Help! Interview Tips

[EustaceClarenceScrubb]

I have been a SAHM for quite a while, but recently have been looking for p/t work. Last week I had an interview, it was all questions starting with 'Tell me about a time when you....' I found this really hard as my work experience was a long time ago so I was trying to pull some examples out of my memory.

I had googled the STAR technique for answering these questions but it did not seem to help me and the interview went badly. Does anyone have any tips to help with these types of interview? And does anyone know if these types of interview questions are now standard? If so I feel I will never get a job!

Use examples from being with the kids so.when they ask tell me the last time you successfully managed a crisis tell them 'well last week dd1 tried to kill dd2s rabbit so I yada Yada ya' it's about having the skill set doesn't need to be in a work situation. Assuming they read your cv they will know you have been a stahm

That was a competency based interview!
Don't despair, practice makes perfect. It's probably a while since you last had an interview.

Have you done any voluntary stuff while being a SAHM? I'd helped with the church playgroup and helped in school with reading and the library - normal stuff - but was able to pick out some examples from there.

My top interview tips are

• prepare! Look at the job spec and think of the things that you have done that are comparable
• do your research. Why do you want THAT job with THAT organisation. What have you got that they want (from person spec).
• practice answering questions in front of the mirror so that you are less likely to stumble over the words.

Good luck.

Tbh, please use work examples even if from long time ago and not domestic examples. If I was the interviewer, I would think you would be more focused on your children than the job if you gave twee baby examples. If the interviewer was a parent, they would think the skills nothing special because they do it oo. If the interviewer was not a parent, they would not relate to it at all and think you unprofessional and mumsy.

It is standard for an interview to have to give examples. As an interviewer, I almost always ask for examples. If a candidate says they are resourceful, I want to know what they consider resourceful because it gives insight into their experience and how they deal with things. Even if the interviewer does not ask for examples (some interviewers are quite bad at sussing out candidates), you should have a few good ones up your sleeve to weave in.

Dig deep into your memory banks ask others who had done similar for examples which could chime with your previous role

Examples from voluntary work or the PTA or organising any event would work, just not toddler taming housework stuff.

Thanks everyone. I have done some voluntary work, and one of my answers came from a particular thing I had done through that. I did not use any domestic examples as I did not want to keep emphasising the fact I have had a long career break.

The feedback I got suggested I had not elaborated enough in my examples. I struggled to even think of them TBH, once I did I felt that I explained well, but did not go into massive detail. Do interviewers really want to hear a long story? I always try to be concise, not blabber on. The examples being from so long ago did not help with the detail recall either

With the STAR(R) approach, the situation and task is important but the Action and Result are what really matter. For competency based interviews they should let you know beforehand which competencies they are looking for so you can prepare examples in advance. It's good to have examples which cover more than one competency (e.g a competency which fits both teamwork and customer service) so you can be flexible if needed. Use lots of "I" statements as well.

Best of luck in the job hunt!

Thanks, DragonFly That is interesting, they warned me they would be asking the competencies questions, but I did not know which ones they wanted to know about in advance. They sent a list of potential questions to give me an idea, but there were about 50 on the list so it was hard to think of examples that would cover all of them. I had some situations prepared in advance but they did not fit the questions very well in the end. I think I did not use enough 'I' statements, I kept switching back into 'we'. That is definitely an area I could work on, thanks.