As a parent, you want to see your child flourish after university and land a good graduate job. One that matches their skills and interests, offers them career progression and compensates them with a competitive salary. As interviews are one of the most daunting elements of the graduate job search, you likely want to support your child as they go through them. One way to do this is to host mock interviews with them. This post shares tips and advice on how to help your son or daughter practice for their upcoming graduate interviews.
Why your son/daughter must practice for interviews not just prepare
It’s crucial to distinguish between “preparing” for an interview and “practising” for one.
Preparation involves gathering information about the company, understanding the role, and aligning one’s qualifications and experiences with the job requirements.
Practising, on the other hand, is about honing the delivery of this information, refining communication skills, and building confidence.
Even though both are integral to the process, the importance of practice cannot be overstated.
It really does make the difference in today’s competitive graduate job market, making your child stand out as a graduate who not only possesses the skills required for the role but as a candidate who can articulate their ideas well, structure their thoughts in a logical manner and relay important information professionally.
Achieving this requires practice.
If your son or daughter attended stage school previously, they may already have a leg up when it comes to presenting and speaking in front of people and might just need to polish their pitch. Alternatively, your son or daughter might be very shy/anxious about interviewing and need more rigorous training. Whichever boat they are in we can support you in helping them to develop life-long interview confidence with our graduate interview practice.
How to Host Practice Interviews at Home
Hosting practice interviews at home can be an invaluable tool in your child’s job search arsenal.
Here’s some ideas on how to go about it:
1: Set the Scene
Create an environment at home that mimics a real interview as closely as possible. Choose a quiet, formal setting free from distractions. Setting up a table and chairs in a “panel” format can help simulate the actual experience. Perhaps the dining room/area or the home office is the perfect space for this.
2: Research before hosting the mock graduate interview
Before setting up a mock graduate interview with your son/ daughter prepare some questions to ask them.
If they do not have an imminent interview coming up, pick a selection of competency-based questions that will prompt them to discuss their key employability skills such as communication, teamwork and problem-solving.
Don’t shy away from tough or unexpected questions; these often reveal how well your son or daughter can think on their feet.
Remember to ask the common “tell me about yourself” question as this comes up in almost all interviews so having a well-polished and rehearsed answer for this will be beneficial for your graduate.
Do some research on the field they are interested in going into and throw in some questions that test their industry knowledge such as “Tell me about a recent news story related to X industry that has caught your attention”. Often graduates are asked this to help recruiters distinguish between graduates with a genuine interest in the field from graduates who just want a job.
3: Feedback and Fine-tuning
At the end of the mock interview at home with your child, be sure to give them lots of feedback on how they did, what they did well and how they can improve.
Provide constructive feedback on their responses, body language, and overall demeanour.
Highlight strengths and pinpoint areas for improvement. Discuss how to weave in examples of their achievements that demonstrate relevant skills and qualities.
Your son/daughter should be answering competency-based interview questions using the STAR framework, by giving an overview of the situation, describing the task, explaining the actions they took, and elaborating on the results they achieved. Mastering this framework will enable them to ace any competency-based question.
4: Simulate Different Interview Formats
Many companies now use a variety of interview formats when hiring graduates, including behavioural interviews, case studies, and even group interviews. Note that this may vary depending on the type of graduate role your son or daughter is going for.
Try to prepare for these different scenarios by simulating them as best as you can. For instance, you could present a business problem and ask your child to walk you through their thought process in solving it.
5: Practice, Practice, Practice
Repetition is key to becoming comfortable and confident. Conduct multiple practice sessions, focusing on different areas each time.
This repetition will help cement their responses and improve their fluency in delivering them. Try to space out the sessions so that the experience does not become too overwhelming.
6: Encourage Self-Reflection
After each practice session, encourage your child to reflect on their performance. Self-awareness is a crucial skill in personal and professional development.
Discuss what they felt went well and what could be improved, reinforcing the idea that every interview is a learning opportunity. It is ok to make mistakes as long as they are also making progress.
7: Incorporate Professional Feedback
If possible, consider involving a professional in your child’s field of interest to conduct a mock interview. This can provide valuable insights and feedback from someone who knows exactly what employers are looking for.
Here at Graduate Coach, we have a track record of helping over 5000 students and graduates land their dream jobs.
8: Stay Positive and Supportive
Finally, ensure that you provide encouragement and support throughout this process.
The last thing you want to do is create a negative experience for your child during these mock graduate interview sessions. Be careful not to give feedback in a way that puts them down or makes them defensive.
Job hunting can be a stressful time, and maintaining a positive outlook is essential for your child’s confidence and resilience.
Conclusion
Most graduates believe that they need to memorise answers to prepare for interviews. However, this strategy rarely leads to success because as soon as they are asked a question, they did not prepare for, it throws them off and they get flustered. A fail-proof strategy is to refine your interview technique and refine your ability to use frameworks. This requires practice. As a supportive parent, you can help your son or daughter to practise for their graduate job interviews so that they build the life-long skill of being interview-competent. If your son or daughter is consistently failing interviews, or not getting invited to interviews, get in touch with us. We can help them to land their dream graduate role and excel in their early careers.
Featured image by Christina Morillo from Pexels
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