Example Sky interview questions and how to answer them

Jump to: Sky’s graduate interviews | Previous Sky interview questions | Asking your own questions | A parting tip for Sky’s interviews

The recruitment process for Sky’s graduate programmes includes two video interviews. Deborah Baker, the company’s former group director for people told targetjobs, ‘Approach your interviews as you would an exam.’ Deborah was referring to your interview preparation – vital to interview success – and we help you to heed her words by looking at previous Sky interview questions and how to answer them.

But before we get to any, note that the example interview questions included in this article (despite having been previously asked to graduate interviewees) are not guaranteed to come up in your interview. So, along with practising your answers to them, use the coming questions as a springboard for predicting and preparing for other potential Sky interview questions.

Sky’s graduate interviews

The first of Sky’s graduate scheme video interviews is a pre-recorded video interview that is completed as part of the online assessment stage. For this interview, you’ll record and submit your answers to a series of automated question. Sky states that you will have an opportunity to practise recording your answers before completing the interview.

If you pass this stage and the other online assessments – behavioural assessments and, depending on the programme, a numerical reasoning and/or coding assessment – you’ll be invited to Sky’s virtual assessment centre.

At the assessment centre, again, depending on the programme you’ve applied to, you may have a second interview and, potentially, there may be a third interview – as reported by one technology graduate scheme applicant on a major jobs forum. Your one-to-one assessment centre interviews will be held as if you are having a Zoom or WhatsApp video call with a line manager.

On the day, you may also take part in a group exercise, a programme- or business-specific exercise and more psychometric tests. Head to the following articles if you’d like to learn more about psychometric tests or to have a go at free practice aptitude tests .

Treat your video interviews no different to in-person meetings. Set yourself up for success by undertaking them in a quiet room without distractions, clearing your background, testing your technology and dressing for the part. When recording your answers or speaking to the recruiter, look into the camera as if making ‘eye contact’ and speak clearly.

Head to Sky’s organisation hub to get the lowdown on Sky-working-life from its graduates and to find other useful advice for the employer.

Previous Sky video interview questions

Sky isn’t the most forthcoming in terms of sharing details about the way in which it assesses you and the type of questions you’ll be asked. However, by scouring the aforementioned major jobs forum, we found past example Sky interview questions reportedly asked during graduate interviews. These included behavioural, biographical, competency-based and motivational questions.

• Sky behavioural interview questions
• Sky biographical interview questions
• Sky competency-based interview questions
• Sky motivational interview questions

Past Sky interview questions: behavioural

Sky is known to use behavioural questions in interviews and these usually come in the form of asking you how you’d act in response to certain situations. With these questions, Sky aims to determine whether your instinctive responses to likely workplace scenarios will help you to carry out the role successfully and in line with the company values.

Would you try to resolve an [example situation] on your own or ask for your manager's help?

Here, Sky wants to know whether you’re able to judge when to take the initiative and when to communicate a problem to your higher-ups. Whether you try to resolve the issue yourself or ask for your manager’s help depends on what the problem is and this should be reflected in your answer.

Craft your answer by using your previous problem-solving experience to judge how to successfully resolve the situation – successfully being the key word here.

Remember: even if the problem is similar to something you’ve effectively dealt with before and you think that you could bring about the best outcome for all parties without your manager’s advice, after formulating a solution, you’ll still need to say that you’d first reflect on it before executing. You could do this by asking yourself the following questions.

1. Am I absolutely sure that my solution is the right one?
2. Is solving this issue within my remit and have I been trained to handle it?
3. Is the solution something that I can carry out myself or will it also require time, resources or money from elsewhere?
4. Is this a common problem for which there already exists a solution protocol or instructions?

If, upon reflection, you answer ‘no’ to any of the above, then approaching your manager with your proposed solution is the best course of action.

Sky isn’t looking for employees who take uncalculated risks, but rather level-headed and self-aware graduates. So make sure to also mention that if you feel in doubt about any aspect of the situation, then you’d go to your manager – ideally with a proposed solution – and ask for guidance.

How would you ensure you build effective working relationships when starting a project?

Building effective relationships with colleagues is key for any project and there are several skills and traits that you could mention calling upon here. However, your answer should demonstrate your ability to use the ones that will allow you to not only quickly build rapport with colleagues, but also set the project up for long term-success from the get-go – most notably teamwork and communication skills.

You should show in your answer that you understand that it is essential for you to:

• be personable
• make an effort to get to know your co-workers
• understand your role in the project and how you can contribute
• carry out your allocated tasks in the time required, asking for help when you need it (so that you prove your worth as a reliable colleague who actively contributes)
• support other colleagues on their tasks if and when time allows.

It’s important to note that the above answer is based upon the assumption that you are a team member rather than a team leader. If you were leading the team, your answer would also focus on being able to (among other things):

• clearly articulate the project goals to, and to inspire, the team
• set realistic and achievable timeframes for project tasks
• cultivate trust and openness – so that there is a culture of learning and problem solving within the team and people can share any difficulties they are having.

Past Sky interview questions: biographical

Sky has previously used biographical questions as a means of finding out more about applicants’ experience, personality and skills to determine whether they are suited to both the role and the company.

Tell me about yourself.

While this question is intended to be an ice breaker to ease you into the interview, it can be tricky. The fact that you are the topic of conversation makes it easy to end up rambling. To avoid this, you’ll want to show off your best self by providing a succinct, relevant answer.

Go through your original application or CV before the interview day, picking out key pieces of information that sum up your skills and experience. It’s also useful to refer to the job description and identify areas where your experience aligns with the requirements of the job. Use the key information that you select to briefly summarise why you are genuinely motivated to work at Sky and that you have the skills, experience and knowledge to succeed in the role.

