Preparing for an interview
Shortlisting
You can see the university staff guidance for shortlisting to get a better understanding of the overall process.
For students, you may also want to consider:
- Asking staff to take some form of unconscious bias trainingLink opens in a new window, there are some further resources you may find beneficial on the LMD team pages
- Arranging for names or identifying information to be removed/blacked out before the panel sees the form- referring to candidates only by number
- Double read- in line with Warwick's Recruitment policy for permanent roles, applications should be reviewed by at least 2 people in selecting the candidates for interview to help mitigate against unconscious bias
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Meet before assessing any CVs, to discuss selection criteria, including what skills may look like, discuss scoring, and think about how the candidate embodies your values as well as meeting the criteria
- Consider making a note of why applications weren’t successful and asking Unitemps to feed this back to candidates. While not a requirement, this avoids students from not having the information to improve
Top Tip
Think about the areas of the job description that you feel are least covered by all of the applicants- cover this through questions in the interview.
Interview set up
- Location- always try to offer either in-person, online or video interviews
- If there is a requirement for in-person, consider if you can provide expenses for things such as bus travel
- If you can do online, not all students may have access to a laptop, but could borrow one through the IDGs student laptop loans
- Timings- bear in mind students' timetable commitments. If you're sending them an interview time directly, make it clear that they should get in touch if needed to arrange an alternative time
- Another option is to create a DoodleLink opens in a new window poll so they can select the time that works for them
- Activity- consider giving students something they can prepare beforehand (see our Interview section for guidance on what this could be), consider what skills you would like to see that haven't been showcased in the CVs and Cover letters
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By allowing them to present on something they have had time to prepare, they are more likely to showcase their own strengths without you needing to ask too many questions
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- Length- some students may need to walk around or take frequent breaks, but may feel uncomfortable asking for them. This can be particularly problematic for those who are neurodivergent. Including breaks during the interview process can allow for this
Invitation to interview
Timings- give a minimum of 1 week's notice to attend and prepare for an interview
- Always allow time between interviews for scoring and to accommodate any technical issues
Layout- indicate the interview content and timings
Share the questions-
- Consider sharing the questions themselves in advance, or the general themes and where you will cover them
Example
The questions attached will be used in the five minutes after your (insert task or activity), to get a better understanding. We have also attached some of the themed questions that we will use after talking about the task, to get to know you better as a candidate.
Resources- when sharing the invite, consider including
- Guidance or signposting to resources on how to approach an interview
- Frameworks used for answering interview questions (especially if there is an expectation for certain approaches due to your area)
- You can see some other resources in our setting up the Advert section
Who will be in the room- if you were unable to share as part of the job advert, then please share who will be in the interview- including job titles, pronouns and relation to the project/interview
- Consider any concerns students may have about being interviewed by staff or tutors who are responsible for their own progress as students, and include any reassurances that can be put in place
Accessibility and access needs- whilst some students may have included this in their application, offer them a second chance to arrange to meet their needs
- Ask for preferred pronouns and, if possible, a guide to pronunciation of their names (consider doing this for interviewers as well)
Responses- be explicit in how they need to respond to the invitation, and by when
Example
Once you have accepted a slot through the doodle poll, we will send you a Microsoft Teams invite link via email. Please can you respond to this via email to confirm receipt. If we do not hear from you by June 23rd, we will assume you are no longer interested in the post.