Interview Skills Jody Elliott BHP Billiton Nickel West The

1
Interview Skills

• Jody Elliott
• BHP Billiton Nickel West

2
The interview is

• An opportunity to share information, so be
  prepared to ask questions as well as answer
  them.
• Often your only chance to make a good first
  impression, so make sure you present yourself
  as well as you possibly can.
• Only a meeting, so no matter how much you want
  the job, it is not a case of life or death!

3
Do

• Wear appropriate attire.
• Take a copy of your resume with you.
• Research the organisation it will help your
  cause if you have a reasonable understanding of
  the company.
• Act positively and appear interested no
  matter how good your credentials!

4

• Make eye contact with the interviewer it
  suggests confidence and honesty.
• Have a reason for your interest in the
  position - you need to articulate what attracts
  you to this job.
• Understand what gives you satisfaction and
  what doesnt. You need to have a list of
  ingredients you are ideally seeking in a
  position or employer.
• Role play!

5

• Anticipate a question on weaknesses. Nobody
  is perfect, so understand your areas for
  development.
• Know the dates of your qualifications and
  experiences. Many people falsify their
  qualifications or experience, and not knowing
  doesnt sound very convincing.
• Have a handle on your salary expectations.
  You will be asked for this information and you
  need to know your own worth.

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What do Companies look for and how?

• Skills, knowledge and experience
• Do you have sound academic results in the
  required discipline and vacation work experience
  in the industry?
• Temperament and Motivational Fit
• Will you fit in with our environment and
  culture?
• Does what we have to offer suit your needs?
• Assess you against our requirements through
• Resume review
• Screening interview (generally by phone)
• Formal interview (face to face, using targeted
  selection)
• Psychological assessment
• Reference checking
• Pre-employment medical including drug screen

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What types of questions do we ask?

• The STAR Principle is based on the premise that
  previous behaviour/action is the best predictor
  of future behaviour/action.
• Questions will therefore ask for specific
  examples. Youll need a Situation or Task, the
  Action you took and the Result or outcome for
  each question.

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Preparation Process

• Read the advertisement/job description what
  skills, experience and attributes does it
  mention? Make a list.
• Consider what examples you can discuss to
  demonstrate the criteria.
• Document these according to the STAR principle.
• Practice, practice, practice so they flow
  naturally!

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Your turn to practice

• Electrical/InstrumentationTechnician
• FIFO
• 9/5, 9/5, 10/4 roster
• Reference number 6342MP
• As an Electrical/Instrument Technician, you will
  maintain plant and equipment at Mt Keith in
  accordance with stringent safety and statutory
  requirements, in order to achieve targeted plant
  availability and utilisation.
• Reporting to the Electrical/Instrument
  Co-ordinator, you will be responsible for the
  electrical and instrumentation maintenance
  function at Mt Keith. As a minimum, you will
  possess a current WA A Grade Electrical license
  and instrumentation qualifications. Possession of
  a High Voltage Switching ticket will also be
  considered desirable.
• You will have excellent organisational skills and
  the ability to work well within a team
  environment. Technically, you possess experience
  working with GE Faunc PLCs, analytical and
  process control instrumentation. Further to this,
  you will have gained a degree of computer
  literacy, preferably with exposure to SAP.

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Example questions might include

• Give me an example of an assignment/project you
  have worked on that best demonstrates your
  technical knowledge. What did you do?
• Tell me about safety procedures you have had to
  follow in a work setting. What did you do to
  ensure your own safety?
• Step us through a typical day. How do you
  organise yourself to ensure you meet the
  day/weeks challenges?
• Tell us about the best team you have been
  associated with. What made it a good team?
• What sort of work and environment motivates you
  to do your best?

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Learn from others - dont

• Say you are so well qualified that if you dont
  get the job, it would prove that the companys
  management was incompetent.
• Bring your dog to the interview.
• Wear a walkman and claim that you can listen to
  the interviewer and the music at the same time.
• Challenge the interviewer to an arm wrestle.

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And more

• Announce you havent had your lunch yet, and
  proceed to eat it at the interview.
• Interrupt the interview to phone a friend for
  advice on answering specific questions.
• Say your not interested because the position pays
  too much.
• Offer to demonstrate your loyalty if hired, by
  having the company logo tatooed on your arm.

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Some serious ones now

• Be late punctuality is important and being
  late, regardless of the excuse, will not help.
• Give generic answers when asked for an example.
  Rather than saying oh, that happens all the time
  and what I usually do is, try last week I had
  a specific problem relating to and I.

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Some Advice

• Be very mindful of how you conduct yourself
  through the entire application process
• How you answer the phone (use your name!)
• Your voice mail message
• Being prepared for employer calls when you have
  applications out
• Email addresses
• Being punctual
• Ask when you are not sure
• Your reputation will precede you a very small
  industry.

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• Questions?