How to prepare for an

interview

WBS CareersPlus Guide

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How to prepare for an
interview
Different types of interviews ……………………………..….......... 3

What is the interviewer looking for? ..…………………….........… 4

Different types of interview questions ….………………............ 5

How to anticipate questions ……………………………………......…. 9

Preparing your answers: what are you going to say? ....... 11

Preparing your answers: how are you going to say it? ..... 14

Killer questions and how to handle them ………………………. 15

Surprise questions ……………………………………………………….… 16

Questions for the interviewer ..…………………………………...... 17

Common mistakes and how to avoid them ……………………. 18

Additional tips ………………………………………………………………… 20

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Different types of interviews
Recruiters use different types of interviews at various stages of the
recruitment process.

The further along the process you get – and therefore the closer you get to the job at the
end of it – the more likely you are to have longer, more in-depth interviews with more
senior people. However, in the early stages of the application process interviews are
generally shorter.

Stage 1: Screening interview

This is normally conducted over the phone, although some companies are now using video
interviews where students record their answers through an automated system using a
webcam. Screening interviews are typically around 30 – 40 minutes long, and your
interviewer will normally be someone from the HR recruitment team. However, many
companies outsource their initial phone interviews to specialist interviewing companies, so
you may not necessarily be interviewed by someone who works at the company you are
applying to. They will usually have a specific list of questions they ask every applicant and a
scoring matrix to enable them to assess your answers objectively. Yours could be one of 10
or 15 interviews they are conducting that day!

Screening interviews typically focus on finding out how much you know about the job and
the company, your motivations for wanting to apply and checking whether you have the
right skills to meet the essential criteria for the job.

Stage 2: Face to face interview(s)

In most cases the next stage would be face to face interviews, possibly as part of an
assessment centre. Normally you would be interviewed by more than one person. This
might mean a panel interview, in which you sit across the table from several interviewers
who each ask you different questions, or a series of one-to-one interviews with different
people.

Face to face interviews will be longer and more in-depth than screening interviews. You
should expect to be asked in more detail about your knowledge of the company, the job and
the industry, reasons for applying, and to talk about your relevant skills, education, work
experience and extracurricular activities. You may also be asked technical questions relating
to the job.

Final stage: Final / Partner interview

This is usually the very last stage – the person interviewing you at final / partner interview
stage will be someone with expertise in the specific business area you are applying for, and
in many cases will be your potential manager.

Final / partner interviews can vary, and the format depends on your interviewer. Some will
follow a formal interview structure and ask fairly typical questions about your skills and
experience; others will take a less formal approach and discuss things like industry issues or
your background – they will still be looking for the same kind of information but in a less

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formal way. Others will discard traditional interview topics altogether and talk to you about
sports or your hobbies.

A major consideration for your interviewer at this stage is whether they would like to work
with you, and whether you would fit into the team. An informal conversation can be a good
way of finding this out.

What is the interviewer looking for?

There is no secret agenda – the recruiter is still looking for someone with the
same skills and qualities they listed in the original job description. All of
their questions will be intended to find out whether you meet these
requirements.

About you…
First of all, to remind yourself what kind of person they are looking for, go back to the job
description that you referred to when you applied to the job:

 What skills, experience, characteristics and qualifications are they looking for?
 What does the job they are advertising involve? What skills would you need in order
to complete these tasks?
 What information did they specifically ask about in the application form? They are
likely to ask you about this again as it is clearly important to them
 What kind of people does their company look for? (Many large companies will have
particular qualities and behaviours that they look for in ALL of their recruits, in every
area of their business. Look at the ‘Our Core Competencies’ and ‘Company Values’
sections of their websites)

Write a list of all of the skills, behaviours, qualities, knowledge and experience the
recruiter is looking for: these are the requirements of the job.

Recruiters will also be looking for evidence that you are interested and knowledgeable,
and that you have taken the trouble to do some research: this is commercial awareness.

