Interview help

[Lisaann83]

At work, what is the reasonable threshold of interview help a person should ask for? In the past I’ve willingly given tips on making sure skills are demonstrated by examples, explained what type of work my team is involved in, presentation style tips etc. I’ve also gone as far as looking at application question answers but limiting feedback to where they have been unclear and where they should use an example, never actually providing any content for their answer. I was made really uncomfortable the other day when a person I didn’t know in my organisation contacted me about a post in my team they were interviewing for. They had to prepare a presentation and the question was around describing the challenges the team may face this year. She sent me a list she had compiled but basically she asked me to review and set out any other challenges for the team and what were the main ones. I appreciate people might do this with their partners or close friends but isn’t this unprofessional to just approach someone at work with?! It effectively means I’m answering the question. The question doesn’t just assess communication, the person is scored on their knowledge of the sector. It made me realise the steer on interview assistance is vague. We’re definitely allowed to give tips but is this a tip? I’m not the interviewer by the way.

So you're posting as a colleague of an interviewee who has asked you for help in preparing for an upcoming internal interview?

Sorry just wanted to clarify as from the start of your post it's hard to work out who is being interviewed

They are a person I’ve never met before but in my organisation. I’m in the team the vacancy is in. Hope that helps!

No that's overstepping and wouldn't be fair to other applicants.

The normal way to do this would be to arrange an informal chat with you about the role and the team, and as part of this, ask your opinion on what challenges the team might face. That shows wider interest and this could then be reflected in her presentation, showing that she has made an effort to find out about the job. I would be uncomfortable with being emailed a list and asked to add to it, and would consider this goes beyond "interview tips".

I'd probably reply briefly along the lines of "your list looks good" (assuming it isn't wildly off) and not add anything.

DS works in the public sector where a lot of people expect to be spoon fed throughout the entire selection process. From how to word their CV and personal statement right through to interview, they don't seem to expect to have to put in any personal effort.

In this situation I’d want to give her a ‘point’ for proactively making contact and using her internal network - if there are other internal candidates who could equally do this but haven’t, it tells me she’s a willing networker and able to navigate a large organisation. I wouldn’t give her any more information , though.

Thanks. Yes, agree it’s networking although she has made me uncomfortable so not sure she’s that strong at it, she’s not appreciating where professional boundaries sit. I’ll just say the list looks sensible and wish her luck with the interview. I won’t do the prioritisation for her either. Im partly worried what would happen to me if I got found out writing supporting answers to interview questions.

She's a CF. The point is what she can bring to interview not what you think.

I wouldn't tell her the list looks sensible. I'd tell her you are unable to comment and wish her luck.

No, absolutely don’t do the work for her!

I’d let the hiring manager / interviewer know that she’s made contact. At best it’s a ham-fisted attempt at collaboration; at worst she’s lazy. Her performance across the interview will confirm which.