Support in preparing for your interview

Support in preparing for your interview

This document is for you if… …you are preparing for a behavioural interview or assessment as part of a recruitment process.

Getting started Preparation for an interview is an absolutely key part of the process and will often be the difference between success and failure. You can’t control all the aspects of an interview, but there are several things that you can do to increase your chances of acquiring that new role. Let’s take a look a some of these…

How to prepare for a behavioural interview Before the interview

Preparation is key! A behavioural interview will quickly expose any attempt to waffle or generalise. You interviewer wants to know what you actually did

• Remember to review the job advert and recall recent situations that show favourable behaviours or actions, relating to the required skills, for example involving leadership, teamwork, initiative, planning etc When you’re in the interview • Remember to be specific about each situation and give lots of detail – don’t generalise about several events, give a detailed account of one event • Be sure each example has a beginning, middle, and an end (be ready to describe the situation, including the task at hand, your action, and the outcome or result) • Be sure the outcome or result reflects positively on you (even if the result itself was not favourable) • Vary your examples - don’t take them all from just one area of your life

Types of questions

Specific Questions Invite factual replies and may cover specific technical or more general questions

Open Questions

Hypothetical Questions

An open question begins with what, where, when, how, which, who or why. They are used to encourage full replies

These test your speed and agility of thought. They require you to imagine yourself in a situation and describe the actions you would take to solve the problem presented. Illustrate your answer with real examples from your experience if possible

Behavioural / Competency Questions

Negative Questions

These questions ask about your experience to determine your ability to do something e.g. ‘Tell us about a situation where you identified a problem and took steps to resolve it’.

Some questions seem to ask you to be negative about yourself e.g. ‘What are your weaknesses?’ For these questions it ‘s important to understand what your development areas are and be able to explain what action you’re taking to address them

The STAR method The STAR method is a structured way of responding to a behavioural-based interview question by discussing the specific Situation, Task, Action, and Result of the situation you are describing. Situation: Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalised description of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevant event. Task: What goal were you working towards? Action: Describe the actions you took to address the situation with an appropriate amount of detail and keep the focus on YOU. What specific steps did you take and what was your particular contribution? Be careful that you don’t describe what the team or group did when talking about a project, but what you actually did. Use the word “I” not “we” when describing actions. Result: Describe the outcome of your actions and don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? Your answer may contain multiple positive results. Below is a short example based on the question; “Can you tell me about a time when you used your initiative to improve something in the workplace?” Star

Theory

Sample answer

S = Situation

Briefly describe the situation or scene

I was working in large bank as a Customer Service Advisor and my team had poor data quality scores

T = Task

Say what needed to be done to address the situation and what your role and responsibilities were

I recognised this was having an impact on the level of service and advice we were able to provide to our customers, therefore I volunteered to be the quality representative for the team and address all the issues

A = Action

Say what you did and how you did it including reasons

I used my knowledge of the business to explain to people good practices and why it was important. I arranged for data quality to be a regular item on team meeting agendas . I worked with my team on briefings, hand-outs and guides to raise awareness and improve performance, regularly monitoring how much we had improved to ensure my actions were having the required impact

R = Result

Say what happened as a result of your actions

People became much more aware of quality issues and the impact on the business. Due to this our overall score improved from 60% to 85% in three weeks. I now want to ensure that we maintain the positive results. The department now use my team as a benchmark for performance

Over the next few pages are example of interview questions broken down into Leader of Self, Leader of People and Leader of Leaders. They are also aligned with a corresponding behaviour (below the questions).