About them…
Look at business databases like Marketline Advantage (available through the university
library in the Business Databases section); also the Financial Times, Bloomberg
Businessweek, business journals, social media, etc. to find out:

 What their company does (the company as a whole, not just the particular
department you are applying for)
 Who their competitors are, and how they are different from them
 What recent events in the national or international news have affected, or might
affect, their business
 How their company is structured, and how the role you are applying for fits into the
company as a whole
 What challenges and opportunities exist for the company and the industry
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  What your first year or two in the job would look like
 Whether they expect you to undertake any professional qualifications – if so, which
ones, and what these qualifications involve

Your research should start with the company’s website but should go into more detail –
many recruiters will ask in the interview ‘What have you done to find out about us?’ They
will be expecting more than just ‘I looked on your website’.

Different types of interview questions

Interview questions generally fall into several categories:
1. Commercial awareness
2. Motivation
3. Biographical
4. Competency-base / strength-based
5. Technical
6. Case study

Most interviews will involve the first four categories, while many Finance roles will include
technical questions. Case study questions are common for consulting interviews.

1. Commercial Awareness:

The aim of these questions is to find out how much you know about the company and the
industry, and to check that you have done your research.

Typical questions include:

 What do you know about our organisation?
 Who are our main competitors? Can you name some more?
 What are the biggest challenges we currently face?
 How are we different from our competitors?
 What do you expect to be doing in this role? What is a typical day?

With these questions they are looking for you to show:

 Understanding of the organisation and commercial awareness in general
 Understanding of their company and that particular job
 A genuine interest in that type of work
 A good knowledge of the latest industry news, the projects they work on, etc.

2. Motivation:

Simply put, motivation questions are designed to find out whether you actually want the
job. It’s essential that you can answer these questions confidently – a recruiter is unlikely to
take your application further if you are unable to explain why you want to work for them!

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Typical questions include:
 Why have you applied to us?
 Why this industry?
 Why are you interested in this job?
 Why this job / us rather than… (similar job in different sector / competitor
company)?
 What are your longer-term career goals? How does this job fit in with your plans?

With these questions they are looking for you to show:

 Genuine enthusiasm - convince them you want the job! If you struggle to find
anything to say in response to these questions, it may suggest to the recruiter that
you don’t really want the job
 Evidence that you’ve given some thought to where your career might go. You don’t
have to be too specific, but saying ‘I have no idea where I would like to be in 5 years’
might suggest a lack of direction
 Realistic expectations and congruent ambitions – if your long-term goals are
inconsistent with what they can offer you, you may appear to be a poor fit for the
job

3. Biographical:

Biographical questions are seemingly straightforward… but it’s important that you keep in
mind what the recruiter is looking for before launching into your answer. Select the
information carefully and tailor your response to your audience.

Typical questions include:

 Tell me about yourself
 Talk me through your CV
 Tell me about any relevant experience you have had
 Why did you choose to do this degree? How is it relevant to this job?
 What’s your biggest achievement?
 What’s your biggest strength? Your biggest weakness?

With these questions they are looking for you to show:

 Evidence that you understand the requirements of the job: when telling the
interviewer about yourself, they want to see that you are able to select relevant
information rather than simply telling them everything
 A consistent path – recruiters are interested in your ‘story’, and how your education,
work history and other experiences have led you towards this job and this company
 Again, understanding of the requirements: your key achievement should
demonstrate one of the key skills that they are looking for. Your biggest strength
should be one of the requirements of the job; your biggest weakness should not be
something that would inhibit your ability to do the job

4. Competency-based / strength-based:

Competency-based and strength-based questions are two different ways of finding out what
skills you can offer, and whether you have the skills needed for the job. Competency-based
questions are more common, but strength-based questions are becoming more popular.
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Competency-based questions
These questions normally take the form of ‘tell me about a time when you…’ Recruiters are
looking for specific, concrete instances when you demonstrated the skill they are asking
about.

Recruiters may ask for negative examples as well as positive ones (E.g. ‘tell us about a time
when you failed to meet a deadline and how you felt about that’.) They are looking for
evidence that you can learn from mistakes.

Typical questions include:

 Tell me about a time when you were part of a successful team – what was your
contribution?
 Tell me about a time when you successfully persuaded someone to take your point
of view
 Tell me about a time when you were part of an unsuccessful team – what went
wrong and what would you do differently next time?

