Right before a candidate is hired, their first experience with their chosen employer begins during the application process. From interacting with the hiring managers and taking skill tests, to undergoing interviews with the staff and team leaders, all of these steps provide candidates their first impression of the company, as well as the people they may potentially work with. Given the importance of this step, the Talent Acquisition Team, in partnership with the Talent Training and Development Team, hosted three Interview Workshops for interviewers from the team level.

The Interview Workshop was first launched in 2019 under the RareJob Alternative Learning Experience as an avenue for company supervisors to refresh their knowledge in handling job interviews on their level, as well as practice new techniques and information shared in the workshop. For the rerun this 2021, the workshop focused on the staff and specialists who were often part of the interview process.

Post-workshop Photo op

Team Interviewers – staff and specialist-level employees who are part of the selection process – were grouped together with employees from the same division. This allowed the Talent Acquisition Team to custom-fit the experience through the modification of suggested interview questions, as well as the materials used during activities.

For example, a group consisting of staff whose functions are on the technical side of things had more focus on developing questions related to the technical requirements, while a group consisting of staff whose functions are more on the administrative side focus on drawing out previous experiences that are material to the position being hired for.

The participants were oriented as to the types of interview questions: situational (focused on future scenarios) and behavioral (more of past behavior patterns) and how an applicant answers in the form of the STAR (Situation – Task – Action Taken – Result) method. They deciphered sample answers and classified them as complete, false, or partial STARs. 

This was also practiced during another activity in the form of mock interviews wherein the staff were broken down into small breakout groups and the roles of an interviewer and an applicant were assigned. Through this, the “interviewers” were able to construct appropriate questioning techniques and follow-ups based on the answers and “applicants” became more aware of how to incorporate the STAR to convey and explain past situations they were in that would help in determining their fit for the job they are screened for.

Prepping for Your Interview

Merely showing up for your interview does not guarantee success, as many job seekers already know. While possessing the position requirements is definitely a plus, how candidates perform during job interviews can make or break the application process. Now, as online screenings have become more or less the norm in recruitment due to many companies adopting the work from home setup, preparing for interviews come with a few extra steps.

Other than sticking to the schedule and doing research on your chosen employer, job seekers must also assure that the devices and equipment to be used during the interview are also in tip-top shape. This way, avoidable issues such as intermittent connection and device breakdowns can be avoided; at the very least, if an applicant finds that they cannot undergo the interview at the set schedule due to technical issues, they may notify the hiring manager in advance to request a new slot.

Using the STAR Method to Ace Your Interview

Once a candidate secures an interview, they must be prepared to answer the hiring manager’s questions, which include but are not limited to previous work or pre-professional  experiences. When it comes to these types of questions, candidates can apply the STAR Method to cover all bases.

STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. When detailing previous experiences, the hiring manager can get a better understanding of a candidate’s participation in a task when a concrete example is shared, alongside the candidate’s responsibilities and actions, and finally, the result. Not only will this show mastery of the task, it will also paint a clear picture of how the candidate works.