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13/07/2026

Interview skills are conversation skills. The best way to improve is not to rehearse more answers. It is to get better at talking to people.

1. Toastmasters forces you to speak in front of a room with no script. You learn to organise your thoughts in real time, which is exactly what happens when you get an unexpected question in an interview.
2. Networking events put you in a room full of strangers and make you start conversations from nothing. The awkwardness you feel is the same awkwardness you feel in the first 30 seconds of an interview. The more you do it, the faster it fades.
3. Order your coffee and say one thing beyond your order. Comment on something, ask a question, make small talk. It sounds trivial but most people go entire days without speaking to someone they do not know. That habit of avoiding conversation with strangers is the same habit that makes interviews feel unnatural.
4. Pick a podcast where the host interviews guests and listen to how they respond to answers. Notice how they do not just move to the next question. They pick up on something specific the guest said and dig into it. That is active listening, and it is the skill most candidates are missing in interviews. When you listen properly, your answers become responses to what was actually asked instead of rehearsed lines waiting for a gap.

Know someone with an interview coming up? Send this to them.

09/07/2026

Your interviewer is assessing you before the first question is asked. Here is what they are paying attention to and what you can do about it.

1. The receptionist interaction matters because in many workplaces, the panel asks front-of-house staff what they thought of you. A simple hello and a clear “I’m here for the [role] interview at [time]” is enough.
2. Using someone’s name when you meet them for the first time creates an immediate connection. If they introduced themselves in the email or on the walk to the room, use it. “Hi Sarah, nice to meet you” lands differently to “hey, how’s it going.”
3. If your instinct is to apologise before anything has gone wrong, be aware of what that signals. “Sorry I’m a bit nervous” or “sorry, bear with me” plants an idea the panel did not have until you said it. If you are nervous, that is completely normal. You do not need to announce it.
4. Being on your phone when the interviewer comes to collect you is not automatically a problem. You may be reviewing your notes, which is reasonable. The distinction is between someone who is clearly preparing and someone who is scrolling and has to be interrupted.

Not all of these are deal-breakers. Some panels will not care about any of them. The point is that the interview starts before you think it does, and being aware of that puts you ahead of most candidates who only switch on when the first question lands.

Know someone with an interview coming up? Send this to them.

06/07/2026

The last 60 seconds of your interview shape the impression the panel walks away with. Here is how to make them count.

1. Have a closing question ready before you walk in. Not “what’s the team culture like” because that is vague and every candidate asks it. Ask something that references the conversation you just had. “You mentioned the team is going through a restructure. How would this role fit into that new structure?” That tells the panel you were paying attention.
2. Thank the panel properly. Use their names if you remember them. “Thank you Sarah, thank you David, I really appreciated the conversation” takes five seconds and leaves a stronger impression than “cheers for that” ever will.
3. If you feel like you rambled in one of your answers, do not flag it on the way out. The panel may not have noticed. Apologising for it plants a negative thought that was not there before. Let your answers stand.
4. “Hopefully” is a word that transfers all the power to the panel. “I look forward to hearing from you” puts you on equal footing. Small word. Completely different energy.

Know someone with an interview coming up? Send this to them.

02/07/2026

The advice has changed. Here is what to do instead.

1. Applications are online for almost every role now. Before you apply, read the entire job ad. The language in it tells you what questions are coming in the interview and what criteria they are scoring you against.
2. Saying “I’m a hard worker” is not evidence. Replace it with a specific example of a time you delivered under pressure. What you did, why you did it, how it turned out, and what you would do differently next time.
3. Being yourself is important. It is not a substitute for preparation. The candidates who perform best in interviews are the ones who sound natural because they have practised enough that their prepared answers feel conversational.
4. Most panel interviews in Australia use a structured scoring criteria. Each question maps to a competency. If your answer does not address that competency directly, it does not matter how good the story is. Find out whether the interview is structured or conversational before you walk in. That changes how you prepare.

Know someone with an interview coming up? Send this to them.

29/06/2026

How to answer “tell me about yourself” in an Australian interview without sounding vague, rehearsed, or like you are reading a script.

