Job interview scheduled for 30 minutes?

[Findlebarr]

Name change for this as I don’t want any colleagues to see it!

I have a job interview next week, the first of two (potential) interviews for this role. It has come through to my diary as a half hour meeting and this is also confirmed in writing.

I haven’t interviewed for a new role in a long time, so perhaps I’m out of the loop, but doesn’t this seem really short?

What should I be expecting from a 30 minute interview? Is anybody familiar with this approach? I’ve never had less than an hour in the past. I’m doing my best to prepare but I’m a bit stumped as to how much we could possibly cover in 30 mins.

If it makes any difference, it’s a civil service type job where everything about the recruitment process has been very professional and by-the-book.

I’m assuming if I get a second interview it will be longer…

I had a 15 minute interview in November...
NHS. They wanted me to discuss trust values and what they mean to me. Was also sent four questions in advance to discuss and was presented with an unknown scenario question on the day.

That does sound short for a civil service type job. Of course if it actually was civil service you’d know what to expect from the advert (eg behaviour, experience or technical questions).

Did the advert say anything about what would be assessed at interview? I’d be concerned about if you’ll get time to ask your own questions.

NHS here: Typical is 6 questions with up to 5 mins per question. So with greetings and questions, it's usually 40 mins per person. It is generally encouraged to be concise. When time is pressured e.g. lots to interview, I've known them to reduce to 5 questions to aim for a 30 min interview.

Wow, in those scenarios does the interviewee get any time to ask questions of their own about the job?

Depends on the industry but in mine, 30 minutes in the standard, I'd struggle to fill an hour!

Normally quick intros, a few questions and a chance for you to ask your own. IME it's 5 min intros, 20 mins their questions, 5min for yours. Don't rush the intros - they're important!

I normally have 3 or 4 ideas for my questions, and write them down so if any are covered in the interview, I'll have another to ask. I also write down my prompts for questions I think they might ask.

I conduct interviews in 45 minutes including time for candidate questions, also send them the questions in advance.

As there will be two interviews the first one will purely be for screening purposes after which they will decide if you are to be invited for a second interview

Given that there's a second round interview the initial one being 30 minutes is fine. It depends on the role and the volume of applicants but I'd rather do a short interview with 8 possible candidates then go into more in-depth with 3 of them rather than spending the same amount of time on deeper interviews so only being able to shortlist 5 for round1. For one role where the main characteristic I was seeking was something that could be established quickly, I gave a large number of interviewees a 15 minute interview and even that was too long for some (with a more in depth round to follow)

Yes, they would generally take 5-10 mins at the end to ask their questions. They can have longer if they want, as the interviewers usually have a 1 hour slot (to include scoring time) but people don't usually need more than 10 mins. There are other opportunities to ask questions e.g. to the named recruiter before applying or before you agree to accept. I've only really experienced NHS interviews, so not sure what gets discussed in depth in other places.

I had a civil service interview that didn’t even take 30 mins, it was odd! My next civil service interview was about an hour which is more what I’m used to.

If it’s one interview of two then it may well be a “chat” to see what you’re like, what your experience is etc?

If its the first one there will probably be only 2-3 questions. Have you done a civil service interview before? You will have an unscored 'icebreaker' which will be along the lines of "tells us about something you have enjoyed recently". This will set your tone so don't go too overboard and risk sounding flat for the other questions. About 5 minutes a question is standard with time at the end to ask questions. The recruitment info will tell you what sort of questions they will ask.

Single interviews are about 45 mins so if it's a two stage one 30 mind seems about right.

We've reduced first interview to 30 minutes in the last year, and being completely honest it's because CVs and applications are so frequently written by AI now you can't trust anything that they say. So the first interview is basically to confirm if the person I'm speaking to has any actual knowledge and experience and can speak in general about the topics i need them to know about.

Once I've confirmed they're probably not a big liar I can schedule a more in depth interview.

I ask for very very specific knowledge and experience about compliance frameworks for example, experience implementing and auditing an Information Security Management System that conforms to and is certified to ISO27001. They write in their CV that they have this experience. I then ask them, 'what certifying body audited your ISMS in your last role, they ummmmm and errrrr, then say that they weren't directly in that bit. I end the interview and move on to the next person.

I had a 30 min interview recently for a v. Senior role that followed a 30 mins stakeholder panel the day before. They still asked 6 questions, I was just expected to answer concisely. I got it BTW.

Our first round interviews are normally 30 mins. We have a set series of questions we ask and then leave 5 mins at the end for questions. I find it's quite easy to tell within a few minutes of the interview starting whether they're going to be any good or not in any event.

Initial screening interviews over Teams are often only 30mins.
Relatively informal feel, specific questions that would rule out someone (eg they didn't have the required level of skills/experience, or rule out completely unsuitable attitudes), plus opportunity to cover all the specifics of the job eg, overview of the organisation/company, team structure, general work responsibilities, general conditions such as hybrid working , location, hours etc... in case the applicant themselves changed their mind.
5mins for applicant's questions at the end.

If that's successful, then you have lengthier face-to-face interviews onsite or whatever.

I think the days of public sector half days (2 panels and a test/exercise) all onsite are very much in the minority now.

Thank you to everyone who replied, really good to your perspectives. Clearly it’s not as unusual as I thought.