Job Interview Ready – but can you beat the competition?
A mixture of experience and/or qualifications along with a good level of skills and/or confidence means that most employers will see you as a potential hire.
On average around 8 people will be interviewed for each job role, so the question is – what can you do to stand out from the crowd?
How to improve your job interview style?
Predict the interview questions. If you knew the questions on an exam paper, you would be more likely to pass the exam. This is the same with a job interview. By predicting the job interview questions you can prepare good interview answers.
To predict the job interview questions:
- Google ‘job role’ interview questions IE ‘retail job interview questions’ as many website share commonly asked questions per job role
- Read the commonly asked teenager job interview questions below
- Break down the job role into skills and duties IE a retail customer service role needs listening skills, and one duty would be to price up goods. Interviewers will ask for an example of completing the ‘duties’ or using a ‘skill’. Think about examples you can use to highlight your skills and experiences.
How to shine in the job interview
- Avoid using weak words: ‘I might’ ‘try’ and ‘maybe’ and use positive language: ‘I can’ ‘I will’ ‘I have’
- Think about the emotional power of words ‘good’ ‘fine’ ‘great’ and ‘excellent’ all mean the same thing, but emotionally ‘great’ is more powerful than ‘fine’
- Be assertive with your skill set. When asked, as an example ‘do you have experience of working in a team’ confidently say: ‘yes I have always worked within a team, an example of this is when…’
Which type of interview answers work best?
- Examples – always give an example of using a skill or completing a duty using the SAP Method (situation, actions, positive outcome)
- In the example, explain the situation, the actions you took, and the positive outcome:
“At school, I was asked to work on a team project. The goal of the project was to X.
My part in the team was Y. To complete the project we first shared different ideas and picked the best idea to work on. I was responsible for X, I did this by Y.
We finished the project on time and gained (positive feedback IE a good grade, feedback from the teacher, etc)”
- Be specific about what YOU did to achieve the positive outcome ‘I did..’ ‘it was my idea that led to…’ ‘I researched the two options…’
Improve your interview communication skills (verbal and non-verbal)
- Dress to impress – what you wear creates the first impression. Wearing formal clothes looks more professional than wearing casual clothes
- Also think about the amount of make-up, hairstyle, facial hair, and even your perfume and deodorant – as all of these create an initial impression that can be hard to break
- Boost the body language – sitting straight, with your head held high creates a ‘confident’ impression
- Gesture (talk with your hands), smile, and show enthusiasm
- Look at the person you are talking to. If more than one interviewer, look at each interviewer in turn.
- The power of voice – change volume, tonality and be emotive throughout the interview answers
- Pause – After each full stop, pause count “1000, 2000” in your head and start the next sentence
Ask questions at the end of the job interview
- “How would you describe the culture of the company?”
- “If I was offered the role, what would my first week look like?”
- “Are there any opportunities for gaining additional qualifications or training?”
Interview Preparation
- Research the company – its history, company vision, and company values. In the job interview reference, the research as this shows your enthusiasm for the role: ‘I applied for this position after reading about…’
- Do ‘mock’ interviews with friends, family, or a career advisor/teacher. Become use to answering interview questions and giving answers that embed real-life examples (using the SAP method)
- Use the ‘improv’ question games to increase confidence when being put on the spot. Ask a friend to ask you a random question IE:
- ‘What three things would you take to a desert island?’
- ‘What is your favorite memory?’
- ‘If you were the prime minister for a day what would you do?’
Which you then have to answer straight away, talking for around 2 minutes per question. This game often ends with lots of laughing and improved communication skills.
What else can you do to get ready for a teenager job interview?
- Reflect and remember – first think about past successes: previous positions in clubs, different voluntary positions and/or work experience, and projects that you were involved in, as many people often forget the number of successful activities they have been involved in that could be used in an interview answer
- Even though you are in a good position due to your skills, confidence, quals, and experiences, others may also be in a similar position as you. Is there anything else you can do that will help future interviews? IE what can you do to improve a predicted A grade to an A* grade? Would additional work experience be an advantage? How can you improve your confident communication skills?
