The 6 main types of job interview (and how to prepare for them!) –
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Introduction 👋
Job interviews can have a huge impact on your life.
Job interviews get you the job that you want, which can impact your:
- financial situation 💸
- wellbeing 🧠
- working hours ⌚
- career progression 🪜
- stress levels 🥴
- feeling of accomplishment 🏆
- holiday time 🏖️
- relationships 💞
This makes it really important to be able to ace every interview that you walk into. 👩💼✨
But did you know that there are different types of interviews you can be offered?
Each type has their own top tips for being successful. ✅
Here are the 6 main types of job interview – and how to prepare for them!
1. Tests 💻
Very often before meeting you, employers might send you a test to complete, to help them get to know you.
There are lots of different types of tests you might get sent, like:
- Reading tests 📖
- Writing tests ✍️
- Personality quizzes 💁♀️
- Maths tests 🔢
- Quiz questions about a topic 🤔
- Situation handling (asking you how you’d handle different situations) 🧩
Online tests can often:
- have a time limit ⌛
- be never-ending (e.g. answer as many questions as you can in 20 minutes) 🔁
- be paper-based or online 📃
- take place before or after a face-to-face interview 👩💼
Completing tests can be quite scary because you don’t get to speak to anyone – but don’t let it get to you!
Employers understand that:
- it can be very easy to get nervous and accidentally mess up a test 😬
- if you do the test online you might have technical difficulties that mess up your test scores 💻
- your attitude is way more important than your test scores – if you’re a great person they might ignore any bad score you get ✨
How to prepare for a test 👩💻
- Don’t be put off by it! You might absolutely hate tests – but very often employers use them to filter out applications – if someone can’t be bothered to do a scary test then they might not be that good for the job in the first place. Completing the test (even if you do badly) is a sign that you’re committed to getting the job. 🙌
- Practice as much as possible with example tests online 🔁
- Remember that sometimes these tests are really difficult on purpose to see how you cope under pressure 🤯
- Make sure you won’t be disturbed during the test by others🤫
- If you get stuck on a question, check if you can come back to it later instead of wasting time on it 💨
- Create notes and prepare question answers using our tips here 👉 How to prepare for an interview 💼
2. Phone 📱
Phone interviews are often used as the first interview step. 🪜
Very often they’re just a quick chat/mini interview (maybe 30 minutes or so) to learn more about you and help the interviewer decide if they want to meet you in person.
Telepone interviews are usually a quick/easy way to get to know you, and to see if you’re nice to talk to over the phone.
The great thing about phone interviews is that they can’t see how nervous you are – as long as you can control your voice!
How to prepare for a phone interview 🤳
- Practice interview phone calls with friends to check how you sound. 📲
- Make sure to find somewhere with good signal and a clear connection to take the phone call. 📶
- Since nobody can see you on the call, you can have notes in front of you to help you. 📃
- Whilst a phone interview might often be shorter than other interviews, prepare yourself to be asked a whole range of interview questions just in case! 🎤
- Focus on sounding warm and cheerful when you speak ☀️
- Create notes and prepare question answers using our tips here 👉 How to prepare for an interview 💼
- Make sure to ask questions at the end of the interview, to show how keen you are. 🎤 Interview questions to ask your interviewer – top 10 🎤
- Keep a copy of your CV in front of you, so you can answer any questions about it. 📄 (What is a CV (Curriculum Vitae)? 📜) (How to write an amazing CV/resume (with template!) 📜)
- Even though they can’t see you, get dressed and look presentable, so that you’re in the right frame of mind for the interview 🧠
- Don’t party the night before, and lose/ruin your voice! 🥳
3. Face-to-face 👋
Face-to-face job interviews are the most common type of job interview.
They usually involve travelling to the employer to meet them, and getting asked questions.
Often these interviews can be with just one other person known as the “hiring manager” (the person hiring for the job).
On top of meeting face-to-face, you might be asked to do a task such as:
- Deliver a presentation 📊
- Complete a puzzle 🧩
- Do a test/quiz 📄
How to prepare for a face-to-face interview 🤝
- Make sure that you’re well-presented and wearing smart clothes 👩💼 (What to wear to a job interview 👕)
- Create notes and prepare question answers using our tips here 👉 How to prepare for an interview 💼
- Make sure to ask questions at the end of the interview, to show how keen you are. 🎤 Interview questions to ask your interviewer – top 10 🎤
- Research the location beforehand and plan transport to make sure you’ll arrive on time. 🗺️
- Consider putting your phone on silent to avoid getting disturbed📵
4. Video 👩💻
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, video interviews have become more common. 💻
Video interviews save time/costs on travel, making them quite convenient to arrange.
