Tag Archives: interviews

Worried about being interviewed in a different language?

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Firstly, it’s normal to feel nervous before a job interview. As long as the nerves do not get too much, this isn’t anything to worry about. Sometimes though you may feel additional worry or pressure because you are interviewing in a different language. In addition to practicing your language skills, the following techniques can help with this.

Recognise your specific worries

This will help you address each negative thought or emotion directly instead of being overshadowed by a overall feeling of unease. List your worries as specifically as possible, your thoughts and/or beliefs about each one and it’s potential impact on your behaviour. For example:

Worry – I’ll be asked a question that I don’t understand

Thoughts/beliefs – I’ll fail the interview because I can’t answer and will look stupid

Impact – I’m already scared about questions I’ll be asked and won’t be able to relax or come across confidently

Strategies for addressing specific worries include:

Being solution-focused

When we really care about something (such as securing a job), it’s easy to focus on what has or might go wrong. Unfortunately, focusing thoughts this way can be obstructive to success.

One strategy to use is to reframe negative thoughts from a positive angle. Seeing the situation in a new way that allows you to move forward. For example:

Original thought Reframed thought
‘I’m scared I won’t know the right words to say’ ‘It’s great that I really want to do well in this interview. What specific questions am I worried about answering, and who can help me practise them?’
‘I failed at the last interview even though I really prepared’ ‘I’m disappointed, but now know more about questions I might get asked, where I do well and where to improve for the next one. It’s normal for people to have a few job interviews before they are successful.’
‘I don’t know enough words’ ‘There are some some words and phrases I am confident using. How can I practise answers for questions I’m likely to get asked so I can improve on any areas of weakness?’

 

Reviewing your list of worries, are there anyways you can reframe your thoughts positively?

Scaling

A rating scale can be used to identify where you are in relation to a goal and identify small, manageable steps to help you move forward. Sample questions you could ask yourself include –

  • On a scale of 1-10, if 1 were absolutely terrible and 10 was perfection, what score would I give myself for my interview skills?
  • I have given myself a score of X. What have I done to get the score this high?
  • What are the reasons I haven’t given myself a higher score? What would it take to get it up to the next score [e.g. from 5 to 6]?

Positive Experiences

While you may not have successfully interviewed in another language, you can still think about experiences that collectively improve your self-belief in detail. For example, remembering a good interview you had elsewhere. What did you do that made it a good interview? How did that make you feel? How did you prepare for it? How did you answer any difficult questions?

Visualisations

This involves imagining performing well in an upcoming event in minute detail. If this is a positive experience it can create positive feelings and associations in your brain as if you’d actually experienced the event for real. As an example of this –

Imagine yourself arriving for your interview, including thinking about what you are wearing. Think about how you might be feeling. Imagine meeting and introducing yourself to the people interviewing you, including the details of the room and furniture. You are walking in confidently and shake their hands. How are they reacting to you?

You sit down and they ask you the first interview question, which you answer confidently and easily. How does this make you feel? How are people reacting to you? Continue this process for a few more questions.

You end the interview by confidently shaking hands, smile and leaving the room. How do you feel now? What are the interviewers thinking as you leave?

Now try think of a word that you can associate with this final scene that would allow you to remember this image and associated feelings easily.

You can recreate this scene in your mind several times leading up to the interview, and each time use your chosen word to bring back the positive images in your mind. On the day of the interview you can say this word to yourself to help you get into a confident frame of mind.

Mock Interviews and Practise

You can book a mock interview with a member of the Careers Network for any upcoming interview you have. This will give you interview practise. Please note that this will most likely be in English. If there are specific things you are worried about (e.g. specific interview questions), you can address these.

If you have an upcoming interview in a different language, having a mock interview in English will still help you practise good interview technique. If there are people you know who are fluent in the language you are interviewing in, there is value in practising interview questions and answers with them, even if they are not interview experts. Simply speaking words and phrases will help you feel more confident and be more proficient.

  • Christian Jameson-Warren

How to prepare for interviews and assessment centres in the UK

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The vast majority of job applications involve an interview at some point, while some countries require you to attend an assessment centre. The below information will help you with preparing for these.

Interviews

Our Make Applications page has information and links to help you prepare for an interview, including examples of questions. To quote:

Interviews may seem scary, but they don’t have to be.  By preparing well they can be a positive experience. Review your application form, letter or CV and build on the research you have started. Find out as much as you can about what the employer expects during their interview process and prepare and practise answers to typical interview questions.

Work out in advance what you will wear and how you will get to your interview; and on the day be positive and enthusiastic to make the best impression possible.

The Careers Network also delivered some workshops in Spring 2017 entitled Interview Workshop for International Students. Key points include that it doesn’t matter where you gained your skills as long as you can demonstrate them, how to answer ‘tell me about yourself’, the different types of interview questions and how to prepare for them.

In addition, pages 20 – 23 of ‘How to excel in applications and interviews’ also has information about different types of interviews and how to prepare for the questions you’ll be asked.

Video Interviews

The Careers Network has teamed up with Sonru, a leading provider of video interview software, to bring you the change to practise a video interview. Details on how to prepare for video interview and about Sonru can be found here. To quote from ‘How to excel in applications and interviews’:

Video interviews can sound scary, especially when you are responding to pre-recorded questions. But the more you can practise the more relaxed you will be for the real thing. These types of interviews may involve you talking face to face with the employer (like a Skype chat), you could have a recorded video of the employer giving you a question and you are allotted an amount of time to respond, or you may just have questions pop up on your screen for you to answer.

You may be given multiple chances to re-record your answer or you may only be given one chance. It is therefore important to establish what type of video interview you will be taking part in. Before your interview make sure to do the following:

  • Dress smartly – you may be at home but you are still being assessed as if you were in an interview room.
  • Take the interview in a quiet room with no distractions.
  • Tidy the space behind you so the employer will not see any embarrassing posters, clothes strewn on the floor or dirty plates!
  • Test your workspace: is the lighting correct? Do you have a reasonable enough internet connection? Do your microphone and webcam work? Is there any loud traffic outside?

Telephone Interviews

Telephone interviews may be similar to face to face interviews so remember to respond and act as if you were in the room with the employer. The benefit is that you can use notes to prompt you for difficult questions. However, be warned – too many notes can be distracting.

  • Try to smile when you talk, it will help vary the tone of your voice and make you sound friendly and approachable. Consider dressing smartly to help you get into your ‘professional’ mind set.
  • You will be told a time to expect your call so make sure you use a quiet room with a good phone signal.
  • Have a notepad handy to take notes, but don’t use a computer if the interviewer can hear the keyboard tapping!
  • Don’t worry if there are short silences at the other end, the employer is probably taking notes.

Assessment Centres

Assessment centres, (sometimes called second interviews), are often the final stage in the graduate recruitment process – and are increasingly used in placement selection too. They are usually held at the employer’s premises or a hotel and involve a variety of individual and group exercises designed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate specific skills and qualities against a predetermined set of criteria.

Find out if you need to prepare anything to take with you to the assessment centre. Some employers ask you to prepare a short presentation. Identify which skills and qualities the organisation is looking for and work out how you can best demonstrate these.  When you get there be friendly, positive and professional and be yourself.  Make a contribution to all activities so that the assessors have something to mark you on.

For more detailed advice, see our guidebook – How to excel in applications and interviews 2017.

 

If you would like help with any of the above, then please do not hesitate to book an appointment with the Careers Network.