When going into an interview it can be daunting not knowing what questions they will ask, what energy they will bring, or what style of interview it will be. There are a variety of interview styles that each recruiter/hiring manager will use depending on their own personality, and the specific role. So here is a list of the most common interviewing styles, and some examples of questions that might be asked.
Conversational
This type of interview is usually very casual and probably the ‘let’s catch up for a coffee’, kind of interview. In this situation the recruiter/hiring manager is most likely just trying to gauge your personality, temperament, and overall cultural fit for the company. Don’t expect to bring your academic transcript or degree along with you to this one.
Questions that will usually be asked include:
‘Why did you decide to get into this field?’
‘What do you enjoy about your work?’
‘What do you do to unwind from a stressful day?’
‘How would your friends describe you?’
Behavioural
This type of interview is my personal favourite as is it takes a little intuition on the interviewer’s part to interpret the answers. In this kind of interview the recruiter/hiring manager is trying to gauge how you would react during the day-to-day activities of the role and your potential stressors and strengths. Depending on the position this interview might happen in place of a conversational interview, to weed out potential miss matches in experience. For example, assessing confidence level in a person who will be very customer facing.
Questions that will usually be asked include:
‘How do you cope with tight deadlines?’
‘Are you a texter or a caller?’
‘When faced with a confrontational person, how do you react?’
‘When you are told that you’re wrong about something, what do you do?’
Structured
When most people think of an interview this is what they think of. All the questions in these interviews are usually printed on a piece of paper that every candidate must answer. Usually there is very little wiggle room when it comes to the questions. This kind of interview is used in very technical roles that require very specific skills to complete the job, think IT, engineering, and accountants.
Questions that will usually be asked include:
‘Provide me an example of at time you delivered a project ahead of schedule?’
‘What is your level of skill using AutoCAD?’
‘How many people have been on the payroll at your previous employer? And what were the pay cycles?’
‘In the project that you ran, how large was the team? And what was their skill level?’
Case Study
The case study is often used in the absence of a structured interview, this is a practical way that a potential employer can gauge how well you can perform the role. This is often an old project that the company worked on and is a good representation of the day-to-day work in the role. In this situation you will be given time to prepare a presentation and then present to the recruiter/hiring manager as if they were a potential client. As such the questions a very related to the role you are applying for. More often than not the result of the case study isn’t a pass or fail grade, it is usually a good indication of current skill set and ability to take criticism.
Each recruiter/hiring manager will most likely use a combination of these and other styles during the application stage to get as good a picture of you they can, before making their decision. So, it is best to ask questions at each stage as to what is next, and what to prepare for, as each company has a different system.
In summary, know yourself and your experiences inside and out to be as prepared as you can for different question styles, and remember to breathe, you’ve got this!
