Preparing for a job interview

A webinar
byJack Preston (Recruitment Officer, IAEA)

About Me• Jack Preston, Recruitment Officer at the IAEA
• Previously worked in recruitment in the nuclear industry in the UK• Joined the IAEA to experience working in an international nuclear
environment

Objectives of the Webinar• Understand the typical format of IAEA interviews• Learn what types of questions you are likely to be asked• Become a better prepared and more confident candidate

Congratulations!
• The IAEA has approximately 200 applications for every Professional
level position• The average number of interviews for each Professional level roleis five
• If you are called for interview, your application was in the top 2.5%

What format should I expect?
• Nearly all interviews are via video conference• Interviews are normally scheduled to last 1 hour
• On average an interview has 10 questions• Normally there are five interviewers on the interview Panel• Time for your questions at the endWhy are so many people on theinterview Panel?
• Hiring Manager• Technical Expert• HR Representative• Administrative Officer• Someone from another Department

What type of questions will I beasked?
• Biographical• Technical• Competency-based

Old Favorites
9 out 10 job interviews will include the following questions:• Please take five minutes to introduce yourself• Why have you applied for this position?
• What do you know about the IAEA?

What is a competency?
• Combination of knowledge, skills and behavior• Driving a car

What would a typicalcompetency be?
Conflict Management• Steps up to conflicts, seeing them as opportunities; reads
situations quickly; good at focused listening; can hammer out
tough agreements and settle disputes equitably; can find common
ground and get cooperation with minimum noise.

Why use competencies?
Designed to see how you’ve demonstrated acompetency in the past to predict how you will react ina similar situation in the future

How are these types ofquestions analyzed?
SMART methodology• Situation (what was the specific event or task?)• Mission (what objectives did they see as the key things to resolve?)• Action taken (what did they actually do?)• Results achieved (what did they actually achieve?)• Teachability (what did they actually learn from the experience?)What did YOU do???
• Common mistake- ‘we did…
• Teamwork is important, but what was YOUR role.
• Make it easy for the interviewer

Example Question

What is the toughest dispute you’ve helped settle?
Why was this particularly tough?

Example Answer
Situation“I was working on a project with two colleagues who just didn’t getalong. The situation got so bad that they weren’t communicating andit was affecting the quality of work that was being produced. Theproject manager was avoiding addressing the issue as he said that ‘itwasn’t his place to intervene,’ but as we kept missing KPIs thesituation became increasing untenable”

Example Answer
Mission“If nothing were to happen, I knew that the project would fail. Even
though I wasn’t in charge, I decided to see if I could assist mycolleagues work through their differences.”

Example Answer
Action“The first thing that I did was to speak to each of my colleagues alone
over coffee to see if they would open up to me and reveal the cause ofthe tension. I found out that both felt that the other was not ‘pulling
their weight’ and resented having to pick up the extra work. After thisI reviewed the Project Management Plan and noticed that some of ourteam’s roles and responsibilities were not clearly defined. I created arevised plan and submitted it to the Project Manager forconsideration. Once the PM had agreed to the changes, I asked him tocall a ‘clear the air meeting’ where the new roles and responsibilities
could be discussed”

Example Answer
Results“Although the meeting was tense at first, once agreement had beenreached on the defined roles and responsibilities, some of the tension
seemed to go. The next day I invited the whole team for lunch and weslowly started to get along better as a unit. The pair who had not got
along previously even managed to say a few words to one another.
Over the next few weeks the early phases of a new working
relationship started to develop for them and while it is now it is still
not as strong as it could be, they are communicating regularly which is
helping the team to get back on track and meet their KPIs”

Example AnswerTeachability“This experience has taught me the importance of having clearly
defined roles and responsibilities in a team’s project plan. It has also
helped me realize that good teamwork is the responsibility of every
team member and not just that of the project manager”

How can I prepare for this styleof question?
••

Think about what competencies may be important to the role
The IAEA’s core competencies are:– Communication– Analytical and Strategic Thinking– Program and individual performance– Decision-Making– Knowledge Management and Development– Teamwork / Relationships– Change OrientationHow can I prepare for this styleof question?
• Think about when you have demonstrated these inthe past
• Make sure the examples are fresh in your mind
• Remember the SMART method

What not to say• Use ‘we’ in your examples too often• Assume that everyone in the room has the same technicalknowledge• Assume that everyone is familiar with the structure of USinstitutions• Try not to use acronyms wherever possible

What happens next?

• Psychometric Testing• Internal review process- lasts on average 8-12 weeks

Final Thought – Be ConfidentYour application form has already convinced the interview Panel thatyou are qualified on paper to do the role.
 Be friendly, be active - make it easy for the interviewers – but takeit seriously!
 Be professional and answer questions – an interview is a structured
conversation with a purpose
 You can only win! Either a job or people who will know you afterthe interview. Anything can happen in the future… Interviews are aforum to present yourself

Merci谢谢Thank youGracias‫ﹰ‬‫ﺷﻜﺮﺍ‬DankeСпасибо

For More Information:Argonne National Laboratory supports U.S. citizens interested inemployment with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by: Providing personalized, field-specific job alerts
 Sharing tips for applying and interviewing
 Tracking applications through the selection process Facilitating networking opportunities
 Providing information on transitioning to Vienna
Email: IAEAStaffing@anl.gov
Visit: international.anl.gov/careers
Join: Americans @ IAEA on LinkedIn