Interview Preparation Notes

Preparing for Interviews

Interview: Meaning and Purpose

An interview is a formal meeting to determine suitability for a job or course of study. It is typically a conversation between an interviewer and an interviewee.

Purpose of an Interview

The interviewer seeks to understand if the candidate:

• Can you do the job? Assesses skills, attributes, knowledge, experience, and understanding.
• Will you do the job? Evaluates enthusiasm, commitment, and loyalty.
• Will you fit in? Determines personality, attitude, approach, and cultural fit with the team.

Different Types of Interviews

• Pre-interview phone screening
• One-on-one interview
• Lunch interviews
• Group interviews
• Panel interviews
• Remote video interviews
• Competency interviews

Pre-Interview Phone Screening

Screens out unqualified applicants.

Tips:

• Ensure you can take the call without interruptions.
• Be flexible, friendly, and professional.
• Avoid discussing salary, benefits, or other detailed topics.

One-on-One Interview

The most typical interview format involving one interviewer and one candidate.

Tips:

• Preparation is key.
• Dress appropriately.
• Be engaging and show initiative.

Lunch Interviews

Can be tricky.

Tips:

• Be prepared for polite banter.
• Let the interviewer lead the conversation.
• Avoid politics or taboo topics.
• Be careful with food choices to avoid stains or getting food stuck in your teeth.

Group Interviews

Panel interviews can assess how you handle conflict in a group setting; essentially, candidates compete against each other.

Tips:

• Respond only to the interviewers.
• Avoid building yourself up by knocking others down.
• Demonstrate teamwork, leadership, and self-confidence.

Competency Interviews

Designed to assess if you have the required skills for the job; may involve a computer test.

Tips:

• Ask if you don’t understand something.
• Highlight critical thinking ability and willingness to learn.

Remote Video Interviews

Similar to traditional interviews, but conducted remotely.

Tips:

• Prepare lighting, sound quality, background, and personal appearance.
• Practice with the software and ensure a reliable internet connection.
• Don’t consider it informal; preparation is still key.

Interview Structure Format

• Structured
• Semi-structured
• Unstructured

Structured interviews

Uses a checklist of carefully ordered questions. Each interviewee is asked the same questions in the same order.

• The interview process is question-focused.

Benefits of a structured interview

• Set questions that have been designed in advance
• Focus on core competencies of the role
• Interviewer knows what to look for from each question
• Reduce bias
• Questions asked in the same order
• Mostly consist of behavioral and situational questions
• Can go off-script, but will always return
• Digitally recorded
• Questions based on job analysis
• Not time consuming
• Fair evaluation

Semi-Structured Interviews

The questions asked in the interview are content-focused. An interview checklist might be prepared, but the interviewer isn't restricted to deploying those questions.

• Organized and ordered but with flexible questioning.

Unstructured Interviews

Is interviewee-focused. The questions asked are almost entirely determined by the interviewee's responses.

• These interviews approximate normal conversational interaction and give the interviewee some scope to direct the interview.
• Each unstructured interview is unique.

What are unstructured interviews?

• Unfold like a conversation.
• May have general topics to cover.
• No specific question.
• No agreed order.

The pitiful pitfalls

• Susceptible to Bias
• Time Consuming
• Difficult To Analyse

Pros and Cons

• Flexible and comfortable
• Better understanding about the interviewee
• Interactive method and balance of power
• Time-consuming
• Not suitable for certain candidates. There are a few candidates who don’t perform well in informal interviews because of their introvert or shy nature.
• Difficulty in comparing data of various candidates

Types compared

Different Types of Interview Questions

• Credential Verification Questions
• Experience Verification Questions
• Opinion Questions
• Behavioral Questions
• Competency Questions
• Outside-the-Box Interview Questions

Credential Verification Questions

Serve as CV/Resume fact checks and are aimed at objectively verifying the credentials presented in your resume.
Examples:

• “What is your GPA?”
• “When did you start working at your current company?”

Experience Verification Questions

Aim to subjectively evaluate the experiences in your background.

Examples:

• “What did you learn during that course?”
• “What were your responsibilities in your last job?”

Opinion Questions

Giving the “right” answer, in reality, there is never one right answer to such questions.

Typical questions in this category include:

• ” What is your greatest strength?”
• “What do you think is the impact of technology (AI) on the pharmacy profession?”

Instead, your answer would give the interviewer an insight into your decision-making skills.

Behavioral Questions

The purpose is to objectively analyze past behaviors in a certain type of situation to predict how you might react in those situations in future.

Examples include:

• “Describe how you handled challenges in the workplace. ”
• “How do you resolve tension with coworkers?”

Competency Questions

Designed to assess if you possess specific competencies and experience which are required for the job role.

Common examples include:

• “Give me an example of your leadership skills. ”
• “Describe how you sought a creative solution to a recent problem you were faced with. ”

To prepare for competency questions, carefully identify the skills needed for the position you are applying to, then decide on specific examples to demonstrate how you applied these skills in real-life scenarios. Consider using the STAR technique.

STAR Technique

1. Situation: Fill in details of the specific event.
2. Task: Explain your responsibility in that situation.
3. Action: Describe how you accomplished the task.
4. Result: State the impact of your actions.

Outside-the-Box Interview Questions

This category of interview questions could seem bizarre on the surface, but they are known to generate revealing answers. The purpose is to avoid pre-programmed answers to find out if you can formulate an original thought.

Examples include:

• “Who would play the lead role in a movie about your life?”
• “If you could travel through time, where would you go?”

Most Common Interview Questions

1. What do you know about our company?
   Bad answer: Not much. I was hoping you could tell me.
   A better approach: Answering with a statement that displays what you understand about the company, and what you might still want clarification on. “I found your annual report and noticed your company has grown its market share and is opening other branches. What is the next location planned?”
2. Why did you apply for this position?
   Bad answer: I want to get my career started
   A better approach: Talk about what the role you’re applying for does for you. Could it help you develop a skill? Does it align with your strengths or expertise? What excites you about the position?
3. What is your biggest weakness as an employee?
   Bad answer: I’m a perfectionist
   A better approach: Describe an issue you experienced at a previous job and the steps you took to ultimately overcome it. It will sound more personal and realistic.
4. Do you have any questions for me?
   Bad answer: No, I think you covered them all.
   A better approach: Ask about a recent announcement you encountered or ask the interviewer about what brought them to the company.