1. Open with your professional identity. Not your job title. What you actually do and where. “I’m a project coordinator at [company] working across infrastructure delivery” tells the panel more in one sentence than two minutes of background.
2. Pick one or two achievements that are relevant to the role you are interviewing for. Use numbers where you can. “Led delivery of projects worth up to $5M” is specific and believable. “I helped with some big projects” is not.
3. Close with why this role caught your attention. Not why it benefits your career. Why your experience makes you the right fit for what they need. The panel wants to hear that you understand the role and can contribute from day one.
4. Keep it under 60 seconds. Practise it out loud until it feels conversational. If it sounds robotic, go back to dot points and let yourself talk around them instead of memorising word for word.

Know someone with an interview coming up? Send this to them.

25/06/2026

Aussie slang you should probably leave at the door before your next interview.

Here are a few more that did not make the reel:

1. “Had a yarn with” becomes “I consulted with” or “I spoke with the team.” Panels want to hear that you communicate deliberately, not casually.
2. Instead of “suss it out,” try “I investigated” or “I reviewed the situation.” Same meaning, completely different impression on a panel.
3. “Smashed it” sounds great at the pub. In an interview, “the results exceeded expectations” carries more weight. Save the celebrating for after you get the offer.
4. If you are tempted to say “stuffed it up,” go with “the outcome was not what I expected, and here is what I changed.” Especially useful in a weakness or failure question.

The point is not to sound robotic or overly corporate. Nobody wants that. The point is that certain words shrink your credibility in an interview setting without you realising it. You can still sound like yourself. Just the version of yourself that a panel takes seriously.

Know someone with an interview coming up? Send this to them before they walk in and say “yeah nah” to the panel.

22/06/2026

The STAR method gives you a structure for your answers. It does not help you prepare what goes into them. Here is how to do that work.

1. Pick 5 or 6 experiences from your career or studies where you made a real impact. These are your raw material. Everything else builds from here.

2. Take one at a time and write down not just what you did but why you made the choices you made. Panels care about your reasoning, not just your actions.

3. Get specific. Replace “I worked with stakeholders” with who they were, what the tension was, what you actually did to move things forward, and what changed because of it.

4. Work out which types of questions a single example could answer. One strong story can cover teamwork and problem-solving if you know how to angle it.

5. Link your past experience to the role you are applying for. The panel does not just want to know what you have done. They want to understand why it makes you right for this job.

6. Say your answers out loud. The gap between how an answer sounds in your head and how it sounds out of your mouth is where interviews go wrong.

Know someone preparing for an interview right now? Send this to them.

18/06/2026

Preparing for a graduate assessment centre? Here’s what actually helped me get through one.

1. Ask the quiet person in your group what they think. Assessors notice who brings others into the conversation, not just who talks the most.
2. Be the person who watches the time in the group exercise. “We’ve got five minutes left, should we start pulling this together?” is a leadership signal without being pushy.
3. The group exercise is not about having the best idea. It is about how you build on what others say and keep things moving.
4. Summarise the group’s progress out loud. “So we’ve agreed on X and Y. Are we ready to move on?” It shows you are actually tracking the conversation, not just waiting for your turn to talk.
5. If someone in your group is steamrolling the conversation, do not fight them. Redirect calmly. “Good point. Let’s also hear from [name]”.
6. Use people’s names. Learn them during the introductions and actually use them throughout the day. It makes you memorable.
7. The breaks are not breaks. Assessors are still watching how you interact when you think you are off the clock.
8. Have a 30-second introduction ready before you walk in. You will be asked to introduce yourself more than once and the first time should not be your worst.
9. Ask a question during the company presentation at the start. Most candidates sit silently. One genuine question puts you on the assessors’ radar before the exercises even begin.

Know someone with a graduate assessment centre coming up? Send this to them.

Grab our free Assessment Centre Guide for the full breakdown. Link in bio.

15/06/2026

POV: Interview workshop preparation. Most people prepare for interviews alone. Reading tips, watching reels, practising in their head. That gets you part of the way. The part most people skip is practising out loud with real feedback from someone sitting across from you. That is where the real improvement happens.

Send this to someone with an interview coming up.

11/06/2026

Bring your World Cup energy to your next job interview. You already spend the night before a big game reading previews and talking tactics with your mates. That is interview preparation. 15 minutes the night before your interview doing the same thing. Their website, their news, their LinkedIn. Walk in knowing them the way you know your team.

Send this to someone with an interview coming up.

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