Tell us about your experience of non-standard interviews

We’ve given you our hints and tips, now we want to hear from you. Have you had an interview that was in a non-standard format?

This is your chance to tell each other about your experiences.

• What was the format?
• Were you informed in advance of what to expect?
• How did you do and what would you do differently?

Once you have provided an example, do comment on examples from others. As always, please treat everyone with respect and try to be positive and constructive in your feedback.

Painless presentations

Many job interviews involve giving a presentation, usually to a number of people from the organisation. Occasionally, you may be asked to give a presentation if you have applied for a PhD or a vocational postgraduate taught course such as teaching.

Presentations show your ability to research and communicate information in an appropriate way to an audience.

You may get advance warning of the subject matter or be asked to choose your own presentation topic; conversely you may get little notice and have limited time to prepare.

If you are applying for a postgraduate course or PhD, it is likely that you will be asked to give a presentation related to the subject or the area of research that you are interested in.

Whether you are applying for a job or postgraduate study, the principles are the same, so it is worth revising the basics of making effective presentations before the interview.

Here are some things to consider:

• Prepare and rehearse your presentation beforehand. It’s worth speaking it out loud to check that you run to time.You could even try it out on sympathetic members of your family or friends.
• Make use of short notes to act as prompts. Don’t read your presentation from a script.
• Look at your audience, try to smile and engage with them.
• Speak clearly and don’t rush your presentation. Use language appropriate to your audience.
• Stand up if you feel confident enough and try to appear comfortable and natural, even if you don’t feel it.

You will probably feel relieved when it is all over and have a good idea of how the presentation went. Take time to reflect on what went well and areas where you feel you could improve. If you can, ask for feedback. It may be that you just need to feel slightly more confident or spend a bit more time preparing. Keep practising, as the more presentations you do, the better you will feel.

Tricky tests and exercises

Organisations and institutions may use tests and exercises to assess particular skills that they need within a job or course.

Written exercises and case studies

You may be given a task to write about something related to the job or type of course you’re applying to. This could take the form of a report, a short summary of some information you’ve read, or a document to correct.

In case studies you are provided with information about a situation or hypothetical business problem and asked to make recommendations in the form of a report or discussion. You will be tested on your ability to:

• understand information quickly
• think logically
• use your judgement and express yourself

You are evaluated on your analysis of the problem, how you identify the key issues, how you pursue a particular line of thinking and whether you can develop and present an appropriate framework for organising your thoughts.

Group exercises and role-play

Some interviews involve a number of tasks where you are asked to solve a problem. Group tasks vary in format a lot but the key requirement is that candidates work as a team to identify a solution to a complex problem.

Role playing tasks involve each member of the group working to a brief with a defined role (e.g. as a finance manager, personnel director, etc) to tackle a workplace problem. The task is about how quickly you grasp the problem, decide your objectives and deal with your colleagues (being diplomatic, tactful, yet persuasive). Show that you listen to others’ views. Keep an eye on achieving the optimal solution with regard to the implications for your own area of responsibility, and make sure the group keeps to time.

Whatever the task, employers look for candidates who can demonstrate:

• knowledge of a particular subject
• communication and teamwork
• adaptability/flexibility and working under pressure
• determination and perseverance
• problem-solving

The aim is for the group to work well together. Group members who work constructively are the ones most likely to be noticed. Remember the following key points:

• Contribute but do not dominate
• Listen to others but do not interrupt
• Involve others especially if they have not said much
• Refer to and build on what others say
• Help the team to keep to time
• Concentrate on the task without worrying what the assessors may be thinking

In-tray or e-tray exercises

These are exercises where you are placed in a situation appropriate to the job or course and given a typical ‘in-tray’ of written information or e-mail ‘inbox’ of messages. You are then asked to make decisions on the handling and priority of each item.

What form will the exercise take?

