Interview Q&A help please

[LonestarStateOfMind]

Probably been asked many times before but I would really appreciate any help.

I have been unhappy in my current job for a little while and I have an interview this week for a new job with a different company but it is my first interview in a long long time. I have been researching questions and trying to comprise a list of the usual ones. Please hit me with possible questions and any other general advice.

It is an admin type role.

[CanIKondo]

Not admin, so hopefully someone else will be along with more specific questions, but ones I would suggest preparing for are...
Why do you want the job?
Why do you think you'd be good? What experience do you have/skills do you bring?
Can you tell me about a time you had a problem with work/communication with other staff/customers/clients and how you overcame it?
How do you cope under pressure? How do you prioritise work?

General tip would be to smile when you go into the room and pretend to be more confident and friendly than you really feel!

Good luck. I'm sure you'll be great.

[flowery]

You should have some kind of person specification for the role - a list of what skills and experience the person they are looking for needs to have. That should form the basis of the questions they ask you. The interview is to establish whether you have those things.

So look at each thing on the list, and prepare an example of when you have successfully demonstrated each one in the past. Use STAR which is situation, task, action and result. What was the situation, what needed to be done, what action did you take and what was the outcome.

[LonestarStateOfMind]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply.

[daisychain01]

Hi lonestar, I would suggest you think of a few examples of things you have done in any previous admin roles that you have been proud of

-a time you used your initiative and it works out well (use the STAR structure for this, I agree it is a great way of being targeted and succinct in your responses, it gets to the point quickly
-a time you took on a piece of work outside what you normally did, and found you were good at it, enjoyed it, added value etc
-a time you improved an office process, and what problem that solved. It can be anything, not necessarily something earth shattering, it shows you have the capability.

What you are doing is showing the interviewer you are a cut above the rest!

Good luck. Be a star.

[LonestarStateOfMind]

Thank you daisy for your helpful reply. Stupidly I had not thought of it like this before.

[daisychain01]

Glad to help, I do hope you enjoy the interview and get the job!

[LonestarStateOfMind]

You are so kind. The interview was very strange, it's been preying on my mind ever since.

I was told almost immediately I was unsuitable. The panel argued about why I had been called to interview. My cv was picked apart. I wasn't asked any interview type questions just some personal inappropriate questions.

[jclm]

Sorry to hear this... What questions were you asked? X