With these questions they are looking for you to show:

 A clear structure and a specific answer – overly general answers (‘team work is very
important because…’) that don’t describe an actual example won’t help them to
assess whether you have the necessary skills. See page 14 for more details of a
model you can use to help you structure your answers.
 That you answer the question: although you may know what skills you’re likely to be
asked about, the question can be phrased in a variety of different ways. Do not
write out or rehearse your answer word for word – if your pre-prepared response
does not match the question it will not help the recruiter assess your skills
 The ability to answer follow-up questions (‘so how did you approach that
conversation?’ ‘How exactly did you manage your workload during that period?’)
with confidence
 An understanding of what they are looking for – for example, make sure you know
what they mean when they talk about teamwork so that your teamwork example fits
exactly with their view of what this skill involves
 Honesty. It’s absolutely crucial that your answers are true – recruiters are
professionals who can normally notice quite quickly if someone is not being honest.
Once you have been caught out in a lie, you have lost your credibility and you will
not get the job.

Strength-based questions
These are less structured and more difficult to prepare for, so they can elicit a more
authentic response. The aim of strength-based questions is not just to find out what you
can do, based on what you say (like competency-based questions do) but to discover what
you enjoy doing, based on how you say it.

Most people will have examples of times when they have worked as part of a team, for
instance, or worked under pressure. However not everyone will have enjoyed these
experiences. Strength-based interviews are designed to find out what energises and
motivates you as well as what you’re good at, as these are the activities you are most likely
to perform well in.
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Typical questions include:
 If you suddenly found you had a free day, what would you do?
 Who do you consider to be an inspirational leader?
 How would your friends describe you?
 If you won the lottery and didn’t have to work, what would you do?

With these questions they are looking for you to show:

 Authenticity and honesty – they want to get to know the real you
 Congruence with their core values – for instance, if they are a very collaborative,
team-orientated organisation they’ll be looking for evidence that you are like this as
well. Make sure you understand their culture and values, and the characteristics
they recruit for, in order to show you are ‘one of them’
 Positive body-language and enthusiasm – if they are looking for someone with great
problem-solving skills, they will be looking for you to talk with enthusiasm and
energy about your experiences of solving problems.

5. Technical questions

Depending on the job, the interview may also include technical questions relating to the
specific technical knowledge required for the job. This is common for banking and finance
jobs.

Typical questions include:

 Is / should R&D be capitalized or expensed? Why?
 Explain the equity research / investment analysis process
 What is the outlook on UK inflation in the next 3 years?
 Give me an overview of at least five valuation methodologies for a company
 Why do accretive mergers still sometimes see a falling stock price?
 Talk me through your (dummy) portfolio – why did you choose that stock?

With these questions they are looking for you to show:

 Technical knowledge and the ability to think on your feet
 The ability to make informed assumptions
 That you can communicate complex ideas effectively and explain your argument
 The confidence to respond to challenges and, ideally, to get into an informed
discussion with your interviewer

6. Case study interviews

This type of interview is commonly used for consulting jobs, as it represents the kind of
situation you might face if you were working as a consultant in real life. Typically you will be
given a business problem and asked to talk your interviewer through your proposed
solutions.

Typical question formats include:

 In some cases you will be given a large amount of data in advance and you will be
expected to read through it, identify potential solutions and then explain these to
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 the recruiter (sometimes in the form of a presentation), explaining your reasons for
each decision
 The recruiter will then ask you questions about your decisions and may challenge
you on some points, to see how you react under pressure and how well you defend
your ideas
 In other cases you may be given very little information – the case study question
could be something as brief as ‘Your client is thinking about going into the pet food
market in Belgium – should they do it?’
 You will then need to ask more questions of the recruiter, who may be playing the
role of the client. The recruiter will be assessing what kind of questions you ask, and
how effectively you listen to their response.
 You will also need to make assumptions in some cases as not all of the data will be
available, and it is important that you make clear notes and show your working out
as you go through the case – an issue tree or similar structure will help the recruiter
follow your train of thought.

With these questions they are looking for you to show:

 A logical, structured and clear approach to problem-solving
 Informed assumptions and the ability to cope with ambiguity
 The ability to talk the recruiter through your thought process and explain your
conclusion clearly - show your working-out!
 The ability to ask sensible questions and listen to the response
 The ability to adapt to new information
 The confidence to respond to challenging questions

To perform well in case study interviews you need practice! Joining a case study group
with other students and practicing throughout the year will help you get used to tackling
these kind of problems quickly and logically. Ask a WBS CareersPlus team member for
more information.

