How a HILT interview preparation session gave me the confidence I needed

I had so many questions about preparing for my interview that were swimming around in my head. Through the interview preparation session with Hilt, I got answers to all of those and so much more! Here are the questions I asked, and the answers Siobhan gave:

How long should it take me to answer one competency question?

Approximately 2 – 2 ½ minutes if not interrupted by the interviewer. On average, approximately 250-350 words

I have been interrupted in previous interviews – why?

Several potential reasons! They may just want clarification on something you have said – (not a big deal). They may want you to hurry up and GET TO THE POINT – (not so good) or they may be keen to dig deeper into what YOUR role was. Talk about what you did – just start your sentences with ”I” – simple but it works. They may also interrupt to ask how you would approach that situation if you were faced with it again –(a good sign as it shows they are interested). Side bar: I realised during my interview preparation session that I had not been getting to the point!

How can I stop waffling on during my answers or end up talking about things I hadn’t planned on mentioning?

The best way to give interviewers sufficient proof you have what they are looking for is to give them a specific example and use the STAR structure to stay on track and demonstrate that you have successfully used that competency or skill in the past. The STAR model is simply a way to organise the information. Think of it as telling a story with a very definite Beginning, (Situation/Task) Middle (Action I Took) and End (Result). Another side bar: I had heard about STAR but it was only during the session that I really understood how to effectively use it.

Won’t I sound like a parrot rattling off my pre-prepared answers?

You will if you try to learn them off verbatim! Instead practice rehearsing them out loud – without notes – it’ll sound slightly different each time you tell it but that’s okay. Your interviewer wants authenticity – not word-perfect answers.

All this before we got into the real work of the session – I truly didn’t know how much I didn’t know until I completed the interview preparation session.

Image Credit: Photo by Freepik