Job interview coaching

Advice re competency interviews:

The competency part of an interview really has nothing to do with your ability to do that specific job. Competency based interviewing is a separate skill that needs to be learned.

The questions are usually things like "tell me about a time when you had to work as part of a team to complete a project". It's not obvious or easy to answer if you've not come across it before.

What they actually want is for you to tell them a story. The question is just a prompt for the sort of story they're after.

To perpare: read the job profile carefully, along with anything else they send you. Use that to work out the sort of stories they might want to hear.

e g. if the advert mentions teamwork think about something you did that involved other people that you can tell them about.

Think about what YOU did. The interviewer doesn't want to know what other people did, only your input. Then put the story into a structure.

I use the STAR format: Situation, Task, Action, Result. So, for teamwork something like:

[Situation:] part of my college grading was an end of year project that needed to be done in a group.

[Task:] my job was to help my classmates put together a 10 minute presentation we could deliver to the whole class.

[Action:] I moved our desks together, so we could talk, and made notes of the different ideas. This meant everyone  could see the ideas and helped the team pick the best ones. I made sure we all understood our roles by writing up who was doing what. I then agreed with the others to have regular check-in meetings over the next 2 weeks to discuss progress.

[Result:] the project was a success and we all passed the year.

Drop the titles for each part (ie. don't say "situation", "task" etc) and practice telling the stories ahead of time. Tell them out loud to someone else (if possible) to get feedback. Or at least do it in front of a mirror to give the feel of having an audience. Do this repeatedly until you're confident with each of your stories.

Useful tip: you can take your notes into the interview along with the job advert, your CV etc. Don't just read what's in front of you though. Having the notes of your stories will help prompt you if you get stuck.

An interview is a chance to show off. Tell them what you did and why it was a success. Don't lie (eg if your job was taking notes don't claim to have organised the meeting). But you should be very positive about what you did do.

Good luck!

Tears_before_bedtime said:

practice telling the stories ahead of time.

This is most effective if you can do it with someone who will role play the interviewer with you - simply to get the practice of making eye contact, pacing yourself, not losing your place in the equence of the answer etc.

It also builds the neural pathways of recalling the situations and using the relevant jargon so it sounds natural (to them).

This was a big part of my role play practice for candidates where I would use different personas for them to deal with so they could handle most things an interviewer could throw at them. Dealing with a rude or aggressive interviewer is sometimes part of the test (especially if the role involves dealing with rude and aggressive customers) - it is their way to see how you cope under duress.

This stage often takes multiple sessions (with cooling off time in between) to practice and perfect the skills.

Tears_before_bedtime said:

The competency part of an interview really has nothing to do with your ability to do that specific job.

Agreed - ideally the technical interview (normally online) is handled before the face to face interview to avoid letting unsuitable candidates through.

The competency test is largely a test of real world skills and your ability to explain things using particular templates.

The practice should reinforce these memories and , more importantly, tear them apart under scrutiny and still be plausable.

Often the interviewers want to see how you cope when it isn't something routine or easy - they want to see how you cope with the occasional unusual situation which may put you out of your comfort zone.

Understanding what is being actually asked for and practicing it would be the most effective way to get the job, but then you need to live the job too and this is were most of us struggle in the real world.

Maybe I should write an article on job survival strategies for autists.

Iain said:

Maybe I should write an article on job survival strategies for autists.

That's a good idea tbh. I've spent quite a lot of time analysing my strengths/weaknesses, what I like/don't like, what my ideal working environment is etc. It really helps and I wish it was a skill I'd been taught rather than having to learn on the job.

My main problem is the constant reorganisations and changes to what my role entails. As well as the lurches off into whatever the new corporate fashion is. I've weathered nearly 20 yrs with the company though, so I'm not doing too badly (despite being on long term sick atm, it's only the 3rd breakdown in 19 years so I'm still counting it as a win!).

I've only ever had one really spectacular fail at a job. That was when I moved from never having managed anyone before to managing a team of c.20 people in a high pressure environment when I'd previously been a member of that same team. It didn't work out very well! Luckily I got a move to a more technical role in the same company, without as many people to manage. I learned quite a lot from the experience though

Wow, there is so much wisdom here. It is really interesting and informative to read about your experiences. I will definitely reflect, read, research and and think about how to work with my daughter to prepare for future job interviews. The good thing is that she is receptive to take advice from me. Thank you all

Tears_before_bedtime said:

Still got nearly 12 years until my planned early retirement. 

I retired at 54 - best decision ever!

I used the ONS calculator to estimate my life expectancy - it has me at 84 before the grim reaper comes calling so I still had 30 years to enjoy.

