Proven Results | High Success 200+ Review

Graduate Interview Coaching

Home / Services / Graduate Interview Coaching
Set an Appointment
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.

Reuters video report

Set an Appointment

Send Message

9 + 13 =

Or
Set an Appointment

Gill on November 09, 2018 at 14:34 pm

Elizabeth’s insightful questioning and industry awareness has ensured my success in securing two positions that were important to me. Elizabeth’s ability to clearly decipher what organisations are looking for from the job description/ specification is helpful and the coaching/ questioning style used is thorough yet supportive. For me this approach works in building confidence and clarity and was a significant factor in my success.. Thank you Elizabeth.

Jackie on October 27, 2018 at 21:12 pm

I highly recommend Elizabeth's interview skills coaching and I plan to use her again in the future. Elizabeth was pleasant and generous with her practical advice and feedback throughout my 90 minute skype coaching session. I decided to make the investment after failing numerous Civil Service Grade 7 interviews. Elizabeth understood and shared what the interviewers are looking for at that level. Thanks to Elizabeth's coaching, I passed my interview and landed a G7 job within 2 months.

Harshal on October 15, 2018 at 13:11 pm

Elizabeth was extremely helpful in my preparation for a graduate interview. She had an extensive knowledge on both strengths and competency based interviews and was able to effectively articulate examples to aid my own understanding of them. Additionally, she was able to quickly and effectively delve in to my own personal strengths and weaknesses in and interview environment and help me improve my technique. I highly recommend Elizabeth for anyone else who is in need of advice when it comes to interviews.

Mustafa on October 04, 2018 at 20:38 pm

Elizabeth's insight really helped me come to understand the new civil service approach after having left for the private sector. Her advise ensured that I was able to communicate my examples in a way that maximised the scorers I achieved. This resulted in my examples being concise and allowed me to remain adaptable to respond to the additional questions that now form part of the new approach.

Sam on September 24, 2018 at 18:22 pm

I looked Elizabeth up after being unsuccessful with many applications for promotion. I had attended a few interviews but found my main problem to be not hitting the mark in the competency sifts.I was becoming quite frustrated knowing I had plenty of work experiences at the required level which wasn’t leading to interviews. Elizabeth spent time going through my applications and explained where I was falling down, and what I needed to do sell myself effectively and concisely.Following some important feedback sessions, and feeling like something had finally clicked, I was invited to interview on my first application. I was able to give a confident interview using my deeper understanding of what was required by the competency framework – a first in a long time! I highly recommend Elizabeth to anyone experiencing similar issues.

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.