Week 04

Interview Skills

Core Values

Never done – Willing to learn (most employers value this)

Challenge convention – push the boundaries

Impact Together- Be a team player

Bring you – Personality (enthusiasm)

Be an advocate- user-centred approach

What are your values?

• They should make you employable/be desirable to an employer

Prior experience

• Make any experience count

Understand the role

• Explain how you know, with examples (design process)

Enthusiasm

• For the job/company/subject. Why do you want to work there in the first place?

Willing to learn

• Use of an example (past mistakes? Problem solving skills)

Aspirations/Motivations

• What drives you and where do you want to go?

User centred approach

• Part of the process/motivations (everything really). This should be a big one and will show you have a good set of priorities and ethos

Whatever they ask you tie it back to one of these, even if it isn’t obvious what the question is asking

Always answer a question, even if indirectly

Prepare speaking points – not scripts, have some stories in mind

1. Start with backstory- just enough context to explain why the project was important
2. Go through your actions – the highlights of what happened, the obstacles you faced, and how you addressed them
3. End with positive outcomes – either a concrete business/project improvement or an anecdotal result. (Unintended or additional improvements for the user

 

Sell yourself (strengths)

Show enthusiasm (why are you the best person for the job? What do you bring to the table?

Use examples for back up your claim

• Portfolio
• Design task

Both prove your abilities and provide a chance to demonstrate the values you discuss.

The deign task is to see your honest approach to a task and your process.

uxplanet.org link to an example design task

portfolio

• Bring hard copies of sketchbooks etc. keep them in reserve and bring them out if they land on a particular project. This will allow you to articulate your process and lessons learned.

End on a positive note

 

Interview Skills Task

Interview rating sheet

In pairs interviewing each other with set questions and then fill in ratings based on responses.

I was paired with Emma Moody.

Below is the questions she asked me and the rating sheet she filled in following those questions.

Questions I was asked

My Interview Rating Sheet and Comments 

Summary/Reflection

I find interviews to be very intimidating, and I would struggle answering questions or even speaking during an interview. So I found this lecture and the workshop to be extremely helpful. I found during the workshop that the more I talked about work I was passionate about the more I was able to talk  and be more confident in the speech. This workshop also helped me understand and grasp what type of questions could be asked and how they could be asked.

 

Next Week

• CV’s and Cover Letters due in

CV and Cover Letter to date