Preparing for an interview

1. Introduction

If you have applied for a job and an employer thinks you could be a good candidate for the role, the next step in the recruitment process is usually an interview.

An interview is an opportunity for your potential manager and others from the organisation to meet you and hear about your skills and experience. It also allows you to learn more about the role and organisation. This can help you decide if a role is the right one for you.

The interview may include a task that assesses whether you have the skills required for the role.

2. Research the organisation

Before your interview, take some time to learn as much as you can about the organisation you have applied to work for.

To find out about the business or organisation, a good place to start is their website. An organisation’s website will generally provide you with information about its:

• Vision, mission and purpose

This will help you understand their values and the larger goals they are seeking to achieve.

• Structure

This will help you understand how the organisation operates, where your role fits in, and give you a sense of the size of the organisation.

• History and recent projects

This will help you understand the organisation’s background and what they are focused on right now.

Make sure to carefully read the job description and selection criteria before the interview. This will help you to show that you have the skills required for the role when answering the interview questions.

3. Preparing and practising responses

Every interview will be different, but it is helpful to prepare and practise responses to common interview questions before the interview.

When responding to a question, take a moment to think through your answer. It can also be helpful to write down the question, particularly if it has multiple parts.

The STAR method can be helpful for answering situational questions. Situational questions ask you to describe how you have handled different situations at work.

For example, ‘Tell me about a time when you had to solve a problem at work. How did you do it?’ is a situational question.

STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Results.^[1]

• Describe the situation: this is the context.
• Identify the task you had to complete: this is what you had to do.
• Describe your actions: this is what you did.
• Identify the results: these are the outcomes from your actions.

4. Questions for the interviewer

There is generally time at the end of the interview for you to ask questions. Asking questions will demonstrate to the interviewer that you are interested and engaged in the work they do.

You may wish to ask questions about:

• the organisation
• the role
• the team the role sits within
• the organisation’s commitment to inclusion and accessibility
• when you are likely to hear back about the outcome of the recruitment process.

If you have questions related to your disability or reasonable adjustments, you can ask these questions during your interview. However, you should not feel compelled to do so.

If you would like to know more about sharing information about your disability, please see the IncludeAbility guide on Identifying as a person with disability in the workplace, which covers issues such as:

• whether a person must share information about their disability with an employer or potential employer
• why a person may or may not want to share information about their disability with their employer or potential employer
• why an employer may ask employees about disability
• the questions an employer can and cannot ask about a person’s disability
• requesting reasonable adjustments in the workplace.

5. Planning for interviews

5.1 In-person interviews

If the interview is in-person, confirm the location in writing with the hiring manager. If you have physical accessibility requirements (for example, access to ramps or lifts), you should confirm that the location is accessible.

If the interview is taking place somewhere unfamiliar, it may be helpful to:

• Look up the location or office on Google Maps.
  • This can give you an idea of what the building looks like.
    
• Plan how you will get there.
  • Look up train, bus, ferry, or light rail times. If you are driving, research how long it takes to get there, and ask if parking is available and where.
    

You should plan to arrive about 20 minutes before your interview. This gives you extra time if public transport is running late or if you have trouble parking. If you are early, you can use the time to read over your notes and prepare.

You can also take a support person to your interview. A support person might be a friend, family member or support worker. They can come into the interview with you or wait outside. It is always best to let the interviewer know you will be bringing a support person to the interview beforehand.

5.2 Online or virtual interviews

If the interview is taking place online or virtually via video conferencing (for example, Zoom), consider the following:

• Are you familiar with the program or platform being used for the interview?
  • If you have not used the program before, download it onto your device prior to the interview.
• Have you checked that the link to the interview invitation works?
• Do you have a working computer, tablet, or phone to join the interview?
  • Make sure your device is fully charged or plugged into power for the interview.
• Do you have a quiet place, with an appropriate background and enough lighting for your interview?

Allow at least 30 minutes before the interview starts to check your technology and background.

6. Reasonable adjustments for your interview

Once you know when, where and how your interview will be conducted, you can consider whether you require any reasonable adjustments to allow you to participate to the best of your abilities.

Reasonable adjustments for an interview may include:

• live captioning if the interview is online
• an AUSLAN interpreter
• the presence of a support person
• additional time.

Once you know what adjustments you need, you can request them when you are offered an interview. You can also send an email or arrange a follow-up call to the hiring manager or the human resources contact person to discuss them.

If you are an employer who would like more information on how to support people with disability through recruitment processes, see the IncludeAbility guide to Attracting and recruiting people with disability to your organisation.

7. Resources

For more information on preparing for an interview, see:

• Seek.com.au: Job hunting
• Headspace: How to prepare for a job interview
• JobAccess.

Endnotes