At the start of the exercise, you are likely to be given a ‘brief’ which defines the situation and your role in the organisation. You then have to read the various items, identify the tasks involved, and decide the action you need to take. The emphasis is on taking the correct decisions in an efficient manner, so you will need to prioritise which ones require immediate attention and be able to select from competing demands or conflicting information. Different pieces of information will sometimes relate to the same topic and occasionally new information will arrive during the exercise, e.g. another set of emails will come in requiring your attention.

In-tray and e-tray exercises are delivered under supervised conditions, are usually timed, and test your flexibility, planning and decision-making skills, as well as your ability to work under pressure.

So what are the selectors looking for?

You do not need to have a detailed understanding of the organisation, instead, the exercise tests your:

• verbal reasoning skills - do you understand the documents and can identify the key points?
• prioritisation skills - can you identify what is urgent and what can wait?
• decisiveness - are you able to make decisions within a limited amount of time, and justify these decisions based on the information given and the context of your role?
• awareness and sensitivity - can you see issues which could develop into sources of dispute or controversy?
• confidence and assertiveness - if somebody senior to you is making an unreasonable demand, are you willing to question them?
• ability to delegate appropriately - can you recognise the sorts of tasks that can safely be passed on to other members of staff, or that you can get assistance with?

Useful tips

• Make sure you read everything first and note down your initial ideas as you read each item. Information will be expressed using different styles depending on where the item came from. They may contain subtleties requiring you to judge what the sender wants or means, or information may be incomplete.
• Watch out for dates or times, so you are not dealing with information which is out of date.
• Create three broad groups of information, based on how important they are, i.e. important, less important, and non-urgent. You can then work through each group, deciding the order in which to respond or complete the tasks.
• Analyse the different issues and take account of competing demands before making choices about what you should do. To help you make decisions, work out the advantages and disadvantages of the different possible actions you could take.
• Make sure you know how long has been allocated to your exercise and work out what stages you will need to go through. Keep an eye on the time as you go along, bearing in mind that new information may come in as you progress.
• If you are asked to record the actions you recommend, write these using clear and easy to understand language. Create concise notes to do this rather than lengthy text, summarising the key factors and the rationale for your decisions, and be careful to write legibly if you are to record these by hand.

These are some of the commonly used tests and exercises but you may come across others. No matter how odd or challenging they seem, have a go and enter into the spirit of the task.

Psychometric tests

Psychometric tests may be used by recruiters as part of the interview or as a tool for short-listing candidates prior to interview.

If recruiters do use psychometric tests they should make it very clear what you have to do and explain the nature of the test before you begin. Prior to a test you will probably be provided with practice examples.

Types of psychometric tests used in selection

Assessment tests do vary and recruiters are increasingly developing their own bespoke versions, so the exact nature of tests you may face cannot be predicted. However, the main types are:

• ability / aptitude tests
• situational judgement tests
• personality / interest questionnaires

Aptitude tests

Aptitude tests aim to assess specific abilities and are made up of a set number of questions. They are often taken under timed conditions and you will be expected to attain a certain score. The types of aptitude test you are most likely to come across are:

• verbal reasoning which looks at your ability to understand and reason with written information.
• numerical reasoning which refers to your ability to understand data presented in various numerical formats.
• diagrammatic reasoning which relates to your ability to reason with abstract information presented in the form of symbols and diagrams.

Situational judgement tests

A type of test that is becoming more common is the situational judgement test or situational judgement questionnaire which assesses a candidate’s judgement in solving work related problems. Sometimes these tests are in the form of an online interactive game. Designed specifically for the recruiter concerned, they simulate typical situations that might occur in the job you are applying to. They then offer several possible actions to deal with the problem. Your task is to either select the most effective response, or in some cases the most and the least effective responses.

To deal with situational judgement tests, you need to do your research so that you understand the skills, knowledge and experience required for the job and also the values, culture and ethics of the organisation.

Here is an example of a situational judgement question where you are asked to prioritise what you would do.

