Interview Advice from IT Jobs for Graduates webcast:
IT Jobs for graduates has spoken to leading recruitment specialists at multinational organisations to find out what kind of questions they ask in interviews.
We spoke to recruiters from Barclays Capital, Fidessa, Deloitte, UBS and Citigroup and to give examples of the kinds of questions you will be asked in interviews and how best to structure answers. So watch this webcast and learn how to make your answers stand out from the crowd.
We want to give you the leading edge in what’s going on in today’s competitive recruitment market and how you can get the best out of yourself. Email a.gohil@theitjobbard.com if you have any comments, feedback or suggestions for us.
Transcript for "Interview Advice" Webcast
Pooja Madhok
Hello my name is Pooja Madhok, I work for the Deloitte. My role within the firm is, I look after graduate recruitment marketing. In terms of interview questions, some of the most common questions you can expect if you come through for an interview with Deloitte, really we look for a number of competencies. So five of our competencies that you can expect at first interview stage, some of them are around, communication and social interaction, career motivation, sector awareness, intellect, analysis and judgement, planning and organising and goal orientation. So if you come through for an interview with Deloitte some of the most common questions you can expect to find are really around how you can display that you possess those competencies and skills that would make you successful at our firm. So the best way to answer a question like that? Quite often the interviewer will sit in front of you and say, “Can you tell me a time when demonstrated this competency?” So really the best thing to keep in mind is, I like to think of it as an S.A.O., which stands for Situation, Action and Outcome. So if you’re being asked a question like that, explain the situation, put it into context really, talk your story and sell it to the interviewer. The action part is really around what you did in that situation and the outcome is obviously what happened in the end. So if you keep that in mind for any competency or any skill that you might be assessed against for any company, that framework should really hold you in good stead. Having said this, the job interview process is very much a two-way questioning process, so at the end of an interview, quite often you’ll be asked if you have any questions as well. So don’t underestimate the importance of actually also asking some intelligent and thought provoking questions, they could be anything around; ‘what their experience at Deloitte has been like?’ or similarly ‘what are some of the current affairs going on in the world at the moment, what that means for a company like Deloitte?’ so that’s something else you might want to keep in mind, when interviewing with a firm like Deloitte. Best of luck for your interview.
Paul Siaens:
Hi I’m Paul Siaens, I’m Fidessa’s Technology Global Talent Programme Recruitment Manager for the UK. In a nutshell, I recruit the UK grads into our company. Obviously, I’m here today to talk about interview techniques and best practice and all that kind of stuff. So I want to base it around, interview advice I can give you to answer effectively interview questions when you’re sat in front of an interviewer. As interviewers, we often try and ask you tricky questions, not to catch you out but to see how you perform and to get the best out of you. And a way that you can deliver that performance and show your best is to be a star and what I mean by that is when your answering an interview question I would really recommend you stick to what a lot of us would call the Star Model. Now that is to, talk about the situation, talk about the tasks involved what actions you took and the results of those actions. What a lot of you do as a mistake, is you talk about what other people did and what the result of the group was, rather than what your actions were. You got to remember that we’re there interviewing you as an individual, we’re not there a whole group of you. So talk about what you did in that star role so remember, Situation, Task Action and Results. Now if you can structure your answer in that respect, you’ve pretty much cracked half of your interview. And what I mean by half your interview is, what you got to remember is we are interviewing you and assessing you against communication skills very many times. And with that respect the S.T.A.R. is half the communication. The other half is non-verbal communication. So when you go into an interview, be very aware of you are what, what your body language is saying, your confidence, it exudes all that kind of stuff so be appropriately dressed, behave appropriately. A very good interview tip is to mirror the body language of the interviewer so if the interviewer is sitting face on in an open posture, don’t hide behind crossed arms or anything like that sit face on to the interviewer in an open posture. Communicate yourself, through non-verbal communication that is I think a very strong part of which we see you are, if that makes sense. So, if you crack those two things, I think, you’ll do very well in an interview. Obviously you need to have the experience and the examples to demonstrate what is being asked, so remember to make sure you’re answering the question with your S.T.A.R. model but if you stick to the S.T.A.R. format and be aware of your non-verbal communication I think you should succeed.
Katherine Airey:
Hi my name’s Katherine Airey and I work in Campus Graduate Recruitment and Development at Barclays Capital and I actually recruit for Technology, Legal and HR. I’m joined by my colleague Michelle Gray today and we’re here to talk to you a little bit about some of the common interview questions that we ask, also give you interview tips, do’s and don’ts on how to have a successful interview.
Michelle Gray:
Hi my name’s Michelle, I focus on sales, recruiting data officials so we’re hoping to give you a few hints and tips and to really help you through the interview process.
Katherine Airey:
I would say some of our most common questions include things like, ‘why do you want to work for an investment bank?’ because that’s crucial in term of actually differentiating why you want to work for an investment bank as oppose to at a different industry. So my advice on that question would be to really research the industry, know what that sort of role involves and actually having an understanding of what an investment bank does. We don’t expect you to have an in depth financial knowledge about different products and the different things that we offer but it is good to read the Financial Times, have an understanding of what an investment bank does
Michelle Gray:
And you know, really make the most of the time we’re on campus doing various events and careers fairs, come and talk to as many different people as you can. Not only Barclays Capital but other companies that are investment banks, so you can get a clear understanding as to what people do. So make sure you do your pre-research so when you do come in for an interview you are focused and have an idea. I would say some other key ‘hints and tips’, always be as enthusiastic as possible. For first round interviews they’re actually over the phone so again trying to communicate that is extremely important, so make sure you sound very punchy when you’re talking to your interviewer. I’d always suggest, smile when you’re talking, even over the phone because it really does show through your voice as well. We really want to find out about you and who you are, so we look for people who are well rounded. You might be extremely bright and have fantastic grades, which is great, but we really want to hear about what you’re like as a person, so what extra curricula activities and things you get involved in. So for any of the interview questions that you are asked, you don’t necessarily need to relay those back with experience, you could also tie in experience that you have from societies or clubs at university or any other interests that you may have.
Brian Hood:
Hello my name is Brian Hood, I’m head of graduate recruitment and development at Citi for Europe, Middle East and Africa. One of the job interview tips I would have is in relation to be able to articulate your motivation for working in the technology division of a bank or banking organisation such as Citi. It’s very important that your able to articulate the reasons for your choice, in comparison with the other options available to you. For example, companies such as Microsoft and Google as pure technology firms. But also consultancies such as Accenture, where your skills would also be very valued. One of the things that you need to do is help us understand that you’ve thought through the motivations for applying to a banking firm like Citi. It may be that you understand the significant investment that investment-banking firms have in technology, for example, trading floors are reliant on technology in order to deliver their business and actually make money for the organisation. It may be that you’ve read about some of the interesting technology innovations that banking firms have delivered and those are things that appeal to you as you start your career. It’s very important, as I said, to articulate what is it that motivates you about applying to this type of industry to work in technology versus the other options that are available to you.
Mark Pawson:
Hello, my name is Mark Pawson and I am a campus recruiter with UBS. I’d now like to focus on teamwork and one question which is always asked is, ‘tell me about a time when you have worked in a successful team?’ So points to bear in mind here are, “what are the goals of the team?”, “Why was the team successful?”, “what did you personally contribute to the team?” and also “what feedback did you take away from the rest of the team on your performance?” We find that the best answers we receive from students are those, which are based on the students, own experiences and not out of a textbook.
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Source: http://www.itjobsforgraduates.com/browse/Interview-Questions-Webcast
