What are the benefits of playing back your practice interview session? We deep dive into a subject that makes some people uncomfortable
We know how effective practice interviews can be to help boost our performance, right? But have you stopped to consider how useful it can be to record these practice sessions and play them back to ourselves? Most of us can agree that the idea of watching ourselves back could be a little unsettling, but it can be an amazing learning tool. Let's examine the benefits one by one.
You can learn how to structure your answers better
You may realise in watching how you respond to questions that you’re not answering in the best way. Perhaps you take a while to get to the point, or make your answers too passive and not highlighting your specific contributions. This is a good way to learn how to structure your answers (see our previous blog on the STARR technique), demonstrate your skills and achievements, and make recruiters see the best in you
What have you missed?
Looking back at a recording with a little more distance, you may notice that you missed important moments in your practice interview. Did you misinterpret a question or miss an aspect of what the recruiter was guiding you towards? Maybe you realised that you had gone onto a tangent that ended up diluting the answer you’d given. You may not have picked up on how many filler words you use in conversation (“Umm”, “you know…”, “like”). It’s also a good way of picking up if your voice wobbles when you’re nervous, or even that you interrupted the interviewer. You might not notice you’re doing all of this even in a practice interview, but by watching back and picking up on these points, you can easily tweak your presentation to present the best you at the real interview
Looking back at a recording with a little more distance, you may notice that you missed important moments in your practice interview
Engage fully in the mock interview
Taking part in a practice session before the big day is an excellent way to prepare, but you want to make the most of the opportunity. For it to be most effective, you want it to feel like a real interview, and not for you to be stopping after each answer to ask for feedback or to make notes. Recording the session enables you to fully immerse yourself in the authentic experience
Minimise camera nerves
During the pandemic, most of us have become more comfortable communicating with colleagues and loved ones on a computer camera. However, many people are still very stilted if we know we’re being recorded or in more formal situations taking place online. It’s a pretty regular occurrence for recruiters to request video or online interviews, so recording a practice session can really help to reduce the nerves for the real thing. It can also help to minimise the chances of technology giving you a nasty surprise – you have a chance to make sure your microphone is working, your phone or laptop is propped at a flattering angle, and you don’t have anything unfortunate or distracting in the background.
When you sign up for a practice interview with Interviewpals, you get not just the session with an experienced professional in your field, but you will be sent a detailed score card analysing your performance, and the recording of your interview so you can work towards giving the best answers possible at the real thing.
We’d love to help you on your journey to your dream job, so sign up today!
Rachel Garman is the Information and Research Officer at University College London Careers. Her latest blog for UCL can be found here
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