Interview

preparation and
execution guide
Strength Based Interview

Strength based interviews focus on your capabilities and interests, rather than your
previous work history. It is designed to bring out your natural ability and personality.
With this in mind, we have provided a couple of hints and tips to help you prepare!

1. Remember – you can take notes in with you. The interview is not a memory test,
but a chance for you to get your ‘best self’ across. Just make sure you don’t have
too many notes. Bullet points are best here, this way if you get stuck, you can
look down at your notes to put you back on track. Always ask before assuming
those interviewing are OK with it. Very rarely will anyone say no!

2. Your interview may start with some general questions about you and your
interests, to start the conversation and make you feel more comfortable in the
interview. This is a great way to show you are engaged, so relax and let your
personality come through.

3. Remember to think about what you can bring to the company and the role you
have applied for. They will ask the question about why you want the role so to
think about how you might answer this. You want to show the interviewers that
you have clearly thought about the role and why it would be a good fit for both
parties.

4. Make sure you prepare and research the company as much as possible - what
they do, where they are based. This gives you fuel for when you get asked what
you know about them. Again, make some notes, just a few relevant points; they
do not expect you to know everything.

5. Try to think of some questions to ask at the end of the interview. A good
question to ask is always about the person interviewing. Where they came from,
what they do and what that involves, what do they like about working for the
company etc. People like talking about themselves.

The Interview

Throughout the interview you may come across ‘strength-based scenario questions’ and
‘forced answer questions’

• Strength based scenario questions are designed to understand how you may
perform in a certain situation. If you have come across these situations, draw on
those experiences! An example of a strength-based scenario question is ‘What do
you do if for some reason you cannot keep a promise?’

• Forced answer questions These just help the interviewer understand your ability
to make decisions, and usually consist of a 1-word answer. An example of a
forced answer question is ‘What is more important to you, achieving your own or
the team targets?’

I hope this gives you a good basis on which to start.

Good luck