has core responsibilities towards advancing the interests of Australia and Australians internationally. I feel that by securing a graduate position with the Department of Foreign Aff airs and Trade, I can eff ectively contribute to the promotion and protection of Australia’s national interests, to create a real impact on our international reputation.”

In the above response, the interviewee has listed the following:• Why they are passionate about and how

this relates to the core responsibilities of the employer.

• How they will contribute to the employers core responsibilities, through their personal attributes and values.

• Their education (job specifi c skills) in the fi eld of international relations, which gives further credibility that her education has prepared the interviewee for work within this department.

The interviewee has used the information attained from researching the position and the company to demonstrate how this aligns with their personal attributes and values.

This information is highlighted in bold in the above response. Please note that when responding to an interview question you do not specifi cally need to have evidence of all three areas.

The personal characteristics, transferable skills and technical knowledge the interviewee demonstrated in their response is detailed below:

Personal Characteristics

Values and beliefs• passionate about human rights and

tolerance between cultures• sense of social responsibilityLife goals• contribute to the promotion and

protection of Australia’s national interests

• reate a real impact on your international reputation

Transferable skills

Lifelong learning• Graduate program will enable student

to contribute Australia’s interests on an international scale

Technical knowledge, skills and experience

Education• Bachelor degree with major in

International RelationsWork experience• Recreation assistant at Catholic Migrant

Centre

EXAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Personal Characteristics Technical KnowledgeTransferable Skills





Brainstorm which personal, transferable and technical skill elements you can use to eff ectively respond to the below traditional questions. Your response should be tailored to a company that you aspire to gain employment with.

What strengths do you have to contribute to our company/ organisation?

Now write your response to the above question

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

Questions asked at interview should be refl ective of the selection critieria and job description for the position. When a recruiter asks you a behavioural interview question, it is recommends you use the STAR or SAO model to guide you. When you are asked a behavioural interview question, the recruiter is looking for you to answer the question in a specifi c way. They are looking for a responce that includes a real life example of how you have achieved or completed something in the past that is similar to what they want you to achieve in the future with their organisation. The STAR or SAO model will help you answer these questions.

S.T.A.R Model

Situation: You need to explain the situation you were in so the interviewer can appreciate the context in which that action takes place. You might be at university, at your part time job or completing some extra-curricular activity. It’s the ‘Where’.

Task:Refers to what you were required to do. It’s the ‘what’.

Action: Refers to what you actually did. It’s the ‘how’.

Result: Without the result it is impossible to appreciate whether the actions taken were appropriate. This is the most important part, but students often forget about it...

S.A.O Model

The SAO model is very similiar to STAR. In this instance ‘task’ and ‘action’ are combined. SAO is an acronym for:

Situation: briefl y outlines the circumstances surrounding the example.

Action: describes what you were required to do and outlines the steps you took to complete the task.

Outcome: Describes the results of your action.

BEHAVIOURAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS


EXAMPLE BEHAVIOURAL INTERVIEW QUESTION

Tell me about a time when you worked as part of a team and reached a successful outcome.

Situation: In July 2009 I completed a four week work placement at Shanghai BoAi Children’s Rehabilitation Centre in Shanghai, China. I worked for as a member of an inter professional team with Chinese staff and other Curtin students with children aged six months - seventeen years with Cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome and Autism.

Task: Throughout my placement I was required to liaise with other allied health staff such as Physiotherapists, Psychologist and Speech Therapists in a co-ordinated eff ort to plan, implement and evaluate individual and group treatment programmes relating to the individual child’s developmental needs. Action: To work collaboratively within the allied health team, I was required to adapt my communication style to ensure mutual understanding between all team members from diverse linguistic backgrounds. I used non-verbal communication, including universally recognised hand gestures that I had learnt as part of my pre-departure briefi ng, as well as ensuring that I spoke using non-colloquial terms of reference and using a slower pace.

Result: I received positive feedback from my placement supervisor in regard to my fl exibility to work within a multi-disciplinary team and willingness to learn how culture and language altered their service delivery and communication methods in comparison to Australian methodology.

In the above response the interviewee has clearly set out the

Situation: where were they working and what was their role.

Task: what specifi c duties where they required to undertake

Action: what technical skills, methods of best practice, knowledge, transferable skills, personal attributes did they use to work through the process

Result: what was the positive outcome and how do you know if was positive.

