Your interview prep guide

We know attending an interview can be daunting, especially if you’ve not attended one for a while. We want to support you to succeed, and hope you find this guide useful to prepare.

Remember, this is a great opportunity to showcase your skills and experience and get excited about a potential next career move at Diligenta!

Preparation is key...

• Know the role: study the job description and understand how it differs from your current position.
• Understand the team/department: do some internal networking and research, reach out to the hiring manager for an informal chat.
• Prepare some questions in advance: what has your research made you want to know more about?
• Be prepared: think about how you will answer the question, ‘Why do you want to leave your current role?’

Using the STAR method

When answering interview questions, think about using the STAR method to tell a clear story about a real-life experience:

• Situation: set the scene, describe the context or background.
• Task: what was your responsibility or goal in the situation?
• Action: explain the specific steps you took.
• Result: share the outcome, including any data or feedback if possible.

Example

Interview question: Can you describe a time when you’ve had to deliver a project to a tight deadline?

Response:

• Situation: In my current role as a project coordinator, we were faced with a tight deadline on a major client deliverable while implementing a new IT system.
• Task: I was responsible for organising the team, ensuring we met the delivery timeline.
• Action: I created a detailed project timeline, delegated tasks after speaking to the team members and held daily check-ins to monitor progress.
• Result: We delivered the project two days early; the client was very impressed and even gave us a follow-up contract.

Interview etiquette...

The key difference between an internal and external interview is that you may already know the person who is interviewing you. However, remaining professional, being punctual and respectful is important.

Avoid assuming the interview panel knows your current work, responsibilities and achievements, and always be specific.

Handling nerves...

It’s natural to be nervous, but being prepared, taking some deep breaths, and slowing down your speech can all help.

The key is to be genuinely interested and enthusiastic about the role you have applied for. Don’t be afraid to ask your interviewer to repeat a question, and you can always take a few moments to think before responding.

Finally...

Here at Diligenta, we want to give all candidates the opportunity to showcase their best selves during the selection journey.

We recognise that some colleagues would welcome the opportunity to have advance sight of the interview questions they will be asked, to allow them to select their examples and prepare responses in advance.

We’re very happy to welcome you 30 minutes earlier than your interview time, so you can see the interview questions and be given some space to prepare. Please ensure you make the Recruitment Team or hiring manager know in advance if you would like to do this.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to help you share the best version of yourself throughout our interview process, again, please just let the Recruitment Team or hiring manager know in advance.

We hope this guide helps you to prepare. Good luck!