We keep our promises

Wear our customers shoes

Take pride in what we do

We are stronger together

Leader of Self How do you make sure your colleagues feel fully involved in the achievement of team goals? Give a specific example of how you have ensured this, how this was received, what was the outcome. Can you tell me about a time when you have helped a colleague who was overworked? How did you identify they were overworked? What did you do to help them? Tell me about when you used your influencing skills to bring a broader or more senior group of individuals to your way of thinking. * Effectively develops and supports others * Demonstrates trust and respect in others * Influences others effectively *Assertively and appropriately handles conflict * Simply translates business strategy into meaningful goals and objectives Tell me how you make sure that you focus on improvements that will enhance business performance. Can you give a specific example? What were the benefits? Tell me about a time you solved a difficult problem that had significant impact? How did you identify the problem? What was the outcome? Can you give me an example of a time where you found working with a particular person challenging? What did you do? What was the outcome? * Recognises and positively reinforces success * Communicates and motivates others successfully toward a common goal * Encourages and empowers individuals to in order to deliver successfully * Recognises the most appropriate and effective way to develop and coach individuals Tell me about a time when you have exceeded a customers needs? How did you balance this with the other demands of your role? Can you tell me about a time when you have developed a solution for a customer? What was the outcome? What would you have done differently? Tell me about a time when you have dealt with a difficult or challenging customer? * Recognises emerging customers needs * Develops positive solutions to meet emerging customer needs * Focuses others on actively meeting the needs for the end customer * Actively seeks feedback in order to make necessary improvements * Utilises feedback in order to make necessary improvements * Encourages and positively builds commitment to deliver customer excellence Tell me about an occasion when you took responsibility for making a decision? What was the decision? How and why did you defend your position? Tell me about a time when you failed to meet a deadline? What were the circumstances? What would you differently in the future? Can you tell me about a time where you have had conflicting priorities? How did you manage these? What was the outcome? * Plans and priorities efficiently * Sets expectations and clearly communicates these * Motivates others * Provides positive direction to others * Challenges others * Supports others * Delegates work effectively * Supports and encourages learning and development

Give me an example of when you have drawn on the individual strengths of team members to achieve objectives? What did this achieve? What was the outcome? Tell me about a time where you have brought someone around to your way of thinking. How did you do this? What was the outcome? Tell me about a situation where you have had to overcome considerable resistance to make something happen? What was the nature of the resistance? What was the outcome? * Effectively develops and supports others * Demonstrates trust and respect in others * Influences others effectively *Assertively and appropriately handles conflict * Simply translates business strategy into meaningful goals and objectives Tell me about a time when you have recognised the potential of others? How did you recognise this? What did you do about it? How do you ensure you use the most appropriate ways to coach different members of the team? Why is it important to do this? Can you tell me about a time where you have had to develop a challenging member of your team? How did you do this? What was the outcome?

Wear our customers shoes

* Recognises and positively reinforces success * Communicates and motivates others successfully toward a common goal * Encourages and empowers individuals to in order to deliver successfully * Recognises the most appropriate and effective way to develop and coach individuals Give me an example of when you have sought customer feedback? Why did you decide to do this? What benefits were gained?

We keep our promises

Take pride in what we do

We are stronger together

Leader of People

How have you provided direction and set goals for team members in the past? how did you communicate them? How did you monitor the outcome? What feedback did you receive?

How do you make sure that your team is committed to delivering customer excellence? Give a recent example. What was the outcome of this? What methods do you use to monitor and benchmark the level of customer service delivered by yourself and your team?

* Recognises emerging customers needs * Develops positive solutions to meet emerging customer needs * Focuses others on actively meeting the needs for the end customer * Actively seeks feedback in order to make necessary improvements * Utilises feedback in order to make necessary improvements

Can you tell me about a team member that you have supported and developed? How did you recognise the areas? What was the outcome? What would you do differently next time?

* Plans and priorities efficiently * Sets expectations and clearly communicates these * Motivates others * Provides positive direction to others * Challenges others * Supports others * Delegates work effectively * Supports and encourages learning and development

We keep our promises

Wear our customers shoes

Take pride in what we do

We are stronger together

Leader of Leaders Can you tell me about your experience of working across functions, departments and companies? Tell me about a specific time when it was important to do this? What was the outcome? Can you tell me how you develop effective networks and relationships? Why is this important? Tell me about a time where you have clearly communicated your organisations vision and values. How did you inspire them? What feedback did you receive? * Effectively develops and supports others * Demonstrates trust and respect in others * Influences others effectively *Assertively and appropriately handles conflict * Simply translates business strategy into meaningful goals and objectives

How do you ensure commitment to quality from others? How is this received by others? please give me an example which illustrates this. What have you personally done to develop a learning culture in your organisation? How has this worked? What improvements have been made?