How to anticipate questions

There are a number of ways you can predict what questions you are likely to
be asked at an interview.

The basics
There are some questions that are always worth preparing, as you are almost certain to be
asked them. These are interview staples and it is very rare for a recruiter not to ask them:

 Why do you want to work for us?

 Why do you want to do this job?
 What do you know about us?
 What do you expect to be doing in your first year in this job?
 Tell me about a recent news item that has interested you and which is relevant to
our business
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  Who are our competitors and how are we different from them?
 Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?
 What is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness?
 What has been your greatest achievement to date?
 What can you bring to this job?

Your own research

You should also review the information about the job, the company and the industry to help
you anticipate questions. Some things to bear in mind are:

 Look at the job description and the company’s core skills: What are the core skills
that the company recruits for? What are the specific skills for the job? It is very
likely that you will be asked about examples of when you have demonstrated these
skills
 Look at the company culture and values: For example, do they promote the idea of
a work-life balance? If so, they could ask you what you do in your spare time and
what your extra-curricular activities are
 Read up on the company: What has happened in their organisation recently? Have
they recently merged with, or acquired, another company? Have they been in the
news recently for any reason? If so, you could be asked specific questions related to
these events
 Research the industry: Have there been any major factors (political, economic, etc.)
that have affected the industry? Changes in regulation? Are their competitors doing
anything noteworthy? If so, it is likely that they will ask you about this

Other sources of information

Some of the best resources are:

 The wikijobs.com forums http://www.wikijob.co.uk/forum) contain loads of useful

information about other applicants’ experiences of interviews, what questions they
were asked, etc.
 Your Careers Manager or Careers Coach will be able to provide information on
typical interview questions for a range of companies so ask us!
 The TargetJobs Employer Hubs contain information on companies’ interview
processes and typical questions: http://targetjobs.co.uk/recruiter-hubs
 Each other! Speak to other students as they may have already interviewed at the
company you are preparing for. If they are a step ahead of you in the process you
are not in direct competition so it’s absolutely reasonable to ask for their help
 The alumni database: The online database contains the details of thousands of WBS
alumni who have signed up as they are happy to be contacted. If you are able to find
someone who is working at your target company, send them a polite email
introducing yourself and asking whether they would be prepared to speak to you. To
access the Alumni Directory log onto my.wbs and choose ‘WBS Network’ from the
options in the banner at the top.
 LinkedIn: the ‘Network – Find Alumni’ tab enables you to search Warwick alumni at
specific companies, and make contact with them if you have a LinkedIn profile
yourself

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  Recruiters: some recruiters run events on campus, such as careers presentations,
skills session and mock interviews, to help you prepare for the interview process

Write a list of the questions you expect to be asked, and cross-check them
against the information online to get an accurate picture of likely questions.

Preparing your answers: what are you going to say?

Although it essential that you think about your answers in advance, DO NOT
write them out and memorise them, or read them aloud during a phone
interview.

Once you know what kind of questions you can expect, you can start putting some ideas
together about what you want to say in response.

1. About the company and the industry (for commercial awareness questions):
Commercial awareness questions can make up a large part of the interview and will
normally cover:
 The competition and how this company is different from its competitors
 What is going on in the industry more generally
 Major news stories that might affect their business
 Your opinion on relevant news stories

Your preparation for these questions should be an on-going process, as it is very difficult to
develop sufficient commercial awareness the night before the interview! However you will
be expected to build on this knowledge constantly and to be able to demonstrate a deeper
level of commercial awareness at each stage of the application process.

When preparing for these questions, think about:

 Who are their competitors? If they work in a number of different areas, do they have a
variety of competitors for the different areas they specialise in? How are they different
from the competition?
 What are their recent, current and future projects? What does this tell you about the
direction the company is going in?
 Who their actual, typical or potential clients are / might be – how could they help a
potential client?
 What are their products and how are they categorised?
 What recent events (regulatory, political, economic, etc) have affected or might affect
their business? Has the company taken steps to mitigate any risks?
 Has the company itself been in the news recently? If so, what for? If it is for a negative
reason, why are you still interested in working for them? (this can be a common question
for some of the banks).

