Que faut-il savoir sur les entretiens d'embauche au Royaume-Uni ?

Overall approach:

Whatever you are used to, you are expected to sell yourself directly. This is proactive self-advocacy using phrases such as “I led”, “I managed” or “my initiative resulted in”.

If you say something like “my team did X” it sounds like you are talking about someone else and you were a witness i.e. not involved.

When you meet the interviewer open with light, warm small talk before diving into the detail. It’s an important point with regards to ensuring you can be seen as being a good “cultural fit”.

Interview questions:

Almost all structured UK interviews rely heavily on competency-based questions. For example, “Can you tell me about a time you had to deliver a project with difficult stakeholders?” or “Give me an example where you have had to deal with an under performing team member?”.

There are a number of ways people recommend answering these, one tip is to use the STAR method.

• Situation: Set the context briefly.
• Task: Define the challenge or objective.
• Action: Describe the specific steps you took.
• Result: Explain the outcome or what you learned.

Formality, Tone and Understanding feedback:

Firstly, interviews are conversational, relaxed but still professional. You’ll most likely be referred to by your first name from the start of the interview. However, do not confuse this informal tone with a lack of rigour, you are still being evaluated based on your competencies.

Secondly, in the UK there is a use of softened language and diplomacy. British interviewers rarely say “that’s wrong” or give harsh feedback directly. You may also see them try to help guide you with further questions such as “could you elaborate on that please”. Generally this is a positive sign meaning that they are giving you a chance to give more information as on the whole they think you are a good match.

Final cheatsheet:

• Do not include your photo and birthdate in your CV (this is in theory is to do with discrimination, yes I know what about LinkedIn!).
• Practise answering questions using the STAR method. This will really help if your language skills are a bit rusty or you are nervous as you’ll get into the rhythm of structuring the response.
• Engage in a couple minutes of small talk (weather, weekend, travel) before starting the interview.
• Remember to talk about what you did use "I" instead of "We."
• Prepare 3–4 thoughtful questions for the end of the interview this helps with the 2 way conversation.