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Interview practice and using Artificial Intelligence
Answering interview questions well has a lot to do with simple practice.
The more you practice, the better you will get and you'll be surprised at how quickly you can improve if you put in small amounts of regular practice in the run up to your interview. Whilst face-to-face practice is invaluable, freely available AI services can help you a lot too, especially if you're not yet confident in your responses and want to practice on your own.
Interview preparation tips that make use of AI
Before you begin your practice, it's time to get a grasp of what sort of thing you're likely to be asked in an interview, and what - generally speaking - the employer is looking for in an answer.
The National Careers Service has a good starter guide to answering common interview questions that is definitely worth famliarising yourself both before and during your practice sessions. Here's an alternative guide from Indeed. You can also search the Internet and ask AI services for common interview questions.
- Remember to check the website for the company that you're applying to, as some companies provide specific examples and even guide you on how to answer!
- Make sure to do your company research. They won't expect you to know their detailed company accounts but they will expect you to know some basic information about them and what they do! (AI can help you with summaries here - but double-check by confirming some of it manually)
- It's a good idea to have in mind a question to ask them, as sometimes an interview finishes with the employer inviting a question from you. Examples include asking about about career progression, leisure facilities provided or staff benefits, or what the interviewer likes most about working there!
Get practicing!
- Once you've identified some practice questions, try writing or typing out your answers first, taking into account any answering suggestions you have seen. (You may need to research some of the advert's person requirements / skills or brush up on knowledge you've gained in the past if there's a technical element to the role)
- If you can, ask a careers advisor, work coach or similar person to evaluate your responses at this point. You should also consider asking an AI service like Copilot or ChatGPT to evaluate your answers as well, to see their suggestions. Make adjustments to your answers based on the feedback and your own judgment
- Next, take some time to read and remember the key points of your answers. You'll need to be able to recall most of what you want to get across, so try and broadly 'revise' what you've written. Bear in mind that you won't want your live answer to sound overly rehearsed - so it's not important to remember word for word
- Now attempt to say the answers out loud and on your own to begin with. You might find it useful to time your answers to get an idea of how long it takes you to get the point across. Try and do this without looking at your written answers
- Record what you say on your phone and then play it back to yourself. This will help you to check whether you covered most of the points you'd originally written down, as well giving you an idea of how you're coming across. (Don't worry, most people hate the sound of their own voice!)
- Try to sound both interesting and interested! Be concise but not overly brief. Avoid one word answers - if you can't think of how to answer on the day, ask for a brief pause to think about the question. (You can also ask if they would come back to that question later, or you can give an answer that's partially related or that answers part of what they've asked, which is better than not answering. They should ask you for more or tell you if they're looking for another response). Practice your answers for a bit until you think they are OK
- Consider using AI again at this point to conduct a mock interview with you. Give the AI the questions that you have practiced answering and ask it conduct the interview and evaluate your answers at the end. You can even give it refences to the company that you're applying to, so that it can contextualise its responses. For example, you can prompt: "Evaluate my answers from the perspective of www.safests.com as employers". Ideally, use your phone or computer's microphone to answer each question orally, though you can obviously type responses if you need to. (Just remember to exercise caution if you are including personally identifiable information in your responses - you might want to change names or dates for example, for the purposes of the AI interaction)
- AI can also randomise the questions for you or come up with new ones - testing your ability to think on the spot. (Always bear in mind that AI can make mistakes, so use your judgment and existing knowledge when asking it for feedback. Cross-check where you can if something doesn't seem right)
- Finally, try and get in some practice with a real person asking you the questions that you have been working on. They may not be an expert on the job or company you're interested in, but face-to-face experience of answering is invaluable in helping you become fluent and more relaxed in an interview session
- Of course, you usually won't know which questions exactly an interviewer will ask, but practicing in the manner described above can help you react much more confidently in the real thing. The type of questions that are asked in interviews are very similar across the board, although the specifics will differ, obviously. Now go out there and get them with your AI charged interview skills!
Example prompt to use in the free version of Copilot, available online or in the latest Microsoft Edge browser
(You) Please ask me 5 common UK interview questions and evaluate my answers. Please conduct the interview from the perspective of https://www.safests.com/ as the employer. "
(Copilot) Certainly! I'll conduct this interview as if I were SafeSTS, a company specializing in ship-to-ship (STS) transfers and marine industry services. Here are five common UK interview questions tailored to SafeSTS:Interview Questions:
- Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
- What do you know about SafeSTS and why do you want to work here?
- Describe a time when you had to solve a difficult problem at work. How did you approach it?
- Safety and compliance are at the core of our operations. How would you ensure adherence to industry regulations in your role?
- Where do you see yourself in five years, and how does this role align with your career goals?
(Copilot) Please provide your answers, and I will evaluate them based on relevance, clarity, and alignment with SafeSTS's values and mission. Looking forward to hearing your responses!
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