To ask help with interview prep

[NoTimeToBeUnwell]

I have an interview this week. It's a step up. I dont do very well in interviews I seem to forget everything or get flustered.

So far I've researched the company and what they do.
Brushed up on some of the items in the job spec.
Also have some usual questions etc.

I always struggle with the strengths and weaknesses questions and have you ever.... questions.

Any tips for top 3 questions for me to get some answers together for?

I'd rather they just asked me to do the job for an hour
TIA

Go through the spec (as you’ve been doing) and pick out all the things it says you’ll be doing, think of examples of how you already do this/experience you have.

Think about general interview answers - when have you solved a problem at work? When have you worked well in a team? What’s an example of how you’ve improved something or made it more efficient? How have you handled a sensitive or difficult situation? Describe a successful professional relationship you’ve established - how did you go about doing this, how is it successful.

Try and think of an interview as a 2 way conversation rather than just them grilling you. They should be selling the job to you as well as you selling yourself to them.

Think of questions to ask at the end - some good examples are

What do you think the most challenging aspect of this role?

What advice would you give to the successful candidate?

Why do you (the interviewer) like working here?

For the greatest weakness question:

Pick something that isn't absolutely essential to the job (like an accountant who struggles with maths).
Explain what you're doing to improve it.
For example a training course you're doing or an action you've taken. Maybe you sought out a colleague who was great at that thing and asked their advice.

They don't expect you to be perfect, just self aware and willing to improve on any skills gaps. If you give the generic "workaholic/perfectionist" answer, you're missing an opportunity to impress them.

Excellent advice from Sparklesocks. I would add a suggestion not to make your questions at the end too complicated (the suggestions above are great)

It really puts me off somebody when they ask a ‘clever’ question which has no bearing on their potential future role in the company. I’m so sick of being asked how I think Brexit might affect our industry when it’s irrelevant to the role applied to.

The last thing I want after a long day of interviews is to feel like I’m being interviewed myself because a candidate thinks a challenging question will make them stand out.

Anything about the challenges/positive aspects of the job, future career progression, relevant questions, are welcome.

Thank you all so much for your responses.

I have more to think about I nearly forgot about questions to ask them. Thank you.

When they say talk me through your CV. Should I just cherry pick items relating to the job role. Before I've literally just gone through and explained what I did in each role but I'm not sure when they say talk me through it they actually mean that. After I feel like oh maybe I should have done that differently

Always a good tip is to imagine you are the recruiter - what would you ask candidates? Try writing a long list of potential questions based on the person spec, your application etc number them and then use the random number generator on your computer to select a question to respond to out loud. Are there some question areas you struggle with, are you very hesitant etc? Never rehearse answers but get used to how they sound aloud. If you feel uncomfortable blowing your own trumpet, think of ways you can evidence your skills e.g. feedback from customers/your manager, any targets you exceeded etc. Good luck!

Talk me through your cv op is your chance to demonstrate that you understand what the role involves and can draw on your own knowledge, skills and experience to evidence this. I wouldn't go through it line by line. Rather, could you give a brief summary and then pick out key aspects.

Chat your potential answers through - as in actually say them to yourself out loud. Particularly the really obvious opening the interview style ones eg talk me through your career to date in five mins, or why are you applying for this job. Sounds silly but if you nail that first question or two it doesn’t matter if you slightly fluff an answer later, they will have already made up their minds. So practice it, practice sounding confident, the intonation, even little jokes or throwaway comments to make it feel authentic.

If it's a step up, consider using the STAR method to frame your answers. Very best of luck