Mock Interview in Business Communication - Comprehensive Note

Mock Interview

A Mock Interview is a practice interview designed to simulate a real job interview as closely as possible.  Mock interviews are one of the best ways to improve interview skills and prepare for an interview.  The practice gained in a mock interview is invaluable. Mock interviews can be completed in person, by phone or by video conference.  All three methods work well.  The key to success in a mock interview is recreating the interview experience as much as possible.

Purposes/Objectives of mock interview

Importance/Significance of Mock Interview

Mock interviews enable candidates to have a fair idea about the sort of things they are going to experience at actual interviews, and prepare them how accurately they can deal with it. Generally these interviews are organized by career services where a career coach trains the students and recent alumni for the new opportunities they can explore by being perfect at the actual interview sessions. But, accuracy does not come automatically. It needs a thorough practice and guidance from an expert trainer. Mock interviews do just the exact thing with the candidates to bring them to perfection and boost their confidence.

Mock interviews help candidates reduce their anxiety about interviewing by training them for the typical interview questions. The person conducting the mock interview session is most likely an experienced interviewer and a skilled trainer, who can guide candidates whether or not their responses are suitable, along with providing them the most appropriate set of response they should practice. In the process the candidates gain their confidence by having the knowledge about their strengths and shortcomings. No one is perfect enough to execute everything faultlessly, so the purpose of these mock interviews is to point out one’s weaknesses and guide them to bring perfection by rectifying those.

Mock interviews also prepare job seekers for behavioral-based issues in an interview. In a real interview the behavioral standard is judged much by the interviewee’s body language. So, it is very important to know how one can appear best by employing those standard set of gestures. From the moment of entry in the interview room everything about the posture will be marked minutely. Therefore, one needs to know very accurately about what the things are that one should do and what not. Right from the way of stepping into the room, greetings to the panelists, way of looking at them, style of sitting and manner of responding to them – everything counts on. And mock interview sessions are the best ways to gather knowledge about all these little details which are too important to overlook.

16 Questions which are asked normally during mock interview:

The biggest style decision in a mock interview deals with follow up questions.  Some interviewers foster a dialog with a lot of follow up questions, while others take the answer from the job seeker and move on to the next question.  In most cases, candidates struggle more when they are not asked follow up questions, but each job seeker is different.  The mock interview should mimic the style of the upcoming interview if possible.  Questions which are asked during mock interview:

What was the toughest decision you had to make?

Why do you want to work for this organisation?

Why should we employ you?

If we hire you, what changes would you make?

Can you offer a career path?

What are you greatest strengths?

What are you greatest weakness?

What didn’t you like about your previous jobs you have held?

How do you spend your leisure time?

Are there weakness in your education or experience?

Where do you want to five years from now?

What are your salary expectations?

What would you do if your computer broke down during an audit?

What type of position you interested in?

Tell me something about yourself.

Do you have any questions about the organisation or job?