The unwritten rules of British interviews
Tower Bridge before dawn, September. Photograph: Fuzzypiggy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped
UK graduate interviewers mark real examples against set criteria. Answer with what you did, in a clear order, and keep the opening answer short.
A UK graduate interview is a structured test of what you have already done, marked against criteria set in advance. This is one of the stories in Interviews.
Interviewers listen for examples, not adjectives
Interviewers listen for a skill shown in something you did, not for a description of yourself. Prospects (opens prospects.ac.uk) describes the competency interview, favoured by large graduate recruiters: one skill per question, each answer marked against set criteria.
Expect questions opening with ‘Tell us about a time when you…’, ‘Give an example of…’ or ‘Describe how you…’.
The marking is the unwritten rule. A scoring sheet has no box for a description of yourself, only for something you did and what happened next.
| An answer that says | What the interviewer can mark |
|---|---|
| “I am a natural leader” | Nothing: a description, not an example |
| “I would usually plan ahead” | Nothing: a habit, not an event |
| “In my final year I took over a stalled society project, and it ran on time” | The skill, shown once, with a result |
More on hypothetical answersLess on hypothetical answers
Hypothetical answers lose marks for the same reason as adjectives. Prospects advises against saying “I would usually” and asks for specific, real-life examples with outcomes: interviewers want what actually happened and what you did. When a question starts “Tell us about a time”, it means one time.
If your previous interviews were conversations about your plans and motivation, this is the main adjustment. Questions on motivation still come, so prepare for both kinds.
Answer with STAR: situation, task, action, result
UK careers services teach STAR: situation, task, action, result. Glasgow’s careers service (opens gla.ac.uk) uses it for any question asking for an example, at interview or on an application form.
No professional examples yet? Nottingham’s careers service (opens nottingham.ac.uk) says STAR can draw on study, part-time jobs, volunteering and societies. Here is a fictional answer to its sample question on juggling deadlines.
| Part | A fictional answer |
|---|---|
| Situation | In my master’s, two coursework deadlines and a society event fell in one week. |
| Task | I had to deliver all three without dropping the quality of either essay. |
| Action | I listed every task with a day against it, asked a co-organiser to take the venue booking, and wrote the harder essay first. |
| Result | Both essays went in a day early, the event ran on time, and I kept the plan format for exams. |
The action is the longest part, and it is the part that scores.
More on adding a reflectionLess on adding a reflection
Prospects suggests STARR, adding a fifth part at the end: a reflection on what you learned and how it changed what you do. In the fictional answer above, that is the plan format kept for exams.
One sentence of reflection is enough. It shows you can learn from a hard week, not just survive it, and it gives the interviewer a natural place to move to the next question.
Say I, even when it was a team
Say what you did, in the first person, even when the work was shared. Glasgow’s guidance on the action part is plain about it.
remember if you are discussing working in the team don’t overuse “we” they want to know what you did.
Prospects makes the same point: acknowledge the team, but make clear what you specifically did and decided.
| Scores less | Scores more |
|---|---|
| “We delivered the project.” | “I rebuilt the schedule after we lost a member, and we delivered on time.” |
| “We won the pitch.” | “I wrote the cost section and answered the panel’s questions on it.” |
Keep it true, too: Prospects warns that invented examples can be easily checked.
More on saying I without boastingLess on saying I without boasting
This can feel immodest if you were raised to credit the group. In a UK competency interview it is not boasting; it is answering the question. The interviewer is marking you, not your team, and needs to hear which part was yours.
Honesty is the other half of the rule. Use a smaller example you can talk about in detail rather than a larger one you cannot: follow-up questions go into the detail, and a borrowed story runs out quickly.
Tell me about yourself is a trailer
“Tell me about yourself” asks who you are and why you are here. Warwick’s careers service (opens warwick.ac.uk) says interviewers want the person behind the interview mask, not your life story.
You are in complete control of the narrative, so think trailer not director’s cut
A workable shape: three parts, about a minute, as in this fictional example.
| Part | A fictional opening answer |
|---|---|
| Now | I’m finishing an MSc in Finance at LSE, after an economics degree in the US. |
| One experience | A summer in private credit taught me I like the detail of lending decisions. |
| Why here | Your graduate analyst role is in credit, in London, which is where I want to build that. |
Each line points at the job.
More on the opening answerLess on the opening answer
Warwick says your answer sets the tone for the rest of the interview. It names a common mistake: looking bemused and asking “What do you want to know?” It can sound confrontational and unprepared.
Keep the personal details light and relevant. Warwick’s weak example, in its own words, lacks purpose, focus and any attempt to align skills, interests and experience to the job role.
Time yours aloud: about a minute is long enough to say all three parts and short enough to leave the interviewer wanting the next question.
Why this job? needs specifics too
Open questions such as “why did you apply for the job?” are asked, Prospects says, for an overall impression of you. Specifics still beat adjectives, as two fictional answers show.
| Nothing to note | A reason to note |
|---|---|
| “I admire your culture.” | “Your scheme rotates through credit, where I spent my summer.” |
Prospects lists the mistakes that cost the most marks:
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Rambling, or details the question did not ask for | Answer the question, then stop |
| “I would usually” instead of what happened | Tell one real event |
| A task described with no result | End on the outcome |
| An example that misses the job’s skills | Match the job description |
| Your part lost inside the team’s | Say I |
More on tone and rapportLess on tone and rapport
Warwick notes that employers watch how confident and articulate you seem, which points you choose to emphasise, and how you build rapport.