The personal characteristics, transferable skills and technical knowledge the interviewee demonstrated in their response is detailed below:

Personal charactersistsCultural appreciation

Transferable skillsTeam workCommunication• ability to tailor language specifi c to the

audience needsLife long learning

Technical knowledge Education• Non-verbal universally recognised hand

gestures learnt in course of study • Knowledge of eff ective inter-professional

practice within a health contextWork experience placement



Brainstorm which personal, transferable and job specifi c skill elements you can use to eff ectively respond to the below behavioural based interview questions?

Provide an example of a time when you used problem solving skills to achieve a positive outcome?

Now write your response to the above question

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________


PRACTICING THE STAR MODEL

There are some great online resources that provide students with an opportunity to practice their interview responces. The Curtin Careers Centre recommends the following:

www.jobsite.co.uk/bemyinterviewer/

www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/careers/interactive_programs


Below are potential questions you might be asked at interview. Use the STAR model to answer them.

Give an example of an instance where you had to show initiative.

S ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

T ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

R____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Give an example of when you experienced poor group work. How did you handle the situation?

S ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

T ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

R___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What was the most diffi cult problem you had to resolve in the last year?

S ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

T ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

R___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Describe a time when you were under pressure. What strategies did you use to get organsied and achieve the required task(s)?

S ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

O ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Give an example of when you persuaded someone over to your point of view. What method did you use and what was the outcome?

S ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

O ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Given an example of a goal you have achieved. How did you achieve this goal?

S ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

O ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sometimes we are confronted with frustrating customers or clients. Tell me about the most frustrating person that you have delt with recently, how did you handle the situation?

S ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

O ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PRACTICING THE SAO MODEL


My Notes.....

My Notes.....OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

My Notes.....teess ....REFERENCES

Australia. Department of Education, Science and Training, and the Australian National Training Authority. 2002. Employability Skills for the Future. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

OEEO. 2010. http://www.oeeo.wa.gov.au/defi nitions/index.htm (accessed January 28, 2011).

Equal opportunity

Some topics are not appropriate in an interview. Learning how to respond to such a situation is an important skill to develop. Additionally if a potential future employer is asking such questions at an interview, you need to assess if this is an employment opportunity you wish to pursue. It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against you based on your gender, race, culture, religion, age, marital status, or if you are pregnant. For example an employer can not ask you questions such as “Are you planning to start a family in the next few years?,” “Are you currently in a relationship?” or “What is your sexual orientation?” or “How old are you?”

If you are faced with such a situation, you can professionally address this by being assertive and consistently directing attention back to professional role, away from your personal life. For example, “I would prefer not to answer questions about my personal life, and focus on my professional skills, experience and knowledge to be eff ective in this role.” As section 3 of the WA Equal Opportunity Act (The Act) states, equal opportunity is concerned with:

“The elimination of discrimination on the basis of the grounds covered in the Act and The promotion of the recognition and acceptance of the equality of all persons regardless of sex, race, religious or political convictions, impairments or ages” (OEEO, 2010).

Genuine occupational qualifi cation

Some positions will specifi cally outline that you must be an Australian citizen, of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage, or of a specifi c gender, but only where the law stipulates that it is an inherent requirement of the role. For example, participation in a dramatic performance may require a person of a particular race for purposes of authenticity. Radiographers doing mammograms must be female ...

Internationalisation

Whether you are an international student planning to gain employment in Australia or overseas, or a domestic student looking for work abroad, it is always useful to investigate if there are diff erent standards and practice in applying for jobs and the recruitment process in diff erent countries.

The following websites are a useful guide to assist you with your research in these areas.

International student.com: http://www.internationalstudent.com/jobsearch/

Going Global: http://www.goinglobal.com/International Exchange Programs http://www.iep.org.au

Expertise in Labour Mobility: http://www.labourmobility.com/


My Notes.....

My Notes.....

CURTIN CAREERS CENTREhttp://careers.curtin.edu.au

JOBS & EVENTS CONNECThttp://www.careers.curtin.edu.au/jobsandeventsconnect/index.html

Curtin Careers CentreCurtin University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Disclaimer and Copyright Information.

Copyright Curtin University of Technology 2010.

Information in this publication is correct at the time of printing and valid for 2010, but may change from time to time. In particular the University reserves the right to change the content and/or method of assessment, to change or alter tuition fees of any unit of study, to withdraw any unit of study or program that it off ers, to impose limitations on enrolment in any unit or program, and/or to vary arrangements for any program.

Curtin will not be liable to you or to any other person for any loss or damage (including direct, consequential or economic loss or damage) however caused and whether by negligence or otherwise that may result directly or indirectly from the use of this publication.

This publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be directed to the Curtin Careers Centreon +61 8 9266 7802.


interviews - curtin university · 04 interviews interviews 05 3 p’s of interview success prepare...

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