What happens at a Careers Service Interview Skills event?
As part of Selection Perfection fortnight we ran a variety of sessions covering the different stages of the selection process.
One of the most popular sessions was an Interview Skills workshop run by Ed Bootle from True Clarity. This workshop covered the essential preparation for interviews that students should be doing (but are so often overlooked), and looked at how to answer the interview questions you are dreading!
What did the students think of the session?
“As a mature student at Bristol, I have already attended several daunting job and university interviews. However, I am always completely intimidated and overwhelmed at the prospect of another one! Ed Bootle’s interview skills workshop was one of the most practical and honest sessions I have attended at university. Coming directly from the interviewer’s mouth, Ed gave us a real insight into how interviews are designed to work, what the interviewer is expecting from you, and what you can do to make the best impression possible. Too often we take for granted the simple things, such as standing up when shaking hands or ensuring that you have robust questions to ask at the end of your interview. The workshop was candid and easy-going, and I feel as though everybody walked away from it feeling much more confident about themselves and their next big interview.”
Sarah Muston (2nd year BA Anthropology)
Lee gives us an insight into some of the topics that were covered in the session:
“The session was delivered by an experienced interviewer so it was great to get a feel for the interview process from an expert. I found the section on which questions are good to ask and those that are not so good to ask in an interview interesting. We did a group activity on how to approach awkward questions, the key thing that I took away from that activity was to be mindful of why certain questions are being asked. I didn’t quite appreciate the importance of a job specification, but as the speaker clearly pointed out – the job specification is a very useful tool to tailor your interview preparation around. I would highly recommend this session to anyone who wants to learn how to deliver an effective interview.”
Lee Clay (2nd year BSc Childhood Studies with Quantitative Research Methods)
How to get help preparing for interview
Preparation and practice are key! If you would like help with preparing for interviews, please take a look at the interview section on our website, as well as our interview simulator on mycareer which is an online video interviewing module enabling you to practise answering questions and perfecting your technique. We will be running more interview skills events throughout the rest of the academic year. You can keep up to date with all our events through mycareer.
One final note from us:
“The key to a good interview is preparation and understanding what the interviewer is asking and why.”
Good luck!