OCR Award and Certificate

in
Employability Skills
 Unit 11:
Preparing for and learning from
interviews
 This unit is about:

Planning for a job interview including:

• Arrangements for your interview

• Researching information about the job
• Preparing your questions and answers
• Your interview
• Reviewing your performance
Arrangements for your interview

Sam telephones his local

cinema in response to an
advert he has seen in the job-
centre for a
part-time sales assistant
Arrangements for your interview
He talks to the manager who asks him to come along at
2pm the following Wednesday for an interview

Sam needs to prepare!

Arrangements for your interview
He needs to:

Find out the times of the bus to get him to

the interview for 2pm and times of the
buses back home afterwards

Print a copy of his CV and personal

reference to take with him to the
interview
 Arrangements for your
interview
He needs to:

Research the cinema company

Prepare answers to the questions he thinks

he may be asked

Prepare the questions he would like to ask

them
Researching information about the job

Sam is going to the cinema

with friends on Saturday
evening and takes the
opportunity to speak to one
of the cinema staff to find
out what it is like to work
there
Researching information about the job

He discovers that there are 3 shifts most staff work

- 10am to 2pm, 2pm to 6pm and 6pm to 10pm

When he gets home he checks the local bus timetable to

make sure that he can get to and from the cinema at those
shift times
Researching information about the job

He looks on the cinema website to find out more about

the company

He finds out that they have a SuperSaver Tuesday when all

tickets are priced at £3
Researching information about the job

He finds out that on Monday afternoons they show old black

and white films

He also discovers that after 6 months staff get a 10% staff

discount on cinema tickets
Preparing your questions and answers

Sam prepares for questions he may be asked at

interview such as:

Which days are you willing to

work, including weekends?

What customer service

experience do you have?
Preparing your questions and answers

He prepares a list of his strengths, skills and

experiences:

Confident communicator

Captain of his local football

team, organising weekly
training sessions

Experience of working with people

of all ages – as a volunteer for the
area’s local fun runs
Preparing your questions and answers
He writes down in his notebook the list of questions he
wants to ask at his interview:

What hours would you like me to work?

What activities would I be doing?

Is there a chance I could be asked to

cover
for colleagues at short notice?
Who would be my boss?

How much am I going to be paid?

How often am I going to be paid?

When will I hear if I’ve got the job?

 Your interview
Sam arrives 10 minutes early and reports to the reception
staff
He knows first impressions
count so he has decided to
wear smart casual clothes and
he got his haircut the day
before the interview

When the manager approaches

him, Sam shakes his hand and
gives his name. He waits for the
manager to ask him to sit down
 Your interview
Sam answers the interview questions as clearly and
positively as he can

He has his notebook of questions

ready and waits until the end of the
interview to ask them

One of his final questions is when

he will hear back from the manager

He shakes hands with the

manager before he leaves,
thanking him for his time
 Reviewing your performance
Sam thinks about his interview when he gets home

What went well and what did

not go so well? +

He arrived on time for the interview and

had prepared well for the questions he
thought he would be asked
 Reviewing your performance

He could have practised his

answers better when asked about
his experiences with customer
service – he forgot to mention he
-
helped his Uncle Richard during
the Summer at his farm shop

He could have been more

relaxed and confident
Sam got
the job
 Thank you for using
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 Slide 4 man with phone: Jane0606/Shutterstock.com  Slide 5 alarm clock: Gemenacom/Shutterstock.com  Slide 6 Bus sign: FazakasMiholy/Shutterstock,com, printer:
Vasabii/Shutterstock.com  Slide 7 cinema icon: sashkin/Shutterstock.com, man with question mark: 3Dmask/Shutterstock.com  Slide 8: man at cinema: Texelart/Shutterstock.com
 Slide 9 bus: James Steidl/Shutterstock.com  Slides 10 and 11 laptop: RSAStudio/Shutterstock.com  Slides 10 film reel: LiquidWorks/Shutterstock  Slide 11 black and white image:
SubbotinaAnna/Shutterstock.com  Slide 12 man: Krill__M/Shutterstock.com  Slide 13 man talking: Lucudmyla Kharlamova/Shutterstock.com  Slide 14 man in football kit:
JAlcaraz/Shutterstock.com  Slide 15 notepad: HiSunnySky/Shutterstock.com  Slide 16 man with chair: Coramax/Shutterstock.com  Slide 17 man handshake: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com
 Slide 18 man thinking: amasterphotographer/Shutterstock.com  Slide 19 clapping animation: Presentermedia.com