If you go over time in an interview presentation will they cut you off?

[Jessforless]

Just that really, I feel like everything in my presentation is crucial and am really struggling to cut out any slides…

Even if I speak really fast, I’m about a minute and a half over.

My last slide is the one I want to get to the most, will they cut me off at the allotted time or is there usually a bit of wiggle room?

Do not go over.

Cut something and then make an slightly extended version available to the panel or perhaps produce a handout with further info.

They will either cut you off, get bored or be really irritated because there is something else they should be doing with that time

The panels I've been on, yes. You might get 30 seconds grace. That's it. It's a skill in itself to say what you need to say in the time frame. Good luck!

Yes sorry they are likely too if their interviewing days are fully scheduled.

Depends on the interview.

Maybe start with summarising the findings/final slide first so that you get your point across and then use the other slides to explain that position.

We do.

How long should it be?

One of the things they are asking you to do is pick out the relevant info and deliver it in the allotted time. Can you do it to a friend, and ask them to help it it back.

Also, worth making a hand-out, on a single side of A4, which summarises your presentation. Give it to them once you have finished, for them to refer back to.

Don’t go over.

Definitely, definitely do not speak fast. They won’t take in what you’re saying so you won’t get credit however wonderful it is.

Get someone who knows the area to help you edit it, there’s always something that can go.

There's no way for us to know if you'll get cut off.

But when I interviewed people, going over a clearly specified requested length would be a big black mark next to your name for not being able to follow instructions.

I may not cut you off (unless you were excessively over time) but I’d definitely mark you down as it shows that you’re incapable of effectively summarising information and I need that in the roles that report to me.

It’s supposed to be 15 minutes… but currently about 16.5…

thanks, that’s what I thought. Ugh it’s so hard, I keep thinking ‘if I take out this slide this will be the one that would have got me the job’ 😂

my DH said maybe leave them in and say ‘I’m conscious of the time so I’ll just skip through these couple of slides explaining performance but I can share them with you’, unless that’s like blatantly cheating.

So I usually tell the applicant I am timing them and will cut them off if they go over - I'll usually allow a tiny bit longer if I sense they're on the last slide!

So yes, reduce your content so you keep in time to within about 30 seconds max.

You’re not being concise enough. Your time might also include time for questions, but obviously I don’t know what your brief is.

you need to cut it down

In the company I work for we give a bit of grace to wrap up after you being told time is up, but that's it. Timekeeping is one of the aspects that the presentation is scored on, as well as content and delivery.

I really would recommend you do some serious cutting OP. Ideally you wouldn't be rushing through either as that could affect your delivery score if they have one.

Can you cut a section? Have a slide which basically says these are the high level aspects to the presentation topics (list them and a sentence explaining why they are relevant), but I am going to focus on point x and explore it deeper due to time constraints. That way you show broad understanding, but also the ability to drill down. (I work in a technical field btw, so appreciate it may be different for you)

Cut it down. It will be far too long if you’re a minute over speaking fast. If you’ve only been given a short amount of time you can’t say everything you’d want to and test really is finding something sensible to say in the time and leaving some stuff for follow-up questions.

Yes, I think it's quite likely. At least part of the assessment is likely to be to see if you can follow instructions.

(I've also had interviews where I was told I'd have 12 minutes to present but they only gave me 9, so you can't guarantee you will have the full time.)

Thanks everyone. So, I could remove one full section, and its omission should hopefully lead to a question on it which I can articulate without a slide. I’ll cut that out.

Thankfully time for questions is separate. (Scheduled in the invite.)

If you did what your DH suggests, I would think that you hadn't prepared well enough to know how long your presentation was.

An interview presentation is not the same as an presentation to impart knowledge at work. You are aiming to show you have knowledge of the topic area, can break down the problem in a way relevant to the role, can communicate it clearly, logically, at an appropriate level of detail and keep to the requirements (ie time, format...).

Chances are your interviewers know the subject matter, and you have the rest of the interview to make sure you make reference to the bits you have chosen to only cover in a high level way.

If your most important slide is at the back, can you bring it to the front?
Less is more is my motto - you don’t want loads of content on the actual slides, just headlines to talk around. You can provide more info in a separate handout if you think it’s needed.
Good to have lots to say, I had to do a 30 minute presentation for an interview last year and I struggled to fill 10 minutes. I didn’t get the job obviously!

I can’t bring it to the front because the presentation builds up to it, it’s kind of the conclusion and where are the successes are.

But yes I suppose it’s a nice problem to have rather than worrying how to fill it.

Apologies, cross posted, but yes that approach sounds sensible to me. (It's also what I did when interviewing for my job)

Good luck, it's a great sign you have too much too say!

Flip the order of your presentation.

Time issues or not, the format (for pretty much anything, unless you’re showing them a magic trick) should be:

• Here’s this amazing thing (insight, idea, whatever) to grab your attention
• Here’s why it works and the background
• Recap on the amazing thing.

Even if you don't get cut off it doesn't mean that they will allow any information you have beyond the time limit to be assessed and you may be lose points for poor time management.

Yup, if I give 10mins for a presentation then it's 10mins and then you're politely told thank you pls take a seat.

I'm interested in the content, thinking behind it, structure and conclusions / recommendations.
But also 'can this person make their point clearly, is their thinking organised, will their delivery cut through if I put them in certain forums I'm not going to be in, do they appreciate others peoples time, are they a waffling faffer' etc.

Hope that helps!

Don’t go over the time, skip over slides or speak fast. Take out some of the content. Don’t leave the best stuff to the end.

they probably won’t read handouts later.