Video interviews are usually set up in a similar way to face-to-face interviews – except they’re online instead.
How to prepare for a video interview 📸
- Familiarize yourself with the video call technology they’ve asked you to use e.g. Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, so you know how to change your settings for the call. ⚙️
- Check your computer/video/internet settings days beforehand, to make sure they’ll work. ✅
- Check your computer/video/internet settings again on the day of the interview! ✅✅
- Have a plain background for your interview – check what’s behind you! Make sure you’re the focus.🖼️
- Complete the interview in a quiet room where you won’t be interrupted. 🤫
- Even though you’re not meeting in person, still wear something smart. 👩💼
- Create notes and prepare question answers using our tips here 👉 How to prepare for an interview 💼
- If you don’t mind being sneaky, you could stick notes on the wall behind your camera, to help prompt you in the interview. Make sure you can do this in a way that is subtle and doesn’t distract you though, as it might work against you if done in the wrong way. It can be obvious if you’re looking away from the camera and taking time to read! 📸
- Make sure to ask questions at the end of the interview, to show how keen you are. 🎤 Interview questions to ask your interviewer – top 10 🎤
- Consider putting your phone on silent to avoid getting disturbed📵
5. Panel 🎙️
Panel interviews are where you’re interviewed by multiple people – not just one person. 🧑🤝🧑
Each person on the panel will usually take it in turns to ask you questions, whilst others might write notes about you. 🔁
Panel interviews are quite common because they allow multiple people to get to know you at once. Having multiple people in the interview means that they have different perspectives in the room to help pick the best candidate for the job.
In a panel interview you might be interviewed by someone from the human resources department (who arranges all the interviews, puts up job the adverts etc.), your future manager, and maybe one of your future colleagues.
The questions are usually the same as normal face-to-face interviews.
How to prepare for a panel interview 🎤
- Make sure to give eye contact to everyone on the panel, avoid focusing on just one person 👀
- Create notes and prepare question answers using our tips here 👉 How to prepare for an interview 💼
- Try not to let the fact that there’s several people there scare you – it increases the chances that someone at the interview will like you! 😀
- At the interview, try to ask enough questions so that every person on the panel gets a chance to answer one. 🧑🤝🧑 Interview questions to ask your interviewer – top 10 🎤
- Consider putting your phone on silent to avoid getting disturbed📵
6. Group 🧑🤝🧑
When an employer gets lots of great people applying for a job, they might decide to do a group interview, to meet you all at once. 👋
Group interviews often involve doing group activities/puzzles/challenges, to see how you get on with other people. 🧩
You might also be asked to present things back to the group after activities e.g. in a clothes shop you might be asked to pick a piece of clothing and talk about the item to the rest of the group. 👩💼
How to prepare for a group interview 🤼
- Be friendly and sociable with the other interviewees – they might be your competition for the job, but the interviewers will want to see you being kind. 💖
- Support the other candidates with your task. 🙌
- Create notes and prepare question answers using our tips here 👉 How to prepare for an interview 💼
- If there is a part of the interview where you chat to the interviewers alone, make sure to ask questions at the end of the interview, to show how keen you are. 🎤 Interview questions to ask your interviewer – top 10 🎤
- Research potential group activities for the type of job you’re applying for, so you can plan in advance how you’re going to handle it. 🔍
- Try to avoid appearing too shy – make an effort to talk to people. 🎤
- Listen to the other people in your group – show that you’re interested to hear what they’ve got to say. 👂
- Consider putting your phone on silent to avoid getting disturbed📵
Conclusion 👍
So that’s it!
The 6 main types of job interview are:
- Tests 💻
- Phone interviews📱
- Face-to-face interviews👋
- Video interviews👩💻
- Panel interviews🎙️
- Group interviews 🧑🤝🧑
Hopefully this article has helped you to feel more confident about knowing the 6 different types of interview and how to prepare for them.
If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from learning about the 6 main types of job interview, share this post with them!
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