Practice makes perfect

Although you can’t predict exactly the type of questions that will be asked on the day, you can rehearse and practice answers to standard questions and themes. This will give you valuable thinking time for some of the tougher questions out there and increase your confidence on the day.

Our test yourself and practice section explains the types of questions you might be asked and tips for answering. It also contains with standard questions which apply to different types of roles, as well as questions for different industries, so is a good place to start for interview practice.

There are also various websites with question generators on the internet which you can add to make sure that you have a few banker questions already down.

Your aim when practicing is to know for each type of question what examples in your work history would help giving evidence of positive skills, so you can bring these up in the answers.

It is not necessary to learn answers off by heart - as interviewers may approach questions in a different light, or interrupt you mid way through an answer. You don’t want to sound too rehearsed. Just know how to link your key strengths and successes to several questions. Common questions are in our question section.

Get honest feedback up front

Use friends and family, as well as your recruitment consultant, as a sounding board. Get them to ask you common questions, and give you feedback on your answers. Ask them to read your CV and tell you if you are clearly getting across the key achievements on it. The more you are asked questions out loud and have to face answering questions in real time, the easier it will be on the day.

Mandeville consultants offer practice and coaching on interviews, and will often ask you to prepare some pre-work prior to interviews to get you in the mindset for interview and start thinking like the interviewer. Make sure that you take advantage of this service and their expertise.