By all means practise your answer, but try not to form it into a speech that you repeat word for word – this can sound forced and doesn’t give the interviewer a true impression of you.

For more guidance, we’ve got an entire article dedicated to helping you answer ‘Tell me about yourself’ here.

What are your interests?

This question serves two purposes, to also break the ice and to determine whether you’ll fit your prospective team’s culture. Don’t make up a list of things you think the interviewer will want to hear – it’s hard to fake enthusiasm and you’ll usually get caught out if you lie. Instead, mention what your interests are, but think about how you can relate these to Sky and the job that you’re applying for.

If you’re applying for a role in betting and gaming, for example, an interest in sport is essential, so give an example that demonstrates your interest. Or if you’re applying for a supply chain position, think about pastimes that demonstrate relevant skills, such as organising social events for a society or students’ union.

Past Sky interview questions: competency-based

Interviewees from several of Sky’s graduate programmes report being asked competency-based questions. Sky uses these questions as a means of judging whether you’ve previously demonstrated the skills needed for the role.

The key to answering these questions is to use the STAR structure: explain the Situation you found yourself in, the Tasks you needed to complete, the Actions you personally took and the Results. If you want a little more guidance for these types of interview questions and the STAR structure, then head to our article on how to answer competency-based interview questions .

Describe a time when you have been part of a successful team.

This is a classic teamwork question. When answering questions like this, it’s always key to highlight your own contribution and actions rather than those of the team as a whole.

You need to consider the experience as a whole: think about what you enjoyed about working as a team, what you might do differently another time and what made the team a success. The interviewer will be looking for evidence that you can build relationships and work effectively with others, so make sure your answer includes these details.

The best answer will show that you played a key role in making the team successful, even if you weren’t the official leader – perhaps you were the one who came up with the original idea or turned the initial concept into something that could work in practice, perhaps you were the one who kept everyone on track in terms of timings and not losing sight of the objective, or perhaps you helped a teammate out when they were struggling or were key to boosting team morale.

Describe a time when you came up with a creative solution to a problem.

This question is closely linked to Sky’s corporate culture: it covers both creativity and problem-solving skills, which are particularly required for many of Sky’s graduate roles. It also encompasses Sky’s concern with finding new and better ways to do things. It’s important to put a lot of thought and effort into answering this question and producing an example that clearly demonstrates how you uphold these values.

Your answer could come from any area of your life, but anything that relates to the specific role you’re applying for would be an advantage. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing position, you could talk about how you came up with a new promotional activity to help boost flagging readership of your student newspaper.

Or if you’re applying to finance, it could be how you came up with a budget plan to help a friend get home when they spent too much money during their gap year travels.

Past Sky interview questions: motivational

Motivational questions are a staple of graduate interviews and, according to our research, it’s highly likely that you’ll be asked at least one when interviewing for Sky. These questions allow Sky to gauge your level of interest in the organisation and the role and to get an idea of whether you’re a long-term prospect who shares the company’s values.

Why have you applied to Sky?

To tackle answering this question, think about what drew you to Sky over, say, one of its main competitors, such as the BBC. What is it about the company that resonates with you? Perhaps its Sky’s particularly strong focus on teamwork and collaboration. Or maybe it’s the commitment to diversity and inclusion: throughout 2021, 2022 and 2023, Sky has been and will continue to invest £10m per year across its markets in support of initiatives to improve racial equality within the industry.

Be sure to look into Sky’s values, which you can find on the company’s ‘Values and integrity’ webpage. Think about which of the values are most aligned with your own and try to come up with examples from your life, be it work, studies or extracurriculars where you have demonstrated them.

On an extra note, being able to convincingly express your desire to work at Sky also means developing a wider knowledge of the industry in which it operates. This is known as commercial awareness and you can find more advice on commercial awareness and how to develop it here.

Why are you passionate about this business area?

When answering this question, consider the business area (be it technology, marketing or trading) from several different angles. How did you first become interested in the subject? When did you realise that it was something you wanted to focus your career on? What have you done to further your knowledge and experience of this particular area? Be as enthusiastic as you like, without skimming on any detail.

This question is also your opportunity to mention the graduate role specifics and how you think these will allow you to explore and further develop your passion for the business area. Our article titled ‘Why are you interested in this position’ provides further tips for tackling this type of graduate interview question.

Some questions you might like to ask

Asking questions at interview is a good way of showing your interest in the company and your willingness to seek new information and clarification where necessary – something which trainees will need to do. However, it’s important to think carefully about what you ask: asking banal questions (or worse, ones to which you have already been given the answer) will suggest a lack of engagement. It will be apparent if you aren’t genuinely interested in the response.

You may want to think about:

• Aspects of the graduate programme – such as the sorts of projects you will be involved in and what a typical day on the graduate scheme entails.
• Management structure – such as who your seniors within the team are and which of these you’d interact with most often.
• Sky’s working culture – such as how the company’s values are put into practice on a day-to-day basis and whether there’s anything about, for example, its diversity policies that particularly interests you.

Read our guide on asking questions at graduate interviews to clue yourself in on good questions before your Sky interview.

A parting tip for your Sky graduate scheme video interviews

Although Sky prides itself on having a fun and relaxed working environment, remember that your interviews are formal assessments: be polite and professional at all times and keep Sky’s competencies in mind. You can find these by clicking the ‘What we look for’ tab on the ‘Graduate programmes’ page on Sky’s website.

And, finally, make sure to sign up to targetjobs to get all the benefits of our graduate job-hunting platform including tailored advice and job opportunities.