In this article:
What is a Mock Interview?
Importance of a Mock Interview
Types of Mock Interviews
Examples of Mock Interview Questions
How to Prepare
A mock interview is a practice interview that mimics the structure of an actual job interview. A mock interview allows you to practice how you present yourself, how you structure your answers and receive valuable feedback and guidance on your strengths and areas for improvement. Here’s what you need to know about your mock interview and how it can help you to prepare for your job interview.
What is it?
A mock interview is a practice interview that allows you, the interviewee, to polish your responses, work on your nonverbal communication skills and gain confidence in your self-presentation. A mock interview can mimic many different types of interviews from in-person to phone interviews and are structured to remove the pressure we all feel when walking into a job interview.
The old saying; Practice makes perfect is indeed true, especially when you haven’t interviewed in a while or are interviewing for your first role. Going in cold leads to a build up of anxious energy and makes presenting the best version of yourself a near impossible task.
Importance of a Mock Interview
From practicing different answers to the same questions to reducing stress, mock interviews have a range of different benefits to even the most skilled candidates.
One of the main benefits of attending a mock interview is becoming familiar with question structure and appropriate responses that both highlight your skills and experience and sound conversational. What tends to happen when interviewees prepare alone is that answers to the important interview questions all interviewers ask become robotic and lose their conversational tone. It’s important to keep in mind that an interview is structured to allow the interviewer to gauge a realistic understanding of the interviewee, their skills and experience and how they would fit into the company culture. Becoming familiar with the interview environment will help to reduce nerves, develop well structured natural responses and receive constructive feedback in a less stressful environment.
Types of Mock Interviews
For many of you connected to a higher learning facility, your career or guidance counselors will more than likely be associated with a service that offers mock interviews, much like Wizco. As a mock interview is structured to mimic the real thing, there are as many types of mock interviews as there are real ones.
Face to face interview: This is the standard job interview that almost all of us have gone through. The face to face interview is most commonly structured with the interviewee meeting with one or two interviewers from the company.
Phone Interview: Most often, the phone interview is the first step in the interviewing process as it allows the interviewer to get to know you a bit better ahead of setting up a face to face interview.
Virtual or Remote Interview: Post-COVID, the remote or virtual interview has seen a rise in popularity due to social distancing requirements. Depending on where you are in the world, these are the most common formats your mock interview will take. The benefits are vast with one of the most important being the ability to connect with an expert from outside of your direct location to receive the best advice and guidance ahead of your upcoming interview.
Presentation based Interview: Depending on the industry you are in or are looking to enter, many employers will require you to present a project or work you have been asked to complete ahead of your interview. This allows the interviewer to gain a deeper understanding of your thought processes as well as how you would contribute to the larger team.
Each of these types of interviews have a mock interview equivalent in order to best prepare you for the real thing. At Wizco we offer a digital mock interview through our innovative platform that connects you with a hiring expert who has worked at the company or position you’re interviewing for. What makes our service unique is the combination of expert advice and hard data from our Smart AI Algorithm, both of which provide invaluable insights into your professional performance.
Examples of mock interview questions
Depending on where you are in the interview process and your ideal outcomes of the mock interview, the questions your mock interviewer will ask will be different.
It’s important to note here that the more information you provide on your experience and needs to your mock interviewer the more customized your session will be. At Wizco we ask that when booking a mock interview you include your resume, a link to your LinkedIn profile, additional information on the position you are interviewing for (including your interview date, link to the position and any additional information you may have) and any special requests you have for your session. This information is then used by our Smart AI Algorithm to find the perfect expert match for your needs.
While each company and role will have specific requirements dictating the questions you can expect, there is a set standard of common interview questions you can expect to be asked at every interview.
These questions are structured to help your interviewer gain a better understanding of who you are as a professional, your experience and skills and whether this role is a good fit for you and what benefits you would bring to the company.
These types of questions are most common for interviewees who know the type of industry or position they are interested in.
For example, if you are looking to step into a Marketing role your interviewer will compile a list of commonly asked questions for this industry and run you through them so that you feel comfortable answering them in the future.
If you have an upcoming interview with a company and are using your mock interview to prepare directly for that, your coach will prepare a set of questions the hiring manager or interviewer will ask in your actual interview.
