Understanding our interview process

Understanding our interview process We want you to have a positive experience with us and aim to give everyone the opportunity to perform at their best throughout the selection process. This section outlines what you can expect during our interview process and how to prepare effectively. We use a structured interview approach as our standard method for assessing your suitability for a role. You can expect us to ask questions that relate specifically to the role criteria giving you the opportunity to tell us more about your skills, knowledge and experience and how this is relevant to the role you have applied for.  Our managers and panel members will do all that they can to put you at ease and their job is to explore with you how your knowledge, skills and experience match the requirements of the role you are applying for.  Panel composition  Where possible we will ensure your interview panel members come from diverse backgrounds because we know that when consideration is given by a group of people who have different perspectives based on their personal experiences, we can demonstrate inclusiveness in our selection process.   As a part of our ongoing work towards Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, all our panel members attend mandatory training for interview skills and the management of potential bias in the process. They will follow a consistent approach to carrying out interviews and assessments to ensure all our candidates have opportunity to perform at their best.    Interview question types    Our interview questions are designed to seek evidence from you of your past experiences and how you have applied your knowledge and skills in given situations that would be applicable to the role. We will seek to understand not just what you have done in the past but also how you have approached your work and your relationships with other members of your team and people in your workplace.  Competency-based    We use competency-based interview questions intended to elicit answers based on previous experience. There is no right or wrong answer as everyone will have different experiences to share. The important thing will be for you to demonstrate how your past experiences will help you to perform well in the role you have applied for.   Example questions:  Tell me about a time when you needed to manage competing deadlines.  Give me an example of when you have worked collaboratively with others to achieve a goal.  Describe a time when you have developed or implemented a new idea or process to improve service delivery   Behavioural   The panel will use probing techniques to better understand your answers to the questions, asking you how you approached a given situation or task and seeking to understand your reasoning for the actions taken.    Examples questions:  How did you do this?  What approach did you take? And why?  Who did you need to consult? And why?  What difficulties did you face and how did you overcome these?   Technical questions     We may ask these types of questions to test your technical knowledge and there is usually a correct answer.    For example:   What is the coding for X?   Situational judgment questions     You may be given a scenario and asked what the best course of action would be to resolve it. For example, a team management scenario or a customer service scenario. Here, there is no right or wrong answer but your response will help the panel to assess your approach to the given task.   Hypothetical questions    We realise that not everyone will be able to call upon past work experience. Hypothetical questions are designed to understand what you might do ‘in a given situation’.   For example:   What would you do if…...?  What do you think the right approach would be for …...?  How might you apply your experience to the Higher Education sector or here at Nottingham?  Remember if you don’t have direct work experience you can use an example from your life experiences and/or education to evidence your skills.    Finding out the outcome    Obtaining feedback      We strive for the best experience for our candidates and look forward to meeting you and guiding you through your recruitment journey with us.   Good Luck!