The types of interview you might encounter

You've sent off your job applications, you've spoken with recruiters, and the interview requests are starting to roll in. Now what?

After you've gone to the effort of finding a job you're interested in, you want to make sure you put your best foot forward when it comes to interviewing. Now, there's a whole host of interview types you might encounter during a hiring process, but we've summarised the ones we see most often below so you can be sure you’re well-prepared.

The 'informal chat'

Some interview processes can start with a 'get-to-know-you' conversation, which is less of a traditional interview and more of an opportunity to gauge mutual interest. Typically less structured than interviews you'll encounter further down the line in the process, this is often done with the hiring manager or, in some cases, someone from the HR team. 

Expect this to be more conversational, and in a more casual setting. It might be a quick video or phone call, a meeting over a coffee, or a simple 'pop in' to the office. But whilst it is more casual than a more structured interview, it's still worth preparing so you can put your best foot forwards.

What the interviewer is typically wanting to get out of this conversation is a gauge of your interest in the company, how you'd fit in with or add to their existing culture, and generally whether there's an alignment of values and experience between you and the team you'd be hired into. Expect to talk about your career to date, how you like to work, and what drew you to the company. And remember that this kind of interview is often done to decide whether it could be a good fit for both parties, so use it as an opportunity to ask some questions. Lead with curiosity!

The competency-based interview

Some interviews start here, sometimes this comes after the informal chat. Either way, this is where the 'classic', structured interview will usually come into play. This is where you'll start to dig deeper into your previous experience and your skills, to demonstrate you're the right fit for the role. The best way to think about these interviews are that they're all about the how. Prospective employers are looking for evidence of the competencies they're looking to hire, so your skills will really be on display here.

Expect to be asked targeted questions based on the job description for the role, and your previous experience. It's a good idea to re-read the JD before going into a competency based interview, as it'll allow you to frame your responses to questions through the lens of the specific role you're interviewing for and may help you 'predict' some of the questions the interviewers may ask you, or the competencies they may be testing you on.

We'd recommend using the STAR method to answer behavioural questions in these interviews - check out our guide to using this here.

The presentation

As you get towards the latter stages of an interview process, you may be asked to do a presentation. You'll usually be asked to deliver a short talk on a specific topic - normally a question posed to you or a brief given - and this is often to a panel of interviewers. Typically presentations are assessing you on your communication skills, the way you structure information and, ultimately, your knowledge (and application of it). Expect a Q&A section at the end too, so make sure you're prepared to talk about more than just the content of your slides.

A common presentation is the 30/60/90 day plan - most common for sales or leadership roles - where they're looking to see how you'd approach your first 3 months in the role, prioritise your workload and generate results. Here they're looking for strategic thinking, alignment to their approach, and initiative.

When it comes to approaching a presentation, it may sound obvious but make sure your presentation answers the question they've set you. Including this at the beginning of the presentation when you're setting your intentions out can be useful to really drive home the focus. We'd also recommend keeping content on any accompanying slides fairly streamlined and clearly structured. Have enough information on there to support what you're saying, but not too much that it takes away from your verbal presentation.

Oh, and stick to the allotted time!
 

The final stage/leadership interview

The final stage of many interview processes includes a meeting with members of the organisation's C-Suite, or executive team. At this point they're here to answer the big question of 'is this person right for the business long term'. Getting to this stage means you've likely already proved you can do the job, this is all about the impact you'll have once you're doing it. 

At this stage, you likely won't be answering any more questions about your CV. Instead, they'll be evaluating you on your strategic thinking and long term potential. Can you use your experience to help the company achieve their long term goals? Do you understand the market they're operating in? Are you someone they can invest in long-term? Because of this, expect more open ended questions that feel more like a conversation about you and your approach. Topics may cover things like your vision for the future, your leadership style (if it's a leadership role you're applying for), how you'd have an impact, and what success would look like to you.

A leadership interview is also a great opportunity to ask strategic questions. Remember that these questions are almost as important as the answers you give, as it gives the interviewers a sense of your priorities and how your thinking works. We'd recommend asking about future plans and goals for the company, as well as questions about their own career trajectory - the bigger picture stuff.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking you've got it in the bag at this point and fail to prepare. Instead, do your research on the interviewers, brush up on what you know about the company, and refine what you want them to know about you.
 

Whilst we've not covered every single type of interview here, these are the main ones you're likely to encounter.

And if all this talk of interviewing has got you thinking about what's out there, you can find all of our live vacancies here.