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Graduate Interview Coaching

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What does graduate interview coaching involve?

Why do graduates benefit from interview coaching?
  1. As the assessment process for students and graduates is so competitive today it is essential that students receive some interview coaching to maximise every interview opportunity they have. Being rejected at many interview lowers confidence and causes interview anxiety.
  2. Often there is only a short window of opportunity to apply to leading internship and graduate schemes such as the Civil Service Fast Stream or legal Training Contracts so graduates need to be fully prepared in advance of the deadlines.
  3. As well as being very competitive the application process is very long and includes a series of online tests, video interview and an assessment day. If the applicant gets rejected they may need to wait for another year before they can reapply or look elsewhere for an internship or job. Ideally, a student should aim to get through to at least 3 assessment days to maximise their chances of success.
  4. Interviews are no longer just competency based but include competency and strength based questions. Many organisations such as Magic Circle law firms put a greater emphasis on strength based questions so knowing how to handle both types of questions is important.
Recent review

I am emailing you to let you know that I have received a job offer from Arup for the Graduate City Economics position! I am so happy that things have worked out so well – I can’t believe it! Thank you so much for all your help!! I honestly don’t think I could’ve done it without you. This job means so much to me as it was my first choice since the beginning and, in fact, the more I got to know the company and learnt about the role, the more I liked it.

Read hundreds of reviews added by clients.

Graduate & student interview coaching

Interview coaching works and at Interview Skills Clinic. We see great results with leading organisations such as KPMG, Deloitte, CapGemini, Earnst & Young, John Lewis, Goldman Sachs, Atkins to name but a few.

One to one coaching is tailored to each client; the role you applying for, the organisation and application stage.  It often involves two stages:

  • Interview Preparation Coaching. A student would not expect to get a high mark in their university essay or assignment without understanding how they are being marked but most students attend interviews without understanding what organisations are looking for. Preparation coaching is tailored specifically to the internship, placement or graduate role students are applying for. Learn to prepare for competency interviews and strength based interviews.
  • Mock Interview Coaching. Most students practise for an interview by looking for typical questions and writing out their answers. This is the wrong approach and at best results in a wooden response and at worst leads to brain freeze. Students and graduates need to learn how to adapt their answers to a variety of different questions aloud, project confidence and good communication skills.
Interview coaching is tailored to the application stage

Interview coaching is tailored to each stage of the application process:

  • CV and application
  • Video interviews are increasingly being used at the first interview stage rather than telephone interviews. It is a particularly challenging interview as the interviewee needs to answer text or video recorded questions. Many applicants get rejected at this early stage.
    Read this article to prepare for some typical video interview questions.
  • Telephone interviews
  • One-to-one assessment day interviews, competency interviews and strength interviews
  • Assessment day presentations
Interviews for first year & second year students

It’s the early bird that catches the worm! Ideally first year students need to spend time securing a place on an Easter Week or Spring Week Internship. This is a ‘stepping-stone’ to getting a summer internship. A summer internship is very important as many organisations such as Goldman Sachs offer a proportion of their interns a permanent job at the end of the internship. A lucky student might start their third year at University knowing that they have a job when they finish! Either way an internship or placement is going to give a student excellent experience which will help them prepare for competency and strength interviews in their final year.

Where is coaching available?

Coaching is available Monday – Saturday in:

You can decide whether you want face-to-face coaching, available in London or Bournemouth or Skype coaching.

Coaching fees

A one to one coaching course can be designed for you or you can choose coaching in 1 hour sessions as your application progresses.  Click here for details on coaching fees. A discount is available for students.

Free consultation

The best approach is to schedule a free consultation so that we can discuss your objectives. Click the Free Consultation button below or click Contact.

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Fiona Whitty on September 19, 2018 at 15:10 pm

After 9 months of unsuccesful job hunting I made an appointment with Elizabeth. I had 2 upcoming interviews in arts related roles which she helped me prepare for. She helped build my confidence and focus on areas I needed to build on, including my ability to sell myself! To my delight I was offered both jobs which proves Elizabeth's coaching WORKS! :)

Lenah on August 28, 2018 at 14:42 pm

After many unsuccessful interviews with feedback that was either “you gave a good interview, but we hired someone with more practical experience”, or “we liked you, but we gave the job to someone who gave more rounded answers”, I decided to get some professional help. Elizabeth was very welcoming and immediately helped me feel at ease. We discussed in detail the posts I hoped to apply for and also my background. My main problems were not selling myself, and also not giving enough depth to my answers. We practiced a few questions that were guaranteed to come up in my interviews. Elizabeth also gave me advice on how to structure my answers and also sell my abilities and past experiences without making me uncomfortable. I was planning on meeting up with Elizabeth for another session, but attended an interview at short notice. I immediately felt more confident and in control while answering the questions, and for the first time actually enjoying the interview. I was offered the job later that same day, and like one of the other reviewers’ mentioned they told me that I was a standout candidate. I am very grateful for Elizabeth’s advice, guidance and encouragement at a time when I felt doubtful about being able to get the job I wanted.