2. About why you want the job (for motivation questions):

The questions ‘why do you want this job?’ and ‘why do you want to work for us?’ are
extremely common and incredibly important. If you can’t come up with good reasons for
both, a recruiter is unlikely to hire you.
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The research you should have done into the company, its culture, how it is different from its
competitors, what kind of work you would be doing, where you could expect to be in 5
years, etc. should help you answer these questions.

If, after thorough research, you are still struggling to find reasons why you want the job
and why you want to work for that company, it may be worth reconsidering whether it is
really the job for you. The recruiter will certainly ask themselves this.

Your answers to the questions ‘why us?’ and ‘why this job?’ should be:

 Properly researched: ‘Because you are a large company with a great reputation and a
good training scheme’ tells the recruiter nothing more than that you have spent about 30
seconds skimming through their website. These are not sufficient reasons if you are
trying to persuade someone that you actually want to work for them.

Do them the courtesy of taking the interview seriously; do your research, go into detail
and pick out things that actually interest you about them. This is another chance to show
them that you know a lot about them.

 Genuine: Think about what actually interests you about them and the job – part of the
aim of this question is for the recruiter to establish whether you’re a good match for the
company and the job – do you actually seem enthusiastic about them, and about the job?

 Realistic: It’s essential that you show a proper understanding of what you will be doing
in this job, what they will expect from you, what you can expect from them, and that
your longer term goals are in line with what they can offer you.

 Unique to them: In addition to the fact that recruiters will have heard ‘Because you are a
large company with a great reputation and a good training scheme’ a thousand times
before, this answer could easily apply to all of the Times Top 100 graduate employers, as
well as many others. Your answer needs to be more sophisticated than this, and to show
that you understand what differentiates them from other recruiters.

3. About your education, work experience, etc. (for biographical questions):

Many recruiters will start the interview with an open question such as ‘tell me about
yourself’ or ‘talk me through your CV’. This is not an invitation to tell them your life story.

You should give them a brief (around one minute long) summary of the relevant
information about your background that you think will interest them, based on what you
know they are looking for.

 Look at the list you made of the requirements of the job

 Go through your CV, highlighting any elements that meet these requirements – these
might include a particular module at undergraduate level, or a specific project you
worked on during your work experience
 Also consider extra-curricular activities and interests: if they demonstrate any of the
requirements then you should also mention them

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This highlighted information should be what you talk about when you are asked to talk
about yourself. You do not have a great deal of time when answering the question, so be
selective and focus on the things that you know the recruiter is going to be interested in.

4. About your skills (for competency-based and skills-based questions)

Once you have identified the skills you expect to be asked about, you should think about
what evidence you can provide to show you have these skills. It is a good idea to have two
examples ready, as sometimes recruiters will ask you for a second example.

A table can be a useful way of organising your ideas – try and keep your examples in note
format, and resist the temptation to write them out in full.

For example:

Requirement Your evidence

Teamwork Example 1: Organising committee for One World Week – helped
to promote events, part of a team of 30, event was biggest and
most successful to date

Example 2: Charity fundraising event with 5 course mates.

Motivated team members, overcame obstacles (lack of initial
funding ) – raised £3,000 in the end
Communication Example 1: Worked as maths tutor – 2 tutees who did not enjoy
maths. Found creative ways to explain difficult concepts and
ensured they passed exams

Example 2: Worked in an energy company call centre - customer

complaints after price increase. Communicated politely with
angry customers, resolved complaints and queries within allocated
time
Problem-solving Example 1: Work placement with small retail firm, identified issue
with stock ordering process which caused delays. Designed a
database to track stock levels, persuaded company to implement
it, resolved the issue

Example 2: Course representative, spotted problem with the

assignment deadline, proposed amended date to academic staff,
negotiated compromise, staff and students happy with outcome

Once you have made notes on what information you want to cover in the
interview, the next step is organising how you are going to present this
information.

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Preparing your answers: how are you going to say it?
Recruiters look for clearly-structured answers as they are easier to follow.
Clear structures will also help you to keep on track and to cover everything
you want to include in your answer.

There are a number of structures that you can use, depending on the type of question you
are answering.
When describing an experience....

If you are asked to talk about a particular experience, such as in a competency-based

question (‘Tell me about a time when you...’) or a question such as ‘What’s been your
biggest achievement so far?’ you should use the CAR structure.