With a Wizco mock interview you’ll be matched with a coach who has hiring experience at the company or within the position you are interviewing for, this helps to provide the best interview preparation experience possible.
Used to gauge how you react to stress, your skill level and how you conduct yourself in a professional environment, behavioural interview questions can be the trickiest of the bunch.
It’s important to note here that your interviewer is asking you these types of questions to gain a deeper understanding of who you are in a professional setting and how you would interact with and add to the role or company.
Brushing up on the STAR method is your first step to acing these types of questions. To help you best prepare for your upcoming job interview, we’ve put together a list of the top behavioural job interview questions and answers for you to practice along with a detailed guide on how to properly apply the STAR method.
How to prepare
The old saying; Practice makes perfect is indeed true, especially when you haven’t interviewed in a while or are interviewing for your first role. That’s why it’s important to treat your mock interview as you would the real thing. Not only will this help to dissolve any performance anxiety you may have but it will also allow you to fully experience the benefits of practicing with one of Wizco’s hiring experts.
Here are eight simple steps to prepare for your mock interview:
1. Dress to impress
It’s true that we feel our most confident when we feel good about ourselves and what makes you feel better about yourself than putting on your favourite professional outfit and looking great.
Take the time to assess what your interview outfit says to your interviewer and follow these simple rules to always look polished and professional.
Casual: Focus on being neat, no graphic tees and closed smart shoes.
Business Casual: Smarter than casual, focus on more structured pieces and closed smart shoes.
Formal: Tailoring is key here, jackets and ties or a fitted dress and closed smart shoes.
2. Pretend it’s the real thing
Acting as though you’re showing up to your real interview will help to calm any nerves and answer any questions you may have about appropriate interview etiquette.
Make sure your space is clear and free from distractions, your background is neat and you’re dressed to impress. Taking these additional steps will allow you to reap all of the benefits of your interview preparation session.
3. Choose the right expert
Choosing the right expert who’s experience matches the role you’re interviewing for ensures you receive the best possible guidance and advice. Try to find a professional who has either worked within the company or role you are applying for, this will allow you to practice culture fit questions and gain insight into any internal practices that are unique to the company.
This is where Wizco’s mock interviews are different from the others out there. With access to over 5000 hiring experts from top-tier companies combined with a Smart AI Algorithm ensures you always find the right expert to help you ace your job interview.
4. Come prepared
5. Time is your friend
When using the STAR method, you provide a response that includes these elements;
Situation: Set the scene and circumstances.
Task: Explain the goal you were trying to achieve.
Action: Describe what you did in that situation.
Result: Share the outcome of your action.
To learn more about the STAR method and how to apply it to your interview questions and answers, take a look at our blog - Be The STAR Of Your Interview
6. Do your research
7. Know the criteria
Your mock interview doesn’t differ too much from this but your feedback may. With a Wizco mock interview, your expert will provide feedback as it comes up during your session as well as compiling all their suggestions and notes in a comprehensive feedback report for you to review once your session is over.
8. Reflect
Once your mock interview is over it’s time to reflect on how you did taking into account both your in session and post session feedback.
Review your session recording paying close attention to how you sound - consider your tone, speaking pace, use of positive and negative words and phrases and how engaged your mock interviewer is while you’re talking. This practice will allow you to gain a better understanding of how you present yourself professionally and make any necessary adjustments.
Your Wizco mock interview feedback report provides you with what impressed your expert, what areas you need to improve upon and a lift of action items to complete ahead of your job interview. You’ll receive an out of five rating on your first impression, role-related knowledge, communication skills and problem solving skills and a summary of how your expert felt you did during your session. This data along with a recording of the session will allow you to reflect on how you present yourself professionally and make any changes suggested so that you walk into your job interview with confidence in your abilities and presentation.
Now that you know what to expect from your mock interview, take a look at our handy preparation guides to best prepare you for your upcoming job interview - Interview Preparation Guides
You’ve just taken your next steps towards succeeding in your career, be sure to take a look at the Wizco Blog for more insider tips and tricks and walk into every growth opportunity prepared.
It pays to be prepared!
The Wizco Team