Interviews — PawSteps

Types of interview

1:1 interview
One interviewer, one of you. The most common.

Panel interview
Two or more interviewers. Make eye contact with whoever asked, then include the rest.

Role play
You are given a situation and asked to handle it. Common where the job involves the public.

Team challenge
A group task. They are watching how you work with people, not whether you win.

Aptitude or technical test
A test of specific ability, often before or alongside the interview.

Which of these would you find hardest, and why?

Preparation

Tick what you have actually done. This is a checklist, not a test.

The mock interview

Seven questions. Pick the answer you would actually give, then read what the interviewer hears. There is no right and wrong here — only consequences. Some answers cost you more than others, and it is worth knowing which before you are in the room.

Tell me about yourself.

I'm 18, I live in Redhill with my mum and two brothers, I've got a cat called Bug, and I've always loved animals ever since I was little.I'm in my second year of a Level 1 Land Based course. I do two days a week on the animal unit, mostly with the exotics and the small mammals, and I've been volunteering at a rescue on Saturdays for eight months. I'm looking for a kennel assistant role because I want to work with dogs full time.What do you want to know?

Why do you want to work here?

I need a job and this one is close to where I live.I looked at your website and I saw you do the rehoming assessments in-house rather than sending them out. That is the part I want to learn. I've done basic handling on my course but I've never seen a full behavioural assessment.You seem like a really nice company and I've heard great things about you.

What is your biggest weakness?

I'm a perfectionist and I work too hard.I don't have any.I'm slow at record keeping. I'd rather be with the animals and I have to make myself sit down and write it up. What I do now is fill the sheet in straight after each check rather than leaving it to the end of the day, and it has got a lot better.

Tell me about a time you worked as part of a team.

I'm a really good team player and I get on with everyone.On the unit we do morning routine in pairs. My partner was off for two weeks so I took both lists, and I asked the tutor to move the reptile checks to last because I couldn't get the temperatures done and still finish the mammals before the first lesson. Everything still got done, just in a different order.I did a group project last year. It went fine.

The interviewer asks a question quickly, in an accent you find hard to follow, and you have not caught the end of it.

Give a general answer about something related and hope it fits.Sorry, could you repeat the question?Can I check I've understood — are you asking how I'd handle it if a colleague did something unsafe?

You do not have much experience. Why should we hire you?

I know I don't have much experience but I'm a really quick learner.I've got six months on the unit and eight months volunteering, which is where I learned the health check routine and how to handle a fractious cat. What I haven't done is anything with a client in front of me. I'd need showing once and then I'd be fine.Because I really, really want it.

Do you have any questions for us?

No, I think you've covered everything.What does a normal day look like for whoever gets this job? And is there anything I could read or practise before I start?How much is the pay and how many days holiday do I get?

Asking for clarification is a skill

Task 1.5 from the original.

Sometimes you need an interviewer to repeat or rephrase a question. The original lists why:

They spoke too quickly
They were unclear, or had an unfamiliar accent
They asked in a confusing or overly complicated way
You were flustered and did not hear properly

Every one of those is the interviewer's doing or a normal human reaction. None of them is a failure on your part, and asking is not an admission of anything.

Describe how you could seek clarity from the interviewer

Effective and ineffective technique

Task 6.2a — two examples of effective technique

Task 6.2b — two examples of ineffective technique

Something worth noticing from the seven questions above: most of the difference between a strong answer and a weak one was not confidence. It was specificity — naming the actual thing you did, at the actual place, with the actual outcome. That is preparation, and anyone can do it.