The “Nervous” Cliché 

To avoid falling for the all-too-common cliché of people feeling “nervous” before attending an interview, I will instead tell you the truth! Or at least my truth. I love talking to people, I do so with such passion! Often times my problem is that I don’t know when to shut up. But today was not the day to extinguish the roaring flame within that urges me to converse at every opportunity, but instead, to let the flame spread like wildfire in an Australian summer! The interview that I partook in granted my voice a pedestal upon which I was able to speak highly of myself. Of course, I will have to suppress the egomaniac within me during the interview, but I would be lying if I said that I felt “nervous”. If I had to pick a word, I felt nothing short of ‘invigorated’.  

Putting my initial thoughts on the Table, I have exceeded my expectation of performance for this mock interview. I believe that previous real-world interviews have acted as a trial by fire. Many of my first interviews were for menial labor type jobs that we’ve all come to expect at the inception of our descent into the adult world. I’ve learned a lot from these types of interviews and have almost mastered the art of selling myself, but I’m not perfect, and the fountain of knowledge is ever flowing with more to learn. Utilizing the Gibbs reflective model, I will document my success as well as how I can improve my communication skills. I will also provide reasoning behind my thoughts and will critically analyze my feedback provided by the interview Panel.  

Description 

The mock interview took place in one of the classrooms located inside the School of Law building of Queens University Belfast. From my recollection, the room was on the second floor. I remembered that a window in the room provided the perfect view of a courtyard area with various arranged foliage; easily one of my top spots in the university!

The time was 9:00 in the morning and the sky was host to that classic Irish bleak overcast. My Interview panel consisted of Thomas, Marie and Ziheng. My group, labeled “group 5” was only one of the many groups from the class attending mock interviews in the very same room that day. The busy movement and chatter of each group performing interviews simultaneously gave the room a lively atmosphere which I found quite inviting. My chosen job description was a post-production sound designer for an upcoming movie which was advertised by NI Screen. 

Feelings and Thoughts 

As I have already stated, I am not one to be shy of partaking in interviews. I consider the experience beneficial and something I can learn from. Overall, I felt proud, energetic and of course happy, however, there was another feeling that arose unexpectedly during my interview. This feeling was quite exclusive to the nature of this mock interview as Ziheng, one of the interviewers, is my girlfriend! I had to hold back on a chuckle or two as the thought of my girlfriend being my future manager was quite a comedic and intrusive thought.  

Evaluation 

Following the completion of my interview, I was provided with a feedback report which allowed me to gain an interviewer’s perspective of myself. Although it doesn’t seem like much this, report is like gold to me! Very rarely in life is anyone able to get specific and accurate feedback from an interviewer detailing points of strength and areas for improvement. The feedback I received stated that I understood and responded well to the questions asked. Another point being that I was able to give an abundance of real-world experience including previous jobs and projects. A major area for improvement included my tendency to over explain or to go on tangents. Some more critical feedback included my body language, which, at some points during the interview, was described in my feedback as “hesitant”. Luckily, I received positive feedback for my ability to maintain strong eye contact during my response to questions.  

Analysis 

To a certain degree, you can half bluff your way through an interview. It’s an uncomfortable feeling knowing you could have prepared better, and eventually the conversation well runs dry. You begin to repeat your words and points, then your responses awkwardly lag behind each question that was just asked. I believe that one of my reasons for success lays in the fact that I made myself incredibly familiar with my cv beforehand, memorizing how each instance of experience, jobs or study can relate to possible questions that may be asked during the interview. In my head was a mental map containing each piece of relevant information that I could call upon during the interview. My areas of improvement mainly concerned my demeanor. I am aware that I sometimes overexplain myself and/or go on tangents when I feel that I have not proven myself to an interviewer. This can also make my body language come across as hesitant as my answerers awkwardly overstay their welcome.  

Conclusion 

Reflecting upon my feedback, I believe I performed well in the interview considering that my criticisms are not necessarily related to the interview, but rather a broader issue of some internal habits. I can remember back to some points during the interview when I did steer off topic and go on long winded tangents. Indeed, this is something that needs to be improved if I wish to do better in future interviews. 

Action Plan 

I have devised a strategy which will allow me to counteract possible tangents and or unnecessarily long answers in the future. Many pieces of information that I have memorized for the interview are admittedly quite lengthy and could be reduced to more fundamental data points e.g. What is my relevant experience? Where did it take place? Who was the company involved etc. (5 Ws) 

Bibliography 

• Gibbs G (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford. 
• Gibbs’ reflective cycle (1970) The University of Edinburgh. Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle (Accessed: February 28, 2023).