Practise Your Interview

Got an interview coming up?

The Careers Service can help you practise and improve your interview technique through our 1:1 appointments.

Alternatively, for written advice on preparing for your interview, please submit a query via the Resources tab on MyCareer and an adviser will get back to you within 5 working days.

If you’re struggling to find an appointment during term-time

If you’re near campus, you can use our drop-in service to speak to a member of staff. Our drop-in sessions are available during term-time from Monday to Friday, 11:00 to 13:00, no need to book.

Video interview practice

Video interviews are becoming increasingly popular with graduate employers in the early stages of recruitment. They can save companies time and money, as applicants can record their interviews from home. This can be useful for candidates too, as you can choose a time that suits you to complete it.

However, they’re not without their challenges. Not everyone is comfortable on camera and it can be distracting to see yourself on screen. It is also a much less personal experience as you won’t be speaking to a real person, and so there are no non-verbal cues to help you gauge your performance. You’ll typically be presented with written questions or a video of an interviewer asking pre-recorded questions. You’re given a short amount of time to think about your answer, then you’ll have to record your answer on video within a set time limit.

To help you prepare for video interviews, it’s really useful to practice to get a sense of what it’s like before you do the real thing. We have two platforms to choose from below. With each, you can review your recordings after the interview to see how you come across on screen. As well as reviewing the content of your answers, think about your body language and tone of voice – how effective are these? This is a great opportunity to put yourself in the place of a recruiter – what did you do well and what could have been improved?

Shortlist.Me

Shortlist.Me is used by real graduate recruiters, including HSBC and Siemens, and will give you a realistic view of what a video interview is like.

You can choose from a range of video interviews including Graduate Management Trainee, Engineering, Finance, Marketing, Teaching and HR. We also have a strengths-based interview and three based on employers: NHS Digital, AstraZeneca and law firm, Womble Bond Dickinson.

You may be asked questions on your reasons for wanting to work at a particular employer, or why you want a particular role. This is an opportunity to practise your response to commonly asked motivation questions such as these. If you do have a particular employer/role in mind, you may want to answer based on this. If you're not at that stage in you career plans yet, you can answer more generally and focus on the broader sectors or roles you are considering and what research you have done on these so far.

To access the practice interviews:

To access Shortlist.Me, log in to MyCareer and click on the Resources tab in the top right hand corner.

Click on the practice interview you want to take. You'll be asked to complete a brief registration form and then you will have up to 7 days to complete the practice video interview.

After your practice interview, you will be emailed a report with access to your recorded answers and AI-generated feedback, which looks at your pace of speech and the number of ‘filler’ words you use. You may be asked to download the Shortlist.Me app first to access your report. The AI feedback can take up to an hour to generate, so you may need to come back to your report once this has updated.

You can review your own performance or can request feedback from a careers consultant. All interviews you complete are available to the Careers Service, but we won't review these unless you request it. If you would like feedback on your interview, please email the Careers Service via MyCareer and include the type of interview that you took. We’ll aim to get back to you within 5 working days.

If you require reasonable adjustments to complete your video interview and would like extra time to think and answer, or have any problems accessing Shortlist.Me, please let us know via MyCareer.

Graduates First

Current students and registered Newcastle University graduates can use the Graduates First video interview software to:

record yourself answering interview questions, save and review your recordings at any time
receive automated feedback on your performance based on artificial intelligence technology
access advice on interview technique and how to prepare for interviews

Graduates First also includes example psychometric tests, game based assessments and examples of case study and in-tray exercises.

If you have any technical problems with the tests, please contact Graduates First at enquiry@graduatesfirst.com. The Careers Service will not be able to help with any technical issues.

To access the practice interviews:

Current students

Go to the Newcastle University Graduates First portal
Register using your Newcastle email address (@ncl.ac.uk) and complete the registration form in full
If you have a disability that could affect your performance (eg dyslexia), you can request additional time (25%) when registering

You should receive an email providing you with a link to confirm your email address, and then you’re ready to start your practice interview. If you don't receive an email after registering, please check in the Clutter folder of your Newcastle email account.

Graduates

If you're a registered Newcastle University graduate, you'll need to contact us, stating your full name and email address, to request access to Graduates First. Please also let us know if you require additional time for the tests. This may take a few days. If you have an interview coming up shortly, please let us know.