Pretty much any interview you go to there’s going to be some kind of question about teamwork. In an APS interview, that’s going to be assessing the capability about Productive Working Relationships. There’s a lot of things that the panel will be looking at there. They’ll be looking at how do you work together as a team, how do you work with internal stakeholders, with external stakeholders, with the members of your immediate team? If you’re a manager they’re going to want to hear about how you’re developing people, how you’re appreciating individual diversity and respecting individual differences. And, like here at the AIS, they’ll be looking to see how you’re working with coaching.

One of the really important capabilities in the ILS is the capability for personal drive and integrity. It covers a lot of things; it covers understanding the APS Values and the Code of Conduct. It’s about engaging with risk, it’s about showing courage, it’s about taking personal responsibility for things. Sometimes a question that you’ll get around this might be something like “Tell us about a time you made a mistake. What did you do to learn from that mistake, how did you do things differently?” It’s an important one to think about. Stay tuned for the next capability.

The final capability in the ILS criteria is Communicates with Influence, and it’s exactly as it sounds. It’s about thinking about who your audience is crafting your message, knowing what message you need to deliver for your organisation, doing that persuasively, and concisely. At higher levels in the APS, it’s also expected that you’ll be able to demonstrate that you can negotiate with influence. A question you might expect would be something like “Tell us about a time you had to deliver something to an audience that was diverse in the group. How did you adapt your style to meet the needs of the people you were speaking to?” That’s the last video in the series, thanks for tuning in. If you want to hear more about getting a job in the APS, please have a look at my website or give me a call.

I want to share with you something that a yoga teacher I once had used to always say; which is, “There’s more right with you, than there is wrong with you.” I can’t tell you how many clients come to see me, and they all imagine that they have some kind of fatal flaw, that’s just obvious and everyone sees, and I never see it! They come to me and they say things like, “Lisa, I think I’ve been in my job for too long, people will think I’m stuck, and I’m not ambitious.” Or “I’ve been out of the workforce, because I’ve been having a family, and now I’m getting back in, and I think people won’t trust me” Or “I have a PhD and people will think I’m an egghead and I’m too smart and I won’t want to do the work” Or any number of other things that people identify that they think is going to be some kind of point against them. The truth is, it’s not so obvious to other people, and there is more right with you than there is wrong with you! So feel confident in presenting that when you are in an interview. If you need more tips and more pep talks, give me a call.

I reckon the most important thing you can do to prepare is research the organisation, imagine what kind of questions they might ask you about the role, and most importantly, practise live your question-and-answer session. I'm outside my office here at Moore Street in Civic. If you’d like to practise for your interview, give me a call. I’d love to work with you.

I do think having a LinkedIn profile is essential but probably not for the reasons you've heard elsewhere. Sure LinkedIn has all these fantastic algorithms that will help you connect with employers but for me the most important thing about your LinkedIn profile is your photograph. Your photo helps you connect with other people on a human level. People are hard wired from birth to connect to human faces. So whatever you do on your LinkedIn profile have a photograph. If you want to read more about my thoughts about your LinkedIn profile, have a look at the article I wrote. https://www.interview.coach/post/2017/10/22/do-you-really-need-a-linkedin-profile-heres-one-reason-to-consider

If you’re from Canberra you can probably recognise that I’m standing out the front of DFAT, which is certainly one of the most prestigious, but definitely one of the most competitive government departments to get into. But here’s a tip, they’re hiring! https://www.dfat.gov.au/careers/careers So, what do you need to do if you’re going to apply for one of these very competitive government roles? Three things I want to advise you to think about; the first one is, make sure you understand behavioural interviewing. It’s absolutely key to understand the STAR technique, and how to showcase your achievements. The second thing to do; anticipate some questions and prepare some answers, come up with some great evidence from your background. And the third thing, review the Integrated Leadership System for the role, whatever that is. If you want some more tips, check out my website, or give me call. http://interview.coach/faq

You might be curious to know what one of the most common errors is that I see in people practicing for interviews. And time after time, I hear people give me fantastic answers but they’re not to the question I’ve posed to them. If you’ve been practising and preparing for your interview you’ve been imagining what they might ask and you’ve been preparing those key points from your career, but it absolutely has to match the question you’ve been asked. So, here’s a tip; write the question down! That way you can refer to it when you’re answering and make sure that your example is tailored to what the panel is trying to assess.

What are you hoping to get for Christmas? I know what I don’t want anything I have to dust or anything that contributes to landfill! If you like to give presents this time of year, and a lot of people do,why not give a gift certificate? That’s really useful! Maybe somebody on your list is a recent graduate or somebody who’s going back to work next year after a period of caring duties. Or maybe it’s somebody who’s going for a promotion. What could really help them get their dream job would be a gift certificate from The Interview Coach If you’re interested, you can order them here: https://squareup.com/gift/4F23SW4RGC8EX/order