You are working at the BestEverFoods supermarket, stocking the freezer cabinets with ice cream. A number of colleagues have rung in ill today so there is a shortage of staff. You are due to take your lunch break when a colleague comes to tell you that two delivery lorries have arrived together at the back of the store and are queuing up to unload their produce before travelling on to their next city. At the same time, a customer approaches you to ask for help in locating an item. Do you:

1. Carry on stocking the freezer cabinets, otherwise the ice cream will melt
2. Go for lunch
3. Help the lorry drivers to unload their produce
4. Take the customer to the shelves where they can locate the item

We would order the tasks as 4, 1, 3, 2

Customers always come first, and it should only take you a few minutes to locate the item that they are looking for. Your next priority is to finish stocking the freezer cabinets with ice cream before they start to melt. Hopefully, other colleagues will help the lorry drivers to unload, but if there is time, you could also volunteer before taking lunch.

Personality questionnaires

Recruiters use personality questionnaires to help gain a picture of how people match up to specific jobs and organisations. They are concerned with people’s typical or preferred ways of behaving, such as the way they relate to others, and how they approach and solve problems.

Questionnaires explore the broad range of personality characteristics that are generally relevant to the world of work. For recruiters the benefit is that the same carefully designed and fully researched questions are asked of all candidates and their answers are captured in a fair and consistent way. When used with other forms of assessment they can help to ensure a more thorough exploration of how well a person is suited to a particular job and how they will fit into the existing workforce.

If you are asked to complete a personality questionnaire, try to be as honest as possible. Don’t try to second guess what you think the recruiter wants you to say, it could catch you out in a later question if your answers appear to be inconsistent.

How to master psychometric tests

If you are likely to encounter psychometric tests, you should be as prepared as possible.

• Make sure you know which type of tests are to be used, i.e. aptitude tests and/or personality questionnaires.
• If you can, try some online or paper-based practice tests beforehand. There are a number of resources available online but please be aware that some may charge.
• Look at the organisation’s or institution’s website as they may offer some practice tests or provide tips on how you can improve your score. You may also find books providing examples of tests in your local careers service or library.
• If you have not studied maths for some time and you are expected to take a numerical test, it’s a good idea to revise how to do calculations such as percentages and fractions, and familiarise yourself with the functions of a calculator.
• For verbal tests, you could practise by reading news websites, newspapers or magazines with well-argued articles.

You may wish to notify your test administrator in advance if there are any factors that are likely to affect your performance, for example, if English is not your first language or if you are dyslexic or have a disability. Psychometric tests can be made available in alternative formats such as large print or Braille, or additional time may be allowed when taking them.

Tell us about your experience of tests and exercises

We’ve covered some of the most common tests and exercises that may come up as part of the interview process, now we want to find out about your experiences. Have you had to complete a test or exercise as part of an interview or prior to an interview?

Leaving a positive impression

Making a good final impression is just the same as making a good first impression – don’t forget to thank the recruiters for seeing you, smile and offer a firm handshake – it may feel a bit awkward but it acknowledges that the interview is important to both of you.

It’s reasonable to ask the recruiters when they expect to make a decision. It shows that you are motivated and interested in the job or course. You can also follow it up with a phone call or email if you don’t hear anything.

Be pleasant and polite to everyone you meet within the building and keep your mobile phone off until you are outside. You don’t want to be telling your friends all about your experience with others listening. You never know who they are.

What happens next?

If you are offered the job or a place on your chosen course - congratulations! You’ve done really well and it’s a great boost to your morale.

But what happens if you are unsuccessful?

After an interview candidates will often torment themselves endlessly over every tiny slip or slightly imperfect answer, but most candidates do reasonably well in interviews, hardly any are complete disasters, so don’t overlook all the good things you did as you are likely to do this well the next time.

Try to identify where you could improve your performance and what you could do better.

Ask for feedback from the organisation or institution. They may be willing to provide you with a few tips for the future.

And finally, remember that you may just have been pipped at the post and another candidate was seen as marginally preferable on the day.

Revisit the resources from this course. Keep trying and keep refining your performance; you will get there in the end!