OCR Award and Certificate in Employability Skills

Unit 11: Preparing for and learning from interviews

This unit is about: Planning for a job interview including: • • • Arrangements for your interview Researching information about the job Preparing your questions and answers Your interview Reviewing your performance

Arrangements for your interview Sam telephones his local cinema in response to an advert he has seen in the jobcentre for a part-time sales assistant

Arrangements for your interview He talks to the manager who asks him to come along at 2 pm the following Wednesday for an interview Sam needs to prepare!

Arrangements for your interview He needs to: Find out the times of the bus to get him to the interview for 2 pm and times of the buses back home afterwards Print a copy of his CV and personal reference to take with him to the interview

Arrangements for your interview He needs to: Research the cinema company Prepare answers to the questions he thinks he may be asked Prepare the questions he would like to ask them

Researching information about the job Sam is going to the cinema with friends on Saturday evening and takes the opportunity to speak to one of the cinema staff to find out what it is like to work there

Researching information about the job He discovers that there are 3 shifts most staff work - 10 am to 2 pm, 2 pm to 6 pm and 6 pm to 10 pm When he gets home he checks the local bus timetable to make sure that he can get to and from the cinema at those shift times

Researching information about the job He looks on the cinema website to find out more about the company He finds out that they have a Super. Saver Tuesday when all tickets are priced at £ 3

Researching information about the job He finds out that on Monday afternoons they show old black and white films He also discovers that after 6 months staff get a 10% staff discount on cinema tickets

Preparing your questions and answers Sam prepares for questions he may be asked at interview such as: Which days are you willing to work, including weekends? What customer service experience do you have?

Preparing your questions and answers He prepares a list of his strengths, skills and experiences: Confident communicator Captain of his local football team, organising weekly training sessions Experience of working with people of all ages – as a volunteer for the area’s local fun runs

Preparing your questions and answers He writes down in his notebook the list of questions he wants to ask at his interview: What hours would you like me to work? What activities would I be doing? Is there a chance I could be asked to cover for colleagues at short notice? Who would be my boss? How much am I going to be paid? How often am I going to be paid? When will I hear if I’ve got the job?

Your interview Sam arrives 10 minutes early and reports to the reception staff He knows first impressions count so he has decided to wear smart casual clothes and he got his haircut the day before the interview When the manager approaches him, Sam shakes his hand gives his name. He waits for the manager to ask him to sit down

Your interview Sam answers the interview questions as clearly and positively as he can He has his notebook of questions ready and waits until the end of the interview to ask them One of his final questions is when he will hear back from the manager He shakes hands with the manager before he leaves, thanking him for his time

Reviewing your performance Sam thinks about his interview when he gets home What went well and what did not go so well? He arrived on time for the interview and had prepared well for the questions he thought he would be asked +

Reviewing your performance He could have practised his answers better when asked about his experiences with customer service – he forgot to mention he helped his Uncle Richard during the Summer at his farm shop He could have been more relaxed and confident -

Sam got the job

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