Academic Careers Preparing for an Interview

							Academic Careers: Preparing for
         an Interview

   Professor Helen Chambers, Modern Languages
   Dr Rona Ramsay, Biology
   Mr Paul Brown, Careers Centre
 Performing your best on the day
What’s going on in an interview?

• Interviewers trying to picture you fitting into
  their existing team in a particular role

• You trying to persuade them that you are
  equipped and motivated to step into that
  team and role
 Performing your best on the day

• Their agenda
• Your agenda
• Communicate
• Practicalities
    Meeting the interviewers’ agenda
• Look beyond the job description
• Ask around or search for more details
• What would their ideal candidate contribute?
• How much of this profile can you meet?
• How can you show that you can make a great
  contribution in areas they want you to?
• Where is your evidence?
    Establishing your agenda
•   What do you need clarified?
•   What are your greatest strengths for the position?
•   Be alert to communicate those strengths
•   Make sure you have done so by end of interview
•   Think about the questions you want to ask
•   Focus on positives about the position
•   Better to turn the job down than not be offered
               Communication
•   You have to impact upon the interviewers
•   Handshake, smile, engage
•   Listen actively to their communication
•   Be alert to what they are really getting at
•   Clarify questions if necessary
•   Have you have said enough or too much?
•   Smile, look at them
•   Enthuse, be positive
•   Be alert
•   Sit up!
•   Remember your agenda
    Practicalities on the day
• Get there in time
• Dress formally
• Assume everyone feeds into
  assessment
• Be pleasant to everyone
• Take in everything you can
             Resources
• Websites: GRADskills, UKGRAD,
  Prospects
• GRADskills programme
• Careers Centre programme
• Careers Advisers
• Careers Centre books, videos, handouts