Interview Skills - NSHU

Your practical interview toolkit

This is a course about preparing for interviews. I've included it here to show that interview practice is part of my portfolio. It’s an excellent course developed by the Greenhouse Group and EuSA. If your work is outside the EU, many of the principles here still apply.

In the EU context, the Head of Unit post is the classic middle-manager post, managing units often of 30-40 people. There is a lot of responsibility and high workloads. Done well, there is the chance to create engaged, high-functioning teams.

The course guides participants through the research and preparation phase. Step one is to know the job you are applying for in detail. Get clear on your motivation. Get clear that your route to this post, as well as your success in it, depends not just on your performance, but also on your personal brand and your network. The course helps you focus on the competency grids that candidates will be questioned on. It helps prepare STAR stories in competency-based interviews. My role is to facilitate the discussions and give feedback on the interviews I see. The course works well online and in person.

Next Step Head of Unit - Interviews - Feedback

Discover what participants think about this training

Thanks for the great course! I appreciate the humour of the coach Laurence Whelehan. He created a relaxed atmosphere where everyone could share openly very personal experiences and concerns. I appreciated very much the interview rehearsal. It brought a lot of useful insights for me

This training has been excellent. Practical, clear, useful, fit to the purpose. I got interesting tips from peers and from the trainer. And I had the rare real chance to reflect on myself. Knowledgeable and experienced facilitator.

NHSU Participant

NHSU Participant

NHSU Participant

For me the course also worked surprisingly well for an on-line course; with that I mean that we were able to discuss, share and interact amongst the group very well despite not being in the same physical space. For me the balance between theory, discussions and practical exercises worked well.

The course was really fun, well-structured and engaging. I like it that we were all 'forced' to actively participate (camera on, breakout rooms).

Participants really opened up during these 2 days and I am convinced that my strategic network will naturally expand by to include some fresh heads of unit in different institutions in near future!

NHSU Participants

For further Feedback, please go to the Recommendations section at the bottom of my LinkedIn page

I’ve had my share of interviews over the decades and I have a pretty good record with them, at least once I’d figured out how they worked, and when I went for the jobs which really motivated me.

I’ve found this course very useful personally to train. The STAR stories show that the difficulties that we face help us grow personally and professionally. The PIE model shows that work success is not all about performance – if that performance isn’t seen and recognised, someone else will probably get the work. The course also reminds me of the importance of networks. Like many of the participants on this course, networking has not always been my favourite skill, but this course is a confirmation that it's absolutely essential to get to the next step in our careers. It's also essential once you're in the next post. The course is a great networking opportunity in itself, and there are often very skilled networkers on the course who are willing to share what they do.

Laurence Whelehan - Interview Skills Trainer & Coach
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