* Recognises and positively reinforces success * Communicates and motivates others successfully toward a common goal * Encourages and empowers individuals to in order to deliver successfully * Recognises the most appropriate and effective way to develop and coach individuals

Tell me about a time where you have developed one solution for multiple customers? What was the issue? What was the outcome? How do you make best use of systems and processes to best address customer needs? Give me a recent example? What was the outcome? What would you do differently in the future?

* Recognises emerging customers needs * Develops positive solutions to meet emerging customer needs * Focuses others on actively meeting the needs for the end customer * Actively seeks feedback in order to make necessary improvements * Utilises feedback in order to make necessary improvements

Tell me about a time when you managed a key risk the organisation was facing? What process do you go through to weigh up the extent of the risks? What was the outcome? Can you give me an example of a time where you have made a judgement or decision based on limited information? What factors did you take into consideration? * Plans and priorities efficiently * Sets expectations and clearly communicates these * Motivates others * Provides positive direction to others * Challenges others * Supports others * Delegates work effectively * Supports and encourages learning and development

Things to remember… The interview is a two way process. By making it to the interview you have already passed the first hurdle in illustrating that you meet the role’s basic requirements. The interview is therefore your chance to expand upon your application or CV, and the opportunity to demonstrate your suitability for the job. It also provides you with the opportunity to decide whether the job and the work environment are right for you. The purpose of the interview is to assess whether you will be a good ‘fit’ for the role and whether you have the skills and the motivation to do the job. During your interview, we are interested in hearing about your experiences, your typical ways of behaving and the strengths you might bring to the role. For your interview to be successful you need to be able to identify specific examples. Try to ensure that your examples are fairly recent and ones that allow you to demonstrate skills and behaviours. Behavioural based interviews – as the name suggests this type of interview is used to evaluate your behaviours. In this situation all candidates are asked the same questions - Try using the STAR model to frame your answer i.e. describe the Situation you were in, the Task or target you set out to achieve, the Action you took to bring this about, and finally explain the Results or outcome of your actions. As covered on page 3. You may also want to think about preparing answers to standard questions. Re-read your application documents in detail and spend some time thinking about how your skills and abilities match up to the role. Be aware of the different ‘types’ of question that may arise e.g. hypothetical questions test your speed and quality of thought where you are required to imagine yourself in a situation and describe the actions you would take to solve the problem. Other questions may seem to ask you to be negative about yourself e.g. “What are your weaknesses or development areas?” For these questions it ‘s important to understand what your development areas are and be able to explain what action you’re taking to address them.

Do • See it as an opportunity to showcase all of your skills, abilities, and experience • Listen carefully and answer the question that’s asked • Pause to think, pace yourself and speak clearly • Make the most of your research – mention some of the facts you have learnt • Be prepared to ask questions

Don’t • Be late! • Go on for too long or digress • Worry about long silences -Tell the interviewer you are taking a moment to think • Ask too many questions • Try to take control of the interview – it’s not a power struggle • Criticise current or previous managers / colleagues • Don’t let nerves show too much

More tips on preparing for your next move… How to prepare for a new job or opportunity To prepare yourself for a new role within British Gas it’s important to remember that there is plenty of support out there to help you. There are also some areas you may wish to consider; Is your Personal Development plan up to date? There are many different personal development templates that can help you to define your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats. It’s also a good way to keep track of projects that you have been involved with that demonstrate your competence and qualities that may support you in your new role and that of any further opportunities that you may decide to go for. It is important to have a PDP in place to: • Drive your development • Improve your performance • Keep you engaged and motivated in your job • Ensure we achieve the objectives in our business plan No matter how effective you are, there is always room for professional or personal growth and development. Creating a PDP is the best way to ensure that your development needs are being met. It is down to you to create and manage your PDP and measure its success.

Compile your skills Collate a record of all your achievements, and keep it up-to-date. It may be worth including anything that demonstrates your capabilities, such as copies of performance appraisals, certificates, articles, action plans, diary notes, letters, and emails. These things may seem insignificant, but can be highly useful. This portfolio will remind you of your progress against your development plan. It can also help you when preparing for your interview, performance reviews and also updating your CV. Useful links Click here for Centrica behaviours

Click here for The CE Way

Click here for British Gas behaviours

Click here for British Gas MiLearn (development portal)