Job Readiness Programme
Your students' first interview should not be the one that counts
Companies rarely explain a rejection, so students fail interviews and change nothing specific. In this session professionals who interview people at work run short technical and HR rounds with each student, then tell them, aloud and in writing, what worked and what to fix before the next one.
Explore this page6 sections
Feedback is the part real interviews leave out.
A student who fails an interview usually hears nothing, or hears a polite email. They conclude something vague — that they lacked confidence — and prepare for the next one the same way. The actual cause is usually specific: they went silent instead of reasoning aloud, could not explain their own project, or answered a behavioural question with no structure.
A mock interview with an honest interviewer finds that cause in thirty minutes. It is also the only safe place to have a first interview, which is why students who do one tend to walk into the real one calmer.
What the interviewer observes
32 topics across 7 areas. Seven things, each with a note in the feedback.
The OpeningThe first two minutes set the tone.4
- Introducing yourself in about a minute
- Why this role, and why this kind of company
- Arriving or joining on time
- Having the resume and the posting to hand
“Tell me about yourself” is a question about direction, not a recital of the resume.
FundamentalsReasoning, not recall.5
Interviewers cannot assess thinking they cannot hear. Students who go silent and then produce an answer often lose to students who narrate their reasoning.
- Core concepts for the role being practised
- Working through a problem aloud
- Asking a clarifying question before answering
- Saying “I do not know, but this is how I would find out”
- Recovering after a wrong start
Their Own ProjectThe question almost every fresher is asked.5
- What problem it solved
- Which part the student built
- Why it was built that way
- What went wrong, and how it was fixed
- What they would change now
Honesty about a team project survives the second question. A vague claim on the whole thing does not.
Behavioural QuestionsA structure, and a real story.5
- A time you handled a disagreement
- A time something went wrong
- A deadline you nearly missed
- A backlog, a gap year or a change of field
- Situation, what you did, what happened
A calm, honest, short answer to an awkward question reads better than a polished evasion.
CommunicationClarity, not accent.5
- Answers with a beginning and an end
- Listening to the whole question
- Checking what was meant when unsure
- Pace and audibility
- On video: camera, sound, a quiet place
Questions and the CloseThe interview is not over at “any questions for us?”.4
- One or two real questions about the role
- Questions to avoid in a first round
- Ending politely and clearly
- Following up afterwards, briefly
Using the FeedbackA mock interview is wasted if the note stays in a bag.4
- Pick the two things that matter most
- Practise the weakest answer aloud, several times
- Rewrite the project explanation if it struggled
- Book a second mock two or three weeks later
One mock with honest feedback, acted on, is worth more than several real interviews with none.
Rounds on offer
- Technical round for engineering and IT roles
- HR or managerial round
- Rounds for sales, operations, customer support and accounts roles
- Group discussion
- Interviews conducted on video
What the written note contains
- What went well
- Two or three things to fix, in plain words
- One question the student struggled with, and a better approach
- A practice suggestion for the next fortnight
- No score, and no ranking against other students
How the session runs
Each student sits an interview of around twenty to thirty minutes with a volunteer who interviews people at work, followed by about ten minutes of spoken feedback and a short written note. Students choose the round closest to the role they are preparing for. How many students can be seen in a day depends on how many interviewers attend, so we agree numbers with the college beforehand; students who want a mock interview get one, even if it takes a second date. Feedback belongs to the student. The college receives a summary of common patterns, never individual results.
What your students leave with
- A full mock interview for every student who wants one
- Spoken feedback straight after, and a short written note
- The two or three things most worth fixing, named specifically
- Practice explaining their own project under questioning
- Prepared answers to the questions every fresher is asked
- A plan for the next two weeks of practice
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Practise where failing costs nothing.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.