My First Big Interview

The role I was applying for was a senior management position within the Civil Service. You know when you apply for these jobs and there are some you want, but there is that one you REALLY want? Well, this was one I really wanted! I knew I had to be the best, and to be the best, I had to be prepped.

For this interview, I had set competencies, so I had some idea of what I was going to be asked. This gave me structure to work with to create my answers. I had a strong network around me to help with mock interviews, so I bullet-pointed key words for each answer on a flashcard and then linked the key word to my actual answer.

For example, say the question would be around "Team Working" and my answer revolved around me speaking about how I led a team of 12 agents. On my flashcard, I would have "lead a team," so when I looked at the bullet point "lead a team" on the flashcard, I would get into my rhythm about speaking about how I led the team of 12 agents. I would have 3–4 keyword bullet points on the flashcard that would trigger my memory into what I was going to speak about for the answer.

The key is to remember each bullet point on the flashcard off by heart, especially if you are allowed no notes in your interview. This will hopefully trigger your memory into what you must speak about and give you some sort of structure to your answer instead of trying to pluck it out of thin air.

Once I mastered this, I conducted mock interviews with everyone I could—family, friends, and other colleagues—and trust me, if they take it seriously enough, it actually feels like you are in the interview. Further to that, I did a mock interview with a senior manager in the Civil Service who scored my interview and gave me feedback. I cannot stress enough that all this exposure to an interview environment will build your confidence for the big day.

The day of the interview arrived, and I was nervous—I’m not gonna lie—but I knew I was prepared due to all the effort I put into it. I was reading my flashcards in the car park right up until the last minute. Secondly, I looked the part. This is as important as being prepared because the hiring manager said to me when I walked in, “If we could give you a point for appearance, then we would!” I was already on the front foot.

There was a panel of 4 senior managers, an HR rep, and a Union rep all listening to me rabble on. I will tell you this—the interview went BRILLIANT. I was prepared, I looked the part, and I was confident. The only reason I was so confident was because of how prepared I was. There is no cheat code.