The more prepared you are – the more information about the position, organisation and field you have – the easier it is for you to give a good impression.

There are as many types of interviews as there are interviewers. Often you are interviewed by only a few people, sometimes the entire work team. The interview can be formal or very informal, e.g. just a coffee. Sometimes you might be given tasks to do in a group or before the next step of the interview. Try to give an honest and good first impression in every situation. Be punctual, be polite and interested. Look the interviewers in the eyes and be aware of your body language.

Typical questions?

Describe your competencies, abilities and previous experience by giving examples. Keep your answer to the question but fill in with your insights when suitable. Think about what you could answer on the questions below, but don’t over-reherse your answers by making them sound fake. Be yourself!

• Tell us shortly about yourself (e.g. your educational background, if you have specialised in something, about your previous work experience and where you come from)
• Why have you applied for this job?
• Why should we choose you?
• What are your strengths? (tell about 3-5 things you think would be of use in the job
• What are your weaknesses/What would you like to improve?(tell about 3-4 honest weaknesses but talk also about how you tackle or manage these)
• What is your typical role in a group/How do you cooperate? (use an example)
• How do you work in stressful situations?
• What kind of responsibilities have you had previously?
• How would you describe our organisation?

Relevant questions to the employer?

Relevant questions regarding the work or organisation often give a good impression. The more you know about the organisation, the easier it is to ask relevant questions. These could be something about:

• further information regarding work tasks, e.g. special projects, division of tasks
• the working environment / team
• what kind of future prospects the organisation has
• questions about the business in general

Every interview is a chance for you to develop your interview skills. A “Sorry we did not pick you this time” after an interview does not mean you did anything wrong, and hopefully the experience helped you to better prepare for coming possibilities.

The Career Services offer interview simulations where you get to practice the interview situation.