Calm, plain answers with one concrete detail each do all three. You do not need to perform enthusiasm; you need to show you have thought about this employer, and a line taken from its own graduate page shows that you have read it.
Have five to eight stories ready
Prepare a small set of examples you can adapt, rather than an answer for every possible question. Prospects says a standard interview of around 45 to 60 minutes typically brings three to six competency questions.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Choose | Five to eight examples, covering skills such as adaptability, commercial awareness, communication, leadership, problem solving, resilience and teamwork |
| Write | Each one in four parts, on a single card |
| Rehearse | Aloud, until it takes about two minutes without notes |
| Practise | With a friend reading questions from a list, then swap roles |
One good example can serve two or three skills, if you adapt the emphasis to the question.
More on rehearsing your examplesLess on rehearsing your examples
Prospects says reusing an example is fine when it clearly shows more than one competency, as long as the emphasis fits the question asked.
It also warns against sounding as if you are reading a script, and against winging it; practice avoids both. Swapping roles with a friend shows you what a rambling answer feels like from the other side of the table.
Then take them to the assessment day, where the interview is one exercise among several.
Your CV holds most of these stories; the UK CV format shows how each line carries one. Studied in the US first? See the edition for American students.
This week
- Write five examples from study, work and volunteering, each in four parts
- Draft a 60-second answer to "tell me about yourself" and time it
- Replace every "we" in your examples with what you did
- Practise two answers aloud with a friend, then swap roles
Sources
- Prospects (Jisc): Competency-based interviews The interviewer has a list of questions, each focusing on a specific skill, and your answers will be compared against pre-determined criteria and marked accordingly.Expect questions opening with 'Tell us about a time when you…', 'Give an example of…' or 'Describe how you…'.Avoid saying 'I would usually…' and give specific, real-life examples with measurable outcomes. Interviewers are looking for what actually happened and what you did.Also, avoid embellishing the truth at all costs, any lies or invented examples can be easily checked.Focus on your role in the situation. It's okay to acknowledge teamwork, but make clear what you specifically did and decided.Using the STARR (situation, task, action, result and reflection) method to structure your answers is a useful way to communicate important points clearly and concisely.typically you can expect between three and six questions in a standard interview (lasting around 45 to 60 minutes). ... It's a good idea to have five to eight STARR examples ready that you can adapt to different competencies.competency interviews can be used by employers across all sectors but are particularly favoured by large graduate recruiters, who may use them as part of an assessment centre.Key competencies regularly sought after by employers include: adaptability, commercial awareness, communication, conflict resolution, decisiveness, independence, flexibility, leadership, problem solving, organisation, resilience, teamwork.It's okay to reuse an example if it clearly demonstrates multiple competencies. ... You also need to adapt the emphasis to the specific question.While your responses to the interview questions are pre-prepared try to avoid sounding like you're reading from a script. Don't attempt to wing it by thinking on your feet, as the quality of your answers will suffer.In unstructured interviews recruiters often ask a set of random, open-ended questions relevant to the job, such as 'what can you do for the company?' and 'why did you apply for the job?' to get an overall impression of who you are.Rambling, losing focus or including irrelevant details, Use the STARR method to keep your answers structured and concise. ... Describing a task but failing to show the result or impact, Always include the result ... Using examples that don't relate to the role or required competencies Read
- University of Glasgow Careers: The STAR technique The STAR technique is a way to structure your answers to competency based questions in either an interview or an application form. This is when an employer asks you to demonstrate a particular skill by providing an example from your previous experience.This should make up the main body of your response and remember if you are discussing working in the team don’t overuse “we” they want to know what you did. Read
- University of Nottingham Careers and Employability Service: Be the brightest STARR when applying for jobs It’s likely at this stage that you won’t have much professional experience, so STAR allows you to draw on academic projects, part-time jobs, volunteering, or extracurriculars to demonstrate skills the employer is looking for. ... Tell me about a time when you have worked under pressure, juggling multiple deadlines. Read
- University of Warwick Careers: How to answer "Tell me about yourself" What they’re looking for is a sense of who you are, the person behind the interview mask. ... A word of warning: this is not an open invitation to share your life story.Your response will set the tone for the remainder of the interview; you want to engage the interviewer and whet their appetite for what's to come.You are in complete control of the narrative, so think trailer not director's cutA pretty common mistake is to look bemused and ask, "What do you want to know?"it lacks purpose, focus and any attempt to align skills, interests and experience to the job role.Many employers will note how confident and articulate you appear, which points you choose to emphasise and how you build rapport. Read
Read next
- InterviewsInside a UK assessment centre A day of exercises, scored one by one: the timetable annotated
- For American students at UK universities Calendar, CV, routes and tax, for US citizens
- ApplicationsThe UK CV format, for international students Two pages, no photograph: an annotated example and a template
Pictures on this page
- Bank junction and the Royal Exchange, City of London, March Photograph: Rcsprinter123, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, cropped
- Albert Bridge lit at night, looking south from Chelsea Photograph: David Iliff, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped
