The Interview Guide

Before you spiral into prep mode, check the basics. Write them down somewhere you won’t lose them.

• Date and time (and time zone, if online)
• Location or platform (Teams, Zoom, phone, in person)
• Interview format — chat, panel, presentation, test?
• Who you’re meeting, if they’ve told you
• Anything you need to prepare or bring
• Whether there’s a test, presentation or assessment

If time is tight, don’t try to do everything. Do this.

Don’t try to memorise 25 separate answers. Prepare around 5–7 real examples from your own life that can stretch across different questions.

Useful places to dig:

• A team project
• Something that went wrong
• Something you started yourself
• A busy period
• Something difficult you learned
• Something you’re proud of
• Helping someone / solving something

Experience is evidence of what you’ve done — it doesn’t have to come with an office badge.

You can use:

school · university · societies · volunteering · sport · clubs · personal projects · caring responsibilities · part-time work · helping organise something · teaching yourself a skill

Don’t collect 50 questions. Learn the useful types.

Tell me about yourself

Use: Now → Before → Why you’re here

• What you’re doing now
• Relevant experiences or interests that brought you here
• Why this opportunity makes sense next

Why do you want this role / apprenticeship?

Use: Why this work + why this organisation + why now

Generic lines like “I’ve always been passionate about your company” usually sound weak unless they’re genuinely true. Connect the role, the organisation, and your own interests.

Spend less time setting up the story and more time explaining what you actually did.

What’s your biggest weakness?

Structure: real weakness → what you’ve noticed → what you’re doing about it.

Skip clichés like “I’m a perfectionist.”

Tell me about a time you failed

They’re usually interested in responsibility, learning, and what changed afterwards.

Structure: what happened → what you owned → what you changed.

Why should we choose you?

Don’t say you’re better than every other candidate. Choose 2–3 things the role needs and connect them to evidence you’ve already given.

You are allowed to pause. Calmly thinking beats inventing something under panic.

For technical or problem-solving questions, talking through your reasoning can still be useful — even if you don’t land on a perfect answer.

1. What do they actually do?
2. What does this role involve?
3. What seem to be their priorities or values?
4. Is there something recent or interesting they’re doing?
5. Why does any of that connect to YOU?

Assessment centres can include:

group exercises · presentations · written tasks · case studies · role plays · technical tasks · psychometric tests

Strong group behaviour:

• Listen
• Contribute
• Bring quieter people in
• Keep the group moving
• Disagree respectfully
• Help reach a decision

If you need something changed so you can show what you can do — ask. That can include accessible arrangements, extra time, alternative document formats, or communication support.

Asking for an adjustment is not “making a fuss”. It’s giving them a fairer chance to see your actual ability.

• 1Know where you’re going
• 2Set out what you’re wearing
• 3Charge everything
• 4Check your example bank once
• 5Read through your questions
• 6Then stop

Don’t spend the night memorising scripts.
Prepared ≠ rehearsed.

While it’s fresh, note:

• What did they ask?
• Which answer went well?
• What caught you off guard?
• What would you answer differently next time?

A short thank-you or follow-up can be appropriate sometimes — it is not mandatory after every interview. Don’t stress etiquette rules that don’t actually change the outcome.

Someone else being selected does not automatically mean you interviewed badly.

Where it feels appropriate:

• Ask for feedback
• Write down what you learned
• Keep the examples and preparation you’ve already built

This guide is mainly for jobs, apprenticeships, internships and work experience. University interviews can focus more on:

• Why the subject
• What you’ve studied or read
• Your application
• How you think
• Current issues in the subject

Specialist courses may also involve portfolios, auditions, technical interviews or course-specific assessments.