It is also known as CARE, STAR or STARE – they are all basically the same. CAR stands for
Context, Action, Result:

Context The background to your story – what were you trying to achieve, and what were the
circumstances? This should be about 10% of your overall answer

Action What did you do? How did you do it? Explain your approach. This should be about
70% of your answer and should focus on your contribution (try to avoid saying ‘we’)

Result What was the outcome? What did you learn? What have you done differently
since, as a result of this experience? This should be 20% of your answer

Describing experiences that went wrong:

If you are asked for an example of a time when things did not go well (E.g. ‘Tell me about a
time when you were part of an unsuccessful team project’):
 Be honest – the recruiter is not asking you to try and dress up a disaster as a success.
They want to see how you learn from your mistakes – admitting you made a mistake
is not a bad thing.
 Be generous – blaming others for any problems sounds like you don’t take
responsibility. Be clear about what you could have done differently and what you
have learned from the experience.
 Explain what you learned – recruiters want evidence that if something goes wrong
you will learn from it and do things differently next time, and that you are resilient
enough to recover from setbacks

When listing things...

If you are asked to give a number of reasons (e.g. ‘Why are you interested in working for
us?’ or ‘What can you bring to this job?’), try to structure your answer rather than just
launching into a list of reasons.

 Introduce what you plan to say (‘There are three main reasons why I want to work
for you: your presence in Eastern Europe, your CSR work and your unique mentoring
programme...’)
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  Go into more detail about each reason in turn
 Summarise (‘so to sum up, these are the main things that stand out about your
company...’)

If you introduce what you plan to say at the start, it can help to stop you losing your thread
and rambling – once you have covered everything you mentioned in your ‘introduction’, just
stop.

Killer questions and how to handle them

There are some questions that nobody looks forward to, but if you
understand the purpose of them you can prepare a strong answer.

‘What are your salary expectations?’

This is a commercial awareness question, rather than asking you to name your price. In
almost all cases the recruiter will already have a good idea of how much they are actually
going to pay you, and they are interested in finding out how realistic your expectations are,
and how much you know about what jobs like this normally pay. Rather than giving a
specific number, try giving a salary range (‘I understand this kind of job normally pays
between £25k - £30k, so I would be looking for something within that range’).

‘What is your biggest weakness?’

When the recruiter says ‘weakness’ they do not mean ‘character flaw’, they mean ‘area for
development’. Your answer should:
 Tell them about something that you feel you could improve on
 Not be something that is an essential criteria for the job
 Explain what you are currently doing to develop in this area

With this question, the recruiter is looking for evidence that you are self-aware enough to
recognise that you, like everyone, have areas you can improve on, and that you are
proactive enough to make these improvements of your own accord. The worst possible
answer you can give to this question is ‘I don’t have any weaknesses’.

‘Why shouldn’t I hire you?’

This is just ‘what’s your biggest weakness?’ in disguise. Tell them about an area for
development, explain what you are doing to improve on it and reiterate your interest in the
job and the company.

‘Who should I hire, out of all the candidates here?’

Some recruiters will ask this at the end of an assessment centre, after you have spent the
day with various other candidates. The correct answer is: ‘Although all the candidates here
are really strong, I believe you should hire me because…’ Don’t tell them they should hire
someone else – if you don’t have confidence in your abilities why should they? Also do not
compare yourself to other candidates, just focus on what you can offer and why you want
the job.

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‘Where else have you applied?’
This is a common question. Recruiters are trying to find out if you are focused and know
what you want to do. If you tell them that you have applied to a wide variety of jobs in a
random assortment of companies, it will look like you are not sure what you want to do, and
the recruiter may have doubts that this job is the one you really want.

However, they do not expect you to say ‘I haven’t applied anywhere else’ – this suggests an
alarming attitude to risk! If you have applied for the same, or similar, roles in similar
organisations then tell them - this shows that you are focused and clear about what you
want.

Surprise questions
These questions are deliberately difficult to prepare for and anticipate. They
are designed to see how you think on your feet, and to elicit an authentic
response.

