Perfect interview preparation for graduate jobs in HR and recruitment

Good preparation is essential for a successful interview. Being well prepared for your interview implies that you’ll be well prepared for meetings at work. If you know what what an employer is looking for, you can work out what questions will be asked and prepare your answers accordingly. Don’t over-prepare or you may sound stilted, but prepare some examples and you’ll be on your way to making a good impression.

Work out your top skills

Remind yourself what you are offering the potential employer. Dig out their application form and look at the statements you made about yourself. Draw up a list of ten or twelve skills and abilities you feel happy talking about and think of experiences that can persuade the interviewer of your abilities.

Find out what the employer wants

Most organisations are upfront with their selection criteria, and it pays to find out what they emphasise in particular. There will usually be a section on their website or in their recruitment brochure which explains ‘what we expect from you’. If you have met someone from the company at a careers fair or presentation, you should have been told what these essential attributes are. If there is no brochure or online presence, give them a call and ask for a job description, check out similar employers, or check out the relevant sector on this site for more information.

Research the company

Interviewers like to know that you actively applied to work for their organisation, as it suggests that you’re interested in a long-term career with them. If you can turn up something interesting by looking in the appropriate reference file in your careers service, using their website or checking out the employer profiles on targetjobs.co.uk you will have an important advantage over other candidates. Dig out any annual reports or company newsletters from their website, or read up on them in the newspapers.

Match it to your abilities

All being well, the criteria that the employer is selecting against should be pretty similar to the list of skills you are offering. Don’t be dismayed if you are uncertain about some of the things they seem to want, as one of the things they’re looking for is potential. Just demonstrating that you have recognised the importance of a particular criterion will impress the interviewer much more than mumbling apologetically. You will have a chance to learn if you get the job.

Remind yourself of your studies

Employers will be interested in hearing you talk about your course intelligently and in some depth. It’s easy to forget most of what you studied, so go over the relevant parts to remind yourself what you learned. If you did (or are doing) a dissertation or project, make sure you’ll be able to tell the recruiter about it.

The CIPD has some useful examples of questions you might come up against:

• Why have you applied for this role?
• What attracted you to this organisation?
• What story has particularly stood out to you in the news recently?
• Tell me about a time you had to work under pressure.
• Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict in a team.
• Can you give me an example of when you’ve had to give feedback to someone?