Starting Again
The first interview after a long time away is the hardest one
Interviewing is a skill that fades without use, and a gap adds questions most candidates are never asked. This session rebuilds the skill with practice — mock interviews with practitioners and recruiters, the questions returners actually face, and the salary conversation after a break.
Explore this page6 sections
This is a practice problem, and practice is available.
After a gap, people go into interviews out of practice and braced for the one question they dread. The result is often a candidate who handles that question well and the rest of the interview badly, because the preparation went to the wrong place.
Interviewers are mostly assessing what they assess in anyone: can this person do the work, and will they work well with the team. The gap adds a few questions. It does not replace the interview.
What to prepare
26 topics across 6 areas. Six parts, in the proportion they take up in a real interview.
The Gap QuestionsAsked politely or bluntly.5
- 'Tell me about this gap'
- 'Why are you returning now?'
- 'How have you kept up?'
- 'How do we know you will stay?'
- 'Are you overqualified for this role?'
Your Experience, Made CurrentOlder work is still evidence.4
- Choosing three or four strong examples
- Situation, action and result, briefly
- What you would do differently with today's tools
- Linking each example to the role in front of you
Recent EvidenceSomething from the last year.4
- A course with a project attached
- Volunteer or community work
- Freelance or family business work
- Anything you can describe as work
Interview FormatsWhat interviews look like now.5
- Video interviews and recorded answers
- Panel interviews
- Take-home assignments
- Skills or technical tests
- The practical set-up: camera, sound, connection
Salary After a BreakNeither your old figure by default, nor a discount for the gap.4
- Researching the current range for the role
- Where your previous pay fits
- How to answer 'What are your expectations?'
- When to negotiate, and how
Read the whole offer — fixed and variable pay, probation and notice terms — before you accept it.
Getting Back in PracticePractical, not motivational.4
- Practising aloud, not in your head
- A first interview that matters less
- Preparing your own questions for them
- Reviewing each interview afterwards
Common mistakes
- Over-explaining the gap
- Apologising for older experience
- Underselling to seem low-risk
- Naming a salary well below the market
- Treating every rejection as being about the gap
What participants leave with
- Answers to the gap questions, practised aloud
- Three experience examples in usable shape
- A researched salary range
- Feedback from a mock interview
- A list of what to change before the next real interview
How the session runs
A recruiter or hiring manager explains what they are listening for when they interview a returner. Participants then run mock interviews in small groups, with practitioners from their field where possible, and get specific feedback. Each person leaves with notes on what to change before their next real interview.
What your students leave with
- Practised answers to the questions a gap invites
- A way to present older work as current evidence
- Examples from before the break, in a usable shape
- A salary expectation based on research rather than fear
- Familiarity with video and panel interviews
- Specific feedback from at least one mock interview
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.
Prepare for the gap questions, then put the rest of the effort into the rest of the interview.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.