Example questions include:

 ‘If you were founding a new civilisation, what three laws would you introduce?’ (M&G)
 ‘What’s the biggest lie you have ever told?’ (BlackRock)
 ‘If you won £1m, what would you do with it?’ (PwC)
 ‘What scares you about our organisation?’ (Barclays)
 ‘What part of the job would you least look forward to?’ (BP)
 ‘How many ways can you get a needle out of a haystack?’ (Macquarie)
 ‘If you inherited a pizza restaurant what would you do?’ (Volkswagen)
 ‘Imagine you were shrunk to the size of a tomato and trapped in a salad bowl – how
would you escape? (Google)

How to respond:

 Don’t panic! These questions are designed to come as a surprise – none of the other
candidates will have prepared a great answer either. The recruiter will be assessing how
well you can respond to something unexpected.

 Don’t rush your answer: Take a second to think about your answer (the recruiter knows
it’s a curve ball, so it’s absolutely fine to say ‘Could I have a second to think about that?’)

 What’s the purpose of the question? They are not trying to catch you out or make you
feel foolish – these questions have a real point. Think about what they are looking for
with this question:
o Creative and logical problem-solving - If it’s a bizarre problem (‘Imagine you
were shrunk to the size of a tomato and trapped in a salad bowl – how would you
escape?), think about how you can break the problem down into chunks and
approach each piece logically. If the job involves creativity and innovation, they
may also be looking for you to come up with a solution that demonstrates these
skills too

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 o Consistency with their values and culture - If they are asking you about what you
consider important (‘If you became Prime Minister tomorrow, what would be the
first thing you did?’) they are looking for you to demonstrate values that match
their own
o Thorough knowledge and genuine interest: If they ask you something that feels
like they are trying to get you to say something negative (‘What scares you most
about our company?’) they want you to be able to talk knowledgably about the
challenges they face, but also to show that you are exhilarated by, and interested
in, these challenges
o An insight into you as a person: One of the main functions of surprise questions
is to get an honest and genuine answer, rather than one you prepared earlier, so
they get to know the real you.

Questions for the interviewer

Recruiters often finish the interview by asking ‘do you have any questions for
me?’ Make sure you have some informed, sensible questions to show your
interest.

Why ask questions?

 To demonstrate that you are interested – you should be! If a recruiter asks ‘Do you have
any questions?’ they expect you to have several. After all, this is potentially what you will
be doing for 40-odd hours a week for the next few years, so you should definitely want to
know more!
 It’s a great opportunity to show off your knowledge and reiterate your interest, and to
show you’ve been really listening to what the recruiter has been saying during the
interview
 One of the biggest complaints we hear from recruiters is that candidates do not have any
questions for them – they consider it important so make sure you are prepared

Questions to avoid:
 ‘What am I going to get out of it?’ Do not ask about salary, holiday allowance, how
much international travel you will be able to do, etc. The recruiter wants to see evidence
that you are interested in the job itself, not just the perks!
 Questions to which you have no idea of the answer. It’s quite common for recruiters to
turn a question around to find out your thoughts on the subject before they give you an
answer. (E.g. You: ‘What would you say is the biggest opportunity for your company in
the next year?’ Interviewer: ‘What do YOU think it is?’) Make sure you can give them a
bit of information, so that you can show you are informed, and then get more
information from them

Good questions:
 Informed questions: Use this as a chance to show your research – tell them about
something you have found out about and which interested you, and ask follow up
questions for more information

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 Questions that show your motivation: Ask them about the training, development, how
they will measure your success etc., to show you are keen to find out how you can
perform well in the job
 Questions that start a conversation: Asking follow-up questions based on things the
recruiter has mentioned will show you’re really engaged in the conversation. If you can
get into a conversation with the person interviewing you, allowing you to show how
much you know, this is ideal

Back-up questions:
 Normally the recruiter will be happy to answer a couple of questions. However, it is
quite possible that during the course of the interview they actually answer some of your
prepared questions.
 Make sure you have three or four questions that you can select from, to ensure you still
have something to ask without having to make something up on the spot

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Feedback from recruiters suggest that these are the most common mistakes
that interviewees make. All of these are easily avoided if you do enough
preparation.

Lack of research

Interviews are time-consuming and expensive for recruiters, particularly if you are being
interviewed by senior staff. Candidates who have not done enough research appear not to
be taking the interview seriously and are demonstrating a lack of respect for the recruiter
and a lack of commitment to the job. If you want to make a good impression, don’t waste
their time.

Recruiters’ minimum expectation for any candidate is that they will have made the effort to
prepare, and that they will know about the company and the job. If you do not know about
these things you will not convince them that you want the job.

