Mock Interview

As part of the Professional Practice module, I was required to partake in a mock interview to help gear me up for the real thing. The original interview was supposed to take place last week in front of three different tutors, and the whole thing was supposed to be filmed so that we could look back on it in the hope that it would give us some insight into how to improve.

Anyway, that was the plan, however I woke up on the day of the mock interview only to find about 18 inches of snow outside my house! And in typical British fashion, the train stations (yes plural!) near me closed, and there was definitely no way I was getting a bus to London, so I emailed my tutors to give them the "low down", and they told me to rearrange it for this week. Admittedly having to rearrange it meant I would only be able to have my interview with one of the three tutors, and it wasn't going to be filmed, but it would still prove to be beneficial.

So before the actual interview, we were asked to chose from one of three fictional job opportunities; the job opportunities themselves were taken from genuine company websites, so at least the mock interview would seem that much more real. Out of the three opportunities I chose to 'apply' for a programming role at Rebelion, so I did my research into the company and its history so I would be ready for any questions thrown my way.

During the interview, my tutor made notes relating to my responses to said questions, so that I could use it to learn how to improve when I actually come to have a real interview.

To summarise, my main weakness was that I didn't explain things in depth. For example when asked to talk about projects I do outside university, I mentioned a good example, but I didn't go too in depth; I explained the overall project, and my role within said project, but apparently it would have been better if I'd gone a bit more in depth, and given the potential employer a real understanding of exactly what I did. I guess I was just worried of talking for too long, so I tried to keep my explanations short, but at least I know now.

That aside, everything else seemed fine; I was told that I had good knowledge of future developments, and the direction in which the industry is going, I also seemed to display a good knowledge of the company, and any time I was asked to give examples relating to the questions asked, apparently the examples I gave were good, and varied. So all in all I felt the experience was extremely useful, it helped me to see my strengths and weaknesses, and in turn will enable me to ensure I don't make the same mistakes when I come face to face with a real interview opportunity.