Interviews come in all shapes and sizes! From one on one informal chats to full day panel assessments. The way organisations interview new talent differs, some favour a competency based interview and others will run skills based or potential based interviews.
We all know that every interview requires preparation (yes, even if you have been to lots already!) but who do you go for for interview preparation and who is best to help you with interview techniques?
The research: 
Last week CV Library launched research which found that nearly half (47.6%) of workers confessed they had to teach themselves about the interview process.
1000 workers and 700 recruiters were asked who they thought was responsible for preparing candidates for interviews.
Two thirds of workers (64.4%) said they believe that there’s not enough education out there around interview techniques, with over one in 10 (14.6%) admitting that they didn’t learn about these processes until they were over the age of 30.
Interestingly, when candidates were asked who they thought was responsible for teaching them how to interview, the majority (49.6%) said the education system. A further 30.2% believe the task lies with themselves and over one in 10 (15.2%) believes that recruiters should be preparing them for interview.
What do the recruiters think?
According to the recruiter data, when asked who they believe is responsible for teaching candidates how to interview, recruiters cited the following:
- The candidates themselves (34%)
- Recruiters (29.1%)
- Schools and colleges (15.6%)
- Career advice centres (29.1%)
- Universities (2.1%)
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library , comments: “There still appears to be some confusion over who is responsible for teaching candidates about those all-important interview techniques, as this is not something that traditionally finds its way onto the school curriculum. It’s concerning to see that many workers aren’t learning about interview processes until they’re well into their working careers, potentially having lost out on some great opportunities as a result. One thing’s for sure, more needs to be done to ensure that both candidates and recruiters are aware of who should be teaching them about these processes, so that young professionals can enter the workforce in good stead for paving the way for a successful career.”
“Though recruiters are obviously concerned with finding the right calibre of candidates for their roles and looking to impress their employer, it’s also important that they are able to cut workers a little slack from time to time. Guiding them through could go some way to boosting their techniques, and help them to prepare themselves for the interview.”
Young people need feedback on interviews and assessment stages. It can be challenging enough looking for work but if, as a young person it isn’t clear if you are failing interviews you don not know how to play by the interview rules instead of there being a real lack of experience or potential to do the job we are again putting another hurdle in front of our young workforce.
Youth Employment UK Ambassador Ben Fisher sums it up:
“If you lack interview skills you will ultimately fail to even get to prove you could do the job, an employer needs to be able to see and assess you for the role but often all they can see is that you were not prepared for the type of interview”
At Youth Employment UK we believe that there is a portion of responsibility on each level; better careers advice and support throughout our education system relating careers to curriculum and exploring skills is a good first step, employers and recruiters must also take some responsibility too in being ‘youth friendly’ and clear on the interview processes and the skills and competencies required to do the job. Individuals themselves have the responsibility too to seek support, advice and read information provided before interviews. It can be a confusing world out there with a wide range of resources out there but a website like Youth Employment UK will bring you the best help and tips from across the web!
What can you do?
- As a job seeker: Explore our young professional membership, this free membership is your starting point to signing up to a community committed to boosting their employability and skills.
- As an employer: Join us as community member to access best practise and insight to becoming more youth friendly.
