How to Bring Your Best Self to that Dream Job Interview

There’s nothing like hearing the phrase ‘we’d like you to come in for an interview’ to inspire a sense of pride - and perhaps a little fear! The key to smashing an interview is presenting your authentic, genuine self in the best possible light. Let’s explore how to do this.

Preparation

Careers expert Blair Slater says that, according to the Australian Association of Graduate Employers, most student jobseekers lack a strong understanding of the organisation they want to work for.

“When we do mock interviews with students, I always ask, ‘Why do you want to work for this particular organisation?’” he says.“From an employer’s perspective, a candidate can really stand out if they can demonstrate they have done their research into the organisation – beyond a simple web search - and can align their skills and passion to that organisation.” 

Blair Slater
Portfolio Lead, Student Career-Ready Connections, UNSW Careers

Know your values

From your first year at UNSW, you can work with the free UNSW Careers service to figure out your career goals and values. This is important because it helps you recognise why a company is right for you and then talk about that ‘why’ during an interview.

We asked company founders what values make someone a good cultural fit for their organisation.

“I look for consistency and reliability," Christina says, "I look for the various ways their values are presented, their strengths and weaknesses, passions, typical behaviour… you can see when something doesn’t add up. I want to see what’s important to them from more than one example.”

Christina Chun
Entrepreneur, Director at Walker Advisory
UNSW Bachelor of Psychological Science & UNSW Master of Commerce Alumna

“I assess their potential through their thinking process. I might pose a situation that is impossible to resolve. A bad candidate will say ‘I don’t know’, a good one will come up with a creative answer. But the best will ask why and look beyond the question, and that is what I am looking for.”

Nicolas Chu
Founder & CEO, Sinorbis and Professor of Practice, UNSW Business School 
UNSW AGSM MBA

“I am a firm believer that your mindset is your biggest asset and as a result I always look to hire positive people. How you see it, is how it is. The best candidates in my opinion are those who practice the ability to find happiness every single day.”

Sapna Patel
Founder & CEO, ImmiAdvisor 
UNSW Bachelor of Commerce/Law Alumna

Get smart about the questions

Blair Slater says it’s tempting to try to tell the interviewer what you think they want to hear, when you should be drawing attention to your specific experience.

“This can seem a bit odd, as you never talk to friends or family about yourself the way you would in an interview. Preparation is crucial as you actually have a lot of control over how the interview goes. There is even a formula for how to effectively answer questions with genuine, authentic responses.”

The formula is known as the STAR method. STAR is a good response for behavioural questions, like ‘describe a time you have effectively demonstrated organisational skills.’ But not all questions are behavioural – there are different types of questions that assess different aspects of your suitability.

UNSW Careers trains UNSW students to identify and respond to different types of questions – like behavioural, situational, and open-ended. For example, an open-ended question, like ‘tell us a bit about yourself’ is an opportunity to show that your values match the organisation’s.

Come find out why UNSW ranks within the Top 30 worldwide for graduate employability*. Our degrees include real-life work experiences and our students are supported with free career services and professional development opportunities.

*2020 QS Rankings