U6th Pupils Gain Invaluable Interview Practice

The U6th traditionally begins the academic year gaining interview practice at the annual Mock Interview Morning.

This support was established in the mid 90s and the current Careers team has now organised 17 of these events.

Interviewers drawn exclusively from current parents and former pupils, all with invaluable professional expertise in their career areas and a vast amount of interview experience from both sides, typically interview our pupils, and then offer verbal and written feedback on the performance.

Mrs Alison Tumber (Head of 6th Form) commented: 'It was a great morning! I was very proud of the skills and talents of my current U6th that were so clearly in evidence. I was also in awe of so many of our former pupils who gave up their Saturday morning to support the event, encourage current Bablake pupils and pass on their wisdom.'

Last night, the Bablake Careers department was quick to post 14 tips on its Twitter feed re effective interview performance. These tips covered discussion yesterday with the interviewers and those who had been interviewed:

1. Turning up (to the event) when nervous is a major move forward. (Facing challenge is admirable and gives confidence for future tests.) 
2. Consider how everything you write on an application opens you to examination. 
3. Deadlines matter. 
4. Correct posture and confident body language are vital. 
5. 'Everyone who attended has impressed us.' (Consensus among the interviewers.) 
6. Target your paperwork to areas you want to talk about; don't trap yourself. 
7. Turn your CV into a PDF before emailing, to retain formatting when it is printed. (A tip Emma Goodman mentioned when she led a CV session with our L6th in the summer.) 
8. RELAX!!! Breathe, and take your time with answers! 
9. Book a Panel and an Individual interview (at the event) to allow you to improve in the second one & test a different type of approach. 
10. Digest extra info over a period of time- e.g. follow forums, trade mags, BBC Business or BBC News. 
11. Rehearse answers; have different example scenarios for different questions. 
12. Don't fidget! 
13. Dress for impact- be creatively and professionally formal, and distinctive. 
14. Don't dress down! Why not video yourself, in preparation, answering questions... to assess your body language!

There is so much more advice that was given yesterday and we thank all the interviewers for devoting a large amount of their weekend to the event. It is fully appreciated by our pupils.