Quick and practical advice for interviews and assessment centres

Posted on: January 24, 2023

Last Updated on: February 19th, 2023

Post Category: Professional Development

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What are the most important things you need to do in preparation for interviews?

This post will focus primarily on the low-hanging fruits (i.e., the things that you can implement quickly) and a few of the important, more tedious tasks (e.g., writing responses and practicing them).

Treat this post as a simple checklist you can refer to!

It’s now the post-COVID world, so you should be able to take on both face-to-face and virtual interviews. Preparing for a virtual interview varies slightly from preparing for a face-to-face interview, but this post will highlight actionable steps for both.

Recall that there are two types of virtual interviews:

1. You are given prompts and are required to record your responses.
2. You join an online meeting (on a platform like Google Meet, Zoom or Microsoft Teams) and get the opportunity to directly engage with the recruiters/managers.

This post will cover practical advice for both types.

Before arriving at the interview

• Respond to the writer of the interview invitation to confirm your attendance, and show politeness in your response.
• Research the organisation. Research about different aspects, like the people and culture, parent company, main products/services, problems they are facing, main competitors, competitive advantages, and current/anticipated changes in the market.
• Understand what competencies the employer is looking for. Review the job description – and all other documentation that outlines the role’s key tasks, accountabilities and outputs. Once you have a good understanding of what the employer is looking for, you can make a reasonable guess of the questions you might be asked. Example questions from online sources can also help you get an idea of what could be asked. You can find some common interview questions (and sample answers) here.
• Prepare for the questions. Using your best guess of the questions that could be asked, consider how to best answer those questions. Use a framework like STAR to structure your responses whenever appropriate.
• Create a list of questions you hope to ask the interviewers at the end of the interview. It is best to think of questions you can’t answer through a quick Google search.
• If you are unsure about something, ask for further information, since this could help with your preparation. Logical questions about dress code, parking, public transport can help you gain more confidence.
• Plan to arrive at the venue at least 30 minutes before the start, so you have buffer time and time to settle. Do not come late.
• Thoroughly plan how you’ll dress and arrive at the venue. These things could cause you panic if you don’t plan.
• Seek advice from anyone you know who has had experience with the interview – or the entire assessment centre process. Note that you should take all advice with a grain of salt, since not everyone will offer correct advice.

Body language – for face-to-face interviews

• Stand tall. Keep you shoulders back and stay erect.
• Offer an unforced, confident smile as frequently as opportunity and circumstance allow.
• Deliver a good handshake. Ensure your hands are clean and dry and that your nails are trimmed.
• Smile, make eye contact and respond warmly to the interviewers’ greetings.
• Show that you are open, friendly and have nothing to hide. Subtly expose your palms every now and then as you speak.
• Do not fidget. It makes you come off as impatient and annoying.
• Do not clasp your hands behind your head. It makes you come off as smug, bored and possibly withdrawn.
• Do not slouch with hands in your pockets or thumbs in your belt. It comes off as aggressive.
• Do not keep pulling your collar away from your neck or scratch while responding to questions. Interviewers might assume that you are tense or hiding something.
• Sit with your bottom well back in the chair, keep your back straight, and avoid crossing your legs. Crossing legs often sends negative signals e.g. crossing an ankle over the other knee conveys some stubbornness.
• Maintain appropriate eye contact with the interviewers. Avoid looking away from the interviewers for long periods of time and breaking eye contact too abruptly, but do not stare. Avoid examining the interviewers below the head and shoulders.
• Remain calm and do not hurry any movements.

Setting up and priming up – for virtual interviews

• Ensure your webcam and microphone are working. Use a recording on your device to test whether you can see and hear yourself.
• Ensure you have a fast and stable internet connection.
• Ensure there is no background noise, and avoid distractions. You can do this by letting people nearby know that you are about to do an interview, locking your door, and/or booking a private room.
• Sit in front of a neat and uncluttered background.
• Elevate the webcam to your eye-level. If your webcam is lower than your eye-level, stack some cardboard boxes or books underneath.
• Ensure that your head and shoulders are in frame. If you convey your responses using hand gestures, make sure that they are visible.
• Ensure the lighting is bright enough for you to be seen on camera.
• Remove digital and physical clutter. Close all other windows, clear your desk, switch off your phone and keep your phone out sight.
• Dress professionally/appropriately – at least for the top half shown through your webcam.
• Keep a pen and paper handy – for you to write notes, in case you come across important information about the role or need to plan a response to a question.
• If it eases nerves, open any reference notes that you have created in preparation for the interview, in another window. But make sure that you are not reading any notes or prewritten responses word-for-word. Most interviewers will see whenever you do this, and you will be far less engaging during the interview.
• Maintain eye contact by looking into the camera.
• If the interview involves a video call with one of the recruiters/managers, plan to join the meeting 5 minutes early.
• Sit with your back straight and take a few deep breaths to boost your confidence and relax any nerves.

And that’s all my quick practical advice!

Here are some of my other posts on interviews and assessment centres:

• An Introductory Guide to Interviews – for Students
• NINE interview tips for Uni students
• My THREE GO-TO interview tips – in detail
• Learn about the Assessment Centre and how to succeed – with Tony Weightman
• An intro to UNSW student society subcommittee applications and interviews

You can also see more of my posts at jason-khu.com, follow me on LinkedIn, or see the rest of my ‘Uni for students’ guide here.