This is often because many apprentices are school leavers and there is a strong possibility that it is the first formal interview process they have experienced, but even for more mature apprentices there is heightened pressure. For those opting to change career or get back into work after a break in employment, apprenticeships are also one of the few ways individuals can gain the new qualifications they need whilst still maintaining financial independence and stability to support themselves and sometimes a family. And so, the interview becomes an ever more daunting hurdle.

Under such circumstances, it’s good to seek help and advice to ease your mind and allow you to perform at your best and ace the interview in question.

Personally, I fell in the former category of students entirely new to the world of organised, formal recruitment and so in the days running up to my interview I sought as much advice and help as I could. Friends, family, teachers, the internet, and podcasts alike – none were off limits. I would start by saying that this is not necessarily the best approach.

The old adage ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ has stood the test of time for good reason and when you ask for advice from everyone and their goldfish, you are inevitably going to receive conflicting information – and, perhaps, some odd looks for talking to fish.

Below I have compiled the best advice I personally received prior (and then actually applied) to my interview technique, and have continued to use afterwards when I wish to make a good impression, such as important meetings and networking events.

BE Prepared

Otherwise known as, the most obvious advice that far too many people skip over. Being prepared in of itself will ease any nerves before going into an interview.

This means reviewing your application and CV beforehand. These documents are pretty much the only thing you can guarantee them asking you about and, better yet, you wrote them. It won’t look good if you don’t even remember their contents.

Also, if it has been a long time since you looked over your CV (though if you read our post ‘Top Tips for Your Apprenticeship Application’, this shouldn’t be the case) there is a chance you don’t remember everything on there. Exhibit A: during my interview, I was asked about a work experience placement I had when I was 14-year-old.

In addition to this, one thing that helped me (and continues to) is thinking of answers to any and all potential questