CGC Ebook 5.0

How long should my answers be in an interview? There is no exact rule on this but generally the earlier questions tend to be more informational or introductory. For instance, the answer to “How was your journey today?” or “Where did you study your degree?” can be less than thirty seconds. However, more important questions such as “Why do you want to work here?” might take between one and two minutes to answer as you need to explain and give further details about your motivation for the role. A more involved question like “Give me an example of when you worked on a complicated project” which entails describing a scenario might take two to three minutes to answer.

What types of interview formats are there? Competency Competency interviews are scripted and are structured to reflect the competencies that the employer is seeking for a specific job. Essentially, employers are looking to identify skills and abilities that are crucial for working within their organisation. To gauge your suitability for the job you will be asked questions where you will need to draw on examples from your life to demonstrate particular competencies. To prepare for this type of interview research all likely questions around the competencies related to the job you are applying for. Go through your employment and personal history to find examples that demonstrate that you have the relevant skills and abilities for the job. Biographical Biographical interviews, sometimes called unstructured interviews, are conversational interviews where the interviewer asks a series of questions with the aim of getting an overall idea of who you are as an individual. Questions are often open