I estimate that I would have 10 years of active life as now, a futher 10 years or a slower pace as age related health issues start to bite then 10 more years of much less active and probably supported living.

If I had waited for the "approved" retirement age then I would have missed out on the active years so there is a huge win for me - and the chance to do a job I enjoy (property renovation) is a big bonus as I can also do a lot of charity work there as well.

I've moved to a country where everything is a lot cheaper, the climate much warmer and the food way better than the UK - and the locals are a fun bunch in general.

My advice is to plan what you need in order to live and find a way to make it go a whole lot further then make the jump - life is so much nicer out of the rat race.

I have a collection of phrases I repeat to myself when stressed. One of them is "learn to live with chaos", that I think chimes with what you describe. Sometimes it works, other times not so much.

I'm bipolar too, so naturally tend towards a cycle of boom and bust. I'm also unfortunately drawn towards challenges at work and tend to dive into new stuff head first on the assumption I'll learn to swim before I drown. Sometimes I win, other times I don't. I always learn something though and it stops life being boring.

I'm looking forward to retirement though, when I can choose my own challenges. Have a lot of prospective projects in mind. Still got nearly 12 years until my planned early retirement. 

Tears_before_bedtime said:

My main problem is the constant reorganisations and changes to what my role entails.

I found the only way to cope with this is to change how I saw the job.

Seeing it as something in constant flux where I could carve out islands of predictability gave me a sense of control yet with flexibility enough to go with the change when it inevitably happened.

Moving into management actually helped as while it was much more chaotic it also brought with it a chance to create more stability for others - to improve the function my team delivered and help all the team members enjoy their work more (and hence be more productive).

Being able to savour those times of predictability without being stressed when chaos sweeps in and messes it up is a big part of this. Spot the good times, make the most and when it all goes bluetits up then look forward to the next one.

That acceptance of the constant flux of life has also been key to a lot of my happiness. If you think about your body it is constantly changing the cells that make it up yet we think of it as mostly permanent.

My therapist was instrumental if finding this peace and acceptance so if you ever decide to search for something like this, I can heartily recommend it.

Tears_before_bedtime said:

My main problem is the constant reorganisations and changes to what my role entails.

I found the only way to cope with this is to change how I saw the job.

Seeing it as something in constant flux where I could carve out islands of predictability gave me a sense of control yet with flexibility enough to go with the change when it inevitably happened.

Moving into management actually helped as while it was much more chaotic it also brought with it a chance to create more stability for others - to improve the function my team delivered and help all the team members enjoy their work more (and hence be more productive).

Being able to savour those times of predictability without being stressed when chaos sweeps in and messes it up is a big part of this. Spot the good times, make the most and when it all goes bluetits up then look forward to the next one.

That acceptance of the constant flux of life has also been key to a lot of my happiness. If you think about your body it is constantly changing the cells that make it up yet we think of it as mostly permanent.

My therapist was instrumental if finding this peace and acceptance so if you ever decide to search for something like this, I can heartily recommend it.

Wow, there is so much wisdom here. It is really interesting and informative to read about your experiences. I will definitely reflect, read, research and and think about how to work with my daughter to prepare for future job interviews. The good thing is that she is receptive to take advice from me. Thank you all

Tears_before_bedtime said:

Still got nearly 12 years until my planned early retirement. 

I retired at 54 - best decision ever!

I used the ONS calculator to estimate my life expectancy - it has me at 84 before the grim reaper comes calling so I still had 30 years to enjoy.

I estimate that I would have 10 years of active life as now, a futher 10 years or a slower pace as age related health issues start to bite then 10 more years of much less active and probably supported living.

If I had waited for the "approved" retirement age then I would have missed out on the active years so there is a huge win for me - and the chance to do a job I enjoy (property renovation) is a big bonus as I can also do a lot of charity work there as well.

I've moved to a country where everything is a lot cheaper, the climate much warmer and the food way better than the UK - and the locals are a fun bunch in general.

My advice is to plan what you need in order to live and find a way to make it go a whole lot further then make the jump - life is so much nicer out of the rat race.

I have a collection of phrases I repeat to myself when stressed. One of them is "learn to live with chaos", that I think chimes with what you describe. Sometimes it works, other times not so much.

I'm bipolar too, so naturally tend towards a cycle of boom and bust. I'm also unfortunately drawn towards challenges at work and tend to dive into new stuff head first on the assumption I'll learn to swim before I drown. Sometimes I win, other times I don't. I always learn something though and it stops life being boring.

I'm looking forward to retirement though, when I can choose my own challenges. Have a lot of prospective projects in mind. Still got nearly 12 years until my planned early retirement.