Jo on August 25, 2018 at 11:33 am

I contacted Elizabeth for help with crippling interview nerves. I'd worked in senior positions in an international company for over 12 years, and wanted to change sector. My anxiety was so great that in my first session with Elizabeth I actually had a panic attack. Mortifying! I was quite certain that neither she - nor anyone else - would ever be able to get me past something which was a huge point of embarrassment for me. I felt quite desperate, having resigned from a successful career to allow myself space to decide on what I wanted to do next. Imagine the pressure on me when I then found myself fluffing even informal chats on the phone with potential interviewers through crippling nerves. To compound this, not a single person I knew would believe that 'someone like me' would ever have interview issues, as I'm a strong communicator. But I really, really did. Elizabeth tackled this sensitively, practically and ultimately successfully. She helped me to approach interviews in a completely different way, finding a new mind-set, and I secured the first role I applied for in my new sector a couple of months ago. This took several sessions, but were genuinely one of the best investments in my personal development that I have made. I'm eternally grateful. Thank you Elizabeth!

Gabrielle on August 22, 2018 at 13:08 pm

I had been called to my first civil service job interview in 10 years. I was applying for promotion. In my 90-minute Skype session Elizabeth showed me how to attend to all aspects of the competencies on which I would be questioned and how to provide much more detailed answers. She also helped me see the importance of being able to verbally sum up my achievements for each of my competency examples. I was successful in my application. I could not have done it without Elizabeth’s help.

Angela on August 16, 2018 at 12:50 pm

Elizabeth is a brilliant coach. I used her services to prepare for my first civil service interview and again when I was seeking a position on promotion. I received offers to both posts. She's a master on civil service interviewing. I cant recommend her highly enough.

Amy on August 16, 2018 at 10:53 am

Elizabeth's assistance was incredibly valuable in my experience of applying for a training contract. I have a history of being able to make it to interviews on my paper applications but then not being able to make it past first (or sometimes second) interview. Elizabeth was great, listened to what I had to say and then fed back that I was not selling myself in the right way. Left me with plenty to think about. With Elizabeth's assistance I was able to secure a training contract in my first interview this year! Thank you so much.

Marcus on August 13, 2018 at 11:46 am

I really could not recommend a coaching session with Elizabeth enough! The new approach she took me through to prepare for interview really made the difference, securing me a job offer at the first time of applying it, in a highly competitive field.

Seb on August 10, 2018 at 13:15 pm

I had been to several interviews and had no luck with securing a full time role I was really interested in. With my confidence low I decided to seek help in the form of a 90 minute Skype session with Elizabeth. It was fantastic. Elizabeth not only provided me with very helpful preparation materials but she got me to understand what the interviewer would be looking for and how best to address questions. Going into detail on how different types of questions could be answered and giving examples which I could base my own experiences off. A week later I went into my next interview full of confidence and now can happily say I was offered the job. Without a doubt the new perspective and level detail Elizabeth provided me played a major role in the success of the interview.

Rashid on July 24, 2018 at 07:02 am

I sought Elizabeth’s assistance with a recent civil service interview through a 90 minute Skype preparation session. Elizabeth’s assistance and coaching was invaluable in successfully securing my new role. She was able to explain what the competencies were and meant in practical terms, what the interviewers were looking for in my answers and how it was marked. Elizabeth was also able to provide me with feedback as to the quality of the examples I was using in my application to maximise my opportunity to be successful at interview. From the material I sent to her, she noted that I had a wealth of relevant experience and expertise in terms of the role and the competencies listed for it. She quickly identified in the session that in interview, I needed to ensure I outlined more thoroughly my thought processes in terms of the automatic actions I took as an experienced professional. She provided feedback on my practice answers and really helped to build my confidence. I was able to ask questions and clarify issues on which I was unclear. I would have no hesitation in recommending Elizabeth to anyone seeking to prepare for an interview. I cannot thank her enough.

Alun on July 12, 2018 at 09:33 am

I was fortunate enough to be able to have a 90 minute Skype preparation session with Elizabeth before a recent Civil Service interview. It was absolutely fantastic, tremendous value for money and certainly a major factor in subsequently being successful at interview. Very helpful prep materials were sent in advance of the Skype session. However what really stood out was how Elizabeth completely altered the session around 15 minutes in when it was clear I was losing confidence. A key piece of advice she offered at this point totally changed my approach; I credit this as also being the key reason for passing the interview, too. I have subsequently recommended Elizabeth to two other Civil Service applicants, one who has also been successful directly after a prep session and another who will take their interview in the next few weeks. This is as good as professional coaching for interviews can be and I would recommend it to anyone at any level

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