Lack of structure

Interviewees who launch into rambling, unstructured answers, or who do not know when to
draw their response to a close, appear unprepared. It is also more difficult for the recruiter
to assess whether you are giving them the information they need if your answer is poorly
structured.

During the telephone interview, it may help you to have some notes on a piece of paper in
front of you (a single sheet – the recruiter will not be impressed if they hear you shuffling
bits of paper over the phone!) with some reminders of key structures (CAR; long term and
short term; introduce ideas – detail - summarise) to keep you on track.

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Reading aloud or reciting your answer

Your interviewer is a professional – they interview people all the time and they can
immediately tell if someone is reading aloud their answer, or reciting something they have
learned by heart. It makes you sound robotic and unnatural, and the recruiter will normally
interrupt you with a different question to try and get a more natural, authentic response.

It’s also impossible to predict exactly how the recruiter will phrase the question, even if you
know exactly what kind of things they want to ask you about. If you rehearse an answer to
a particular question, and then the recruiter asks something slightly different, you either
have to modify your answer as you go along (which is extra stress that you don’t need) or go
with the answer you rehearsed in advance, that may not really answer their question.
Either case is not ideal.

If you feel that you need notes for your telephone interview, stick to single words and bullet
points to prompt your memory, and then talk naturally. A mind map diagram can help to
collect your ideas without being too restrictive, giving you enough flexibility to adapt to
whatever question you are asked.

Example of notes:

Keeping your notes to a few words provides you with enough information to get you talking,
and allows you to talk naturally.

Why them:
 India project
 Mentoring
 Only company with this department

Why this job:

 Education (relevant modules)
 Work (analyst job)
 Skills: teamwork, leadership
 Interest: business transformation (started in audit project)

Example of a mind map:

A mind map of examples you could use in the interview, linked to the skill(s) you think these
examples demonstrate, can jog your memory while allowing you to adapt to the format of
the question.
(Example over)

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Lying
It sounds obvious, but it’s absolutely essential that you don’t lie! One of the things that
recruiters are looking for in potential employees (understandably) is honesty. If they catch
you lying to them in the interview, your credibility will be destroyed and they will not
consider you to be honest or trustworthy.

Additional tips
Arrive early!
If it’s a face to face interview you should arrive 10 – 15 minutes before the allocated time.
(‘If you are early you are on time, if you are on time you are late.’) If it is a telephone
interview, make sure you are ready to take the call at least 10 minutes before the allocated
time.

Plan your journey

Make sure you know where you are going and have planned your route. If you are travelling
across London on public transport, add an extra 30 minutes to your estimated journey time.
If you are taking the train, take the train before the one you think you need.

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Dress appropriately
Unless specifically stated otherwise by the recruiter, you should always attend an interview
in business dress (i.e. suit and tie for men, suit or smart dress and jacket for women).

Even if your interview is over Skype, make sure you dress professionally – it is a real
interview, after all, so the recruiter will expect you to dress and behave as you would for a
face to face interview.

Make sure you have peace and quiet for a phone interview
Check you have a good phone signal in the room you plan to take the call in, ensure you will
not be disturbed, have a glass of water to hand.

Show energy and build rapport

During a phone interview it helps to stand up while you are talking to the recruiter, to add
extra energy to your voice (you can stick your notes to the wall so you can see them
properly), and smile, as they will hear it in your voice.

In a face to face interview, think about your body language and tone of voice – a flat, quiet
voice and closed-off body language (slumped in your chair, arms folded) will not
demonstrate enthusiasm and energy. Sit up, make eye contact and smile.

Say thank you

This is more appropriate after a face to face interview, but it is good practice to send a
follow-up email if you have your interviewer’s contact details, briefly thanking them for
their time and reiterating your interest in the job.

Make notes afterwards

As soon as you finish the interview, while the information is still fresh in your memory, make
a note of the questions you were asked. This will help you to prepare for the next stage of
interviews, as you are likely to get more of the same kind of questions.

Ask for feedback

Whether you are successful or not at interview it is always worth asking for feedback. The
recruiter may not be able to provide it if they are dealing with a large number of candidates
but they certainly won’t be offended by you asking, and if they can provide feedback it is
normally very valuable.

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