Part of the recruitment process which you may not have experienced in recent years is a live online or face-to-face interview. We are seeing an increase in the reintroduction of a live (not prerecorded) interview as a very important part of the recruitment process. A good live interview should allow the interviewer(s) to assess the following:

1. Can you do the job?  Do you have the rights experience and skills?
2. Will you do the job? Do you have the right attitude, motivation, and enthusiasm to do the job well?
3. Fit for role? What would you be like to work with, are you one of us?  Do you fit the organization/department/team?

Let's start with the type of question we find most people are the least comfortable with – introductory or motivational questions – which require you to talk about yourself.

It takes a lot of work to be well-prepared to answer these type of questions. You need to be confident in your ‘professional brand’, your strengths, skills and qualities and be ready to talk to it, succinctly and with a strong sense of self that conveys your personality and the value you will bring.

You will have approximately two minutes to respond to these types of questions, which isn’t a lot of time to say all the things you want them to know about you. So, if you feel under-prepared to respond with confidence to these questions, we suggest you start working on your responses now. 

A good place to start is to go back to basics and revisit your professional brand. Ask yourself ‘Who are you – NOW? 12 months on from the last recruitment cycle. We have a professional brand workshop you can complete to help you work through the key components of this.

Another good thing to do is to document all your achievements, professional development, and experience over the past year and to classify this under sub-headings that link to your brand i.e., Leader, scholar, quality improvement, initiative, educator, researcher, technical /clinical development, teamwork, collaboration, innovation etc. The purpose of this is to find evidence of your professional brand claims, that is:  If I am a leader – where is the evidence that demonstrates this.

We also encourage you to watch the ‘Nail your interview’ webinar to refresh your skills.

Some questions we would recommend you prepare responses for include:

• Tell us about your clinical and non-clinical experience as it relates to this role?
• What strengths will you bring to this position?
• Why are you interested in this pathway?
• What do you think you will find most challenging about the year ahead?
• Tell us about your greatest achievement to date?
• How would your peers describe your work style?

If you want to practice your interview skills, you can book a ‘Practice Interview’ with one of our team. If you feel you need more support, schedule an ‘Interview training program’ for a discounted rate.
 

Read more in the 'it is interview season' series

• How to ace Behavioural Event Interview (BEI) questions

• How to ace situational judgment or scenario interview questions

• Master your interview performance: presentation skills, body language and nerves

• Tips for learning from your interview performance

• Harnessing the impact of language in interviews