Interview Hints and Tips
Preparing for your next interview
Whether you're applying for a new role at YBS or exploring opportunities outside the organisation, being prepared can help you feel more confident. Scroll down for guidance on strengths-based interviews, common interview styles, and how to get ready.
Strength-based interviews
If you’re applying for a role at YBS, your first-stage interview will include a strengths-based element.
A strengths-based interview is designed to explore what motivates you, what you enjoy, and how you naturally work at your best. You may be more used to other styles of interview, or it may have been a while since your last one.
This approach helps give everyone an equal chance to succeed. It’s also a great way for us to understand how your strengths and transferable skills could apply to a new role, even if you haven’t done that exact role before. Where you do have relevant experience and examples to speak about, it is still useful to draw from your personal experience.
A competency interview asks for examples from your past, such as “Tell me about a time when you...”
In a strengths-based interview, the questions focus more on how you think or feel. For example, “How would you approach...” or “Do you prefer...”
We can’t reword, interpret or explain the question, and we won’t ask follow-up questions unless they’ve already been planned. This is so we can hear your natural responses and better understand how you work.
A strengths-based interview gives you the chance to show your potential. We want to help colleagues find roles where they feel motivated, confident, and able to thrive, while also being able to do the role.
Because it focuses on strengths and not just past performance, it can be more inclusive. You may not have had the opportunity to do the role before, but this is a chance to highlight your transferable skills and mindset.
How to prepare for a strengths-based interview
The aim is for your answers to feel natural and authentic. But a bit of preparation helps. Here are a few useful tips:
- Think about your strengths and what you’re like at your best. Ask yourself what you enjoy and what gives you energy. Consider how friends or family would describe you in a positive light.
- Reflect on any achievements, personal or professional, that make you proud and how you made them happen.
- Look at the role profile and job advert. What skills are they asking for, and where might your transferable strengths apply?
- Think about your body language, tone of voice, and how you communicate under pressure.
- If you don’t have an example for a question, that’s OK. Talking through how you’d approach the task is just as valuable.
- If you do have a relevant example, feel free to share it, even if the question doesn’t ask for one.
- Focus on your own contribution. Using ‘we’ may not clearly show what your role and responsibilities were when answering a question, so make sure to highlight your own contributions and achievements.
Think about your strengths, what you enjoy doing, what you are like at your best and how your family and friends might describe you. This may help you to identify and showcase your strengths.
What kind of questions might you be asked?
You won’t need to prepare specific answers, but it can help to think about questions like these:
- What do you like about working with others?
- Have you ever done something differently the second time around?
- Do you prefer starting tasks or finishing them?
- Do you prefer the big picture or the small details?
Remember
Take your time, relax and think about the question before you answer. Be honest and use examples that are authentic to you. That said, don’t feel you must give an example if the question hasn’t asked for one. Focus on the strengths and experience you can bring to the role. The goal is to help you find a role where you can perform at your best and feel confident.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure everyone can be their best at interview, if you require any reasonable adjustments as part of your interview, then we are happy to discuss this with you directly and in confidence. Just let the Resourcing & Inclusion Specialist managing the role know, their details will be in your interview invite email. You can also contact the Internal Mobility Team.
Other assessments
We want our interviews to reflect the role as closely as possible, so in some cases you may be asked to complete a task, test or presentation.
You’ll always be given advance notice of the interview format and what to expect, along with sufficient time to prepare where needed.
External Interviews
If you're considering roles outside YBS, a little research can go a long way. Look into the company’s values, culture, and the kind of work they do. Job sites like Glassdoor and Indeed can offer helpful perspectives from current and past employees, giving you a clearer sense of what it’s like to work somewhere.
Before the interview, review the job advert and role profile carefully. Think about how your skills and experience match what they’re looking for.
They might ask you different types of questions depending on the organisation and role. These could include:
- Behavioural: Tell me about a time you led a project.
- Situational: How might you handle conflicting priorities?
- Technical or role-specific: Based on the requirements of the job.
- Competency-based: Focusing on key areas like communication, teamwork, or decision-making.
Using the STAR method
It can be hard to talk about your experience in a clear and confident way, especially if you’re under pressure or out of practice. The STAR method can help you bring structure to your answers and highlight what you’re capable of.
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result. It gives you a simple way to tell your story, one step at a time.
Set the scene. What was happening, when did it take place, and where were you? It could be something you’re proud of or a time when things were challenging. Pick something that feels relevant to you.
Explain what needed doing and what your role was. Were you leading something, supporting others, or solving a problem? You can also describe how you felt about the task and what it meant to you.
Talk about what you did. What steps did you take? Who else was involved? How did others react? Be specific about your contribution.
Share what happened in the end. What was the outcome of your actions? Was it what you hoped for? You can also talk about what you learned, especially if things didn’t go perfectly.
Why use the STAR method?
It gives you a structure that’s easy to remember and follow, even if you feel nervous.
It helps you answer questions about your experience in a clear and confident way.
It shows your strengths with real examples, which can help highlight your transferable skills.
And it can give you a little more confidence when you need it most.
Latest jobs
-
IT,Marketing Division
Digital User Researcher
Leeds -
Finance Division
Cost and Investment Reporting Accountant
Leeds -
Risk Division
Financial Risk Oversight Manager
Leeds -
Risk,Commercial Lending Division
Senior Commercial Underwriter
Leeds -
Risk Division
Enterprise Risk Analyst
Leeds -
Commercial Lending Division
Senior Lending Manager- 12 Month FTC
Leeds
