Conducting an Interview

Interview task/activity

An alternative route to just asking students questions, give them a task they can prepare beforehand, and orient questions around this task if possible.
Whilst this is a job, we are recruiting the students to be a part of something bigger. Tasks they could prepare beforehand are:

• Asking for a presentation/video/essay on something the student is passionate about
  • Emphasis here should be that the presentation can take any format- ask the student to make it 5-10 minutes in length
• Ask for the student to show a portfolio of things they find interesting or hobbies they may have
  • This portfolio can also take the format of whatever best suits the student's needs
• Give the student a task related to your project, give them enough notice to create this and ask them to present back on it, for example:
  • Conduct a SWOT analysis of the University Parking System
  • Give them a list of potential stakeholders and ask them how they would plan communications- frequency, style and platform
  • Ask them to write a small business case for a potential student engagement platform/solution
  • Ask them to plan a smaller version of what they will deliver (e.g. an event, activity, workshop, focus group) and talk through why they designed it that way

When only asking questions it can create a negative environment, by using the above you are more likely to engage students with different ways of thinking. By allowing them to present on something they are comfortable with/have had time to prepare they are more likely to showcase their own strengths without needing to ask too many questions.

Task/Activity questions

If you have not been able to share interview questions before hand, then this is the best point to now do so.

• Share a printed copy of the questions you were hoping to ask, and give this to the student at the start of the interview.
• Do not ask multiple-part questions, but separate them out after the student has given their answer.
• If a student misunderstands, or if you feel they might have more to say- follow up or probe them to better understand their answers.
• Encourage them to write down the question, and ALWAYS offer them a chance to pause before answering
  • This reduces stress, and allows students a route for engaging without feeling like thye have to answer right away

Some suggested questions:

1. What challenges could you foresee with (insert something from their presentation) scenario?
2. How would you overcome (insert potential obstacle from presentation) and what actions would you take to prevent that from becoming an issue again?
3. Were there any lessons learned from your experience in (insert something from presentation or ask about lessons learned from making the presentation, if given a more specific topic)?

The remainder of the interview can focus on a discussion of what the role is, and if they have any questions or are comfortable with what the role would entail.

Candidate questions

When talking outside of the task/activity, focus on using strength-based interview questions.

• These focus less on 'tell me a time when you' and more on 'what would you do if'
• This allows for students who may not have prior experience in a work place enviornment to showcase their potential, and allows them to showcase their talent and approach through hypotheticals

Do not ask multiple-part questions, but separate them out after the student has given their answer.

Some suggested questions:

1. What does (insert topic pertinent to the role- e.g. engagement, co-creation, communication, good event design) mean to you?
2. What would effective (insert a skill or desired criteria they have not mentioned- e.g. teamwork) look like for you?
   • Follow on question: how would you propose instilling that in this project/work?
3. How would you approach working with different people with a variety of backgrounds?
   • Follow on question: what would you do if someone's attitude to a project was more negative?
4. If you were working with a group of students and one student was proving difficult to work with, how would you handle that scenario?
   • Follow on question: How would you prevent this attitude from spreading to the other students?
5. How would you design a student engagement activity intended to get an idea of what problems they face when (insert something related to your project e.g. moving from home to university, attending their first lecture)?
   • Follow on question: how would you go about recruiting students for such an activity?
6. This role will involve taking on responsibilities in addition to your studies. What would you do if you had a deadline coming up, and a new project was introduced to you as urgent?
7. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges for the University right now? And what are the biggest opportunities?

Layout

The recommendation for shortlisted candidates is a short 20-minute interview. Where they have:

• Task/Activity presentation- 5/10 minutes
• Interviewer Questions- 5 minutes
  2 on the presentation, and 2 that may not have been addressed as part of the presentation (shared beforehand)
• Candidate Questions- 5 minutes
  A chance for them to ask you questions, to see if this role/team is a good fit for them.

Location

Layout: Consider the space that you are using and how that might affect students, such as:

• Teams/Online: It can be intimidating to see a lot of faces, you can turn off the camera of anyone who isn't speaking and acknowledge this with the candidate
• In person: do they have access to water, are you all facing the candidate or could you spread this out

Technical needs: If students are sharing presentations or need access has this been set up so they can easily do so (you may want to accommodate some time for this, or get them to share their presentatinons the day before).

Group Task (optional)

We often recommend that students work in pairs when conducting a role. Regardless, students will likely need to work as part of a team- including the staff project team, other students and senior colleagues. Therefore, it may be useful to also run a group task as part of the interview to odentofy which candidates display food communication or teamwork skills.

Scenario Activity

You are working as part of a project team which is looking to transform the Library Services at Warwick. This may include a brand-new Library building, as well as a review of the current provision – considering education, research and community. This programme will require collaboration from many groups of stakeholders across the University. In your groups, discuss how you would ensure that the views of students are at the heart of this project AND what your ideas on how you could contribute as a Student Officer.

While the candidates are in the group activity, the role of the interview panel is to observe the interactions between them and look for candidates who can demonstrate some of the desirable criteria above, such as time management and communication skills.