INTERVIEWS CAN GENERALLY BE DIVIDED INTO THREE CATEGORIES:
1. TRADITIONAL INTERVIEW – is the most common and usually consists of a series of standard questions about: qualifications, work experience (what duties did you have in your previous role), knowledge (general, sector, company specific), and possibly, expectations (as per the questions above).
2. CASE INTERVIEW – This can be challenging and needs thought. Think before you jump in to answer. In this situation, the interviewer presents a problem and then follows this with a series of questions to find out how the candidate would approach the problem. An example being: Company A (a company selling luxury top brand sunglasses) plans to launch a new range of sunglasses. It has to decide whether to expand its current market base (which consists of high income men and women aged 25 – 30) or, risk branching out and reaching a new client base (men and women aged 18-25). What would you advise them to do and how? In this situation, you are being asked to demonstrate that you have the ability to think logically, that you can ask the right questions, and that you can communicate effectively with the interviewer.
3. BEHAVIOURAL INTERVIEW OR THE “TELL ME ABOUT A TIME…” – Designed to find out how candidates actually behave in certain situations and questions are based on examples from the candidate’s own past and are designed to find out how a candidate coped or handled tricky situations and relationships in the past i.e. give me an example of a situation where you had to follow orders that you didn’t agree with? The question is: are they trying to find out whether you would report wrong doing (important especially in the areas of finance), are they testing whether you have the “herd” mentality or whether you might just be too difficult to manage? This question relies on the candidate showing examples of good, mature behaviour and also talking a lot but knowing when it’s time to leave the stage.
• Describe a situation in which you effectively developed a solution to a problem by combining different perspectives or approaches.
• Tell me about a time when you had to teach or train somebody, how you did it and how it turned out
• Tell me about a time when you influenced other people and how.
• Tell me about a time when you overcame x, y. z
BEHAVIOURAL INTERVIEWS TEST YOU IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
| CONFLICT | Will s/he get on with other people? |
| AUTHORITY | Will s/he respect authority? |
| AMBITION | Is s/he interested in career development? |
| NETWORKING | Is s/he able to develop and maintain contacts? |
| SOCIABILITY | Will s/he mix easily with other people? |
| APPEARANCE | Is this important to the candidate? |