- Think about your unique selling point – what is the best thing about you? What skills, knowledge or experience do you possess that will make you stand out? By knowing your unique selling point (and discussing this in the interview) can make you be seen as being more hireable than other applicants
The three rules for a successful teenage job interview
- Predict the job interview questions (based on the job criteria: job duties, company culture, and required skills/knowledge)
- Practice and create self-promoting answers
- Perform well by communicating confidently
Commonly asked teenager interview questions
Tell me about yourself and your experience in school/college?
‘I’ve applied for this role because my long-term career goal is to (state career objective). In school, I was head prefect for 2 years where I was responsible for (state duties). I have also been involved in (group/team/project) where my role was (describe role). Academically I am a high achiever, I am predicted (state predicted grades) and I was also involved in (state academic club: debating, maths club). Outside of school, I enjoy spending my time (state hobbies and interests)’
Do you know anything about our organisation?
‘Yes, I did some research about the role before I came today. The company has been in operation for 15 years where you started out as (state research found on the ‘history’ page on the company website) and now specialise in (state current products/area of work). The main focus of the role is (add duty: serving customers, administration, etc). This includes (break down the main duty into smaller tasks: for serving customers, this would be: asking for orders, double checking the order, and taking payment)These duties require (list skills: listening skills, communication skills, and an eye for detail).’
Tell me about the skills you have that are relevant to this job role.
‘As a (add job role) the main skill include (add 3 skills). The skills are used when (add duty(s)). One of my strengths is (add skill 1), an example of using this skill is (share example). When I (add work experience, group activity, job role) I always needed to (add skill 2), as an example (share example). An example of me using (add skill 3) is when I (add example)’
Give me an example of when you communicated something important to others.
‘Communication is a virtual skill in any job role. Basically, communication means the receiving of information from one person to another. When I (add work experience, project, or group task) one of my tasks was to (explain a communication task), to ensure the message wasn’t misunderstood I would check that the receiver understood the message by asking them to repeat it to me. I planned what I was going to say to ensure that the message was easy to understand.’
Are you a good team player?
‘I am a strong team player with lots of experience working within a team. As an example I (sports teams/event) and (project/group task). An example of me using team skills was when I (describe a situation). In this team activity, my role was to (discuss role/actions taken), the result of this was (explain the positive outcome)’
How would you balance working and studying at the same time?
‘I have always had good time management skills. I often use an online calendar and phone alerts to manage my day-to-day tasks. When working on my projects at the same time, IE working part-time while studying, while (add sports/club/project) I would first prioritise tasks, as an example (give an example of prioritising tasks). I also know the importance of delegation, when I (give situation) I had several tasks that my team needed to complete, because of this we decided to delegate each task (give detail). This resulted in us achieving our project on time.’
(for PT jobs) What hours can you work? (for FT jobs) Can you work overtime if needed?
‘I like to be as flexible as I can be, so if you need me to work overtime and I’m not in college that day I would be able to work. Currently, my college timetable is (state days/hours) which means I’m available for work during (state days/hours)’
Give me an example of being reliable.
‘I am highly reliable and a great timekeeper. I have been a part of a (club, group, or project) for X (number of months/years). This position required me to be reliable, a good, time-keeper, and to be self-motivated. As part of this (club, group, project) I had to be (explain how you were required to be at a certain place(s) at a certain time(s)). I managed this by putting events on my calendar, having phone alerts, and generally by being well organised’
What do you prefer, doing things your own way or following orders?
‘I can work in both ways. When following orders this ensures that tasks are completed the way they were meant to be completed, as an example when working on (project) we had to follow a process (describe the process). But when I was working on (second project) we had a more creative and flexible approach (describe flexible approach). The positive of doing things without orders is that you can get more things done quickly as you dint need to keep checking in, and you can bring your own ideas and experiences to the task.’
Do you have any questions for us?
‘Can you tell me a little more about the role please?’
‘How would you describe the culture of the company?’
‘Are there any opportunities for training and development?’
‘Why do you like working for the organisation?’
‘What would I be working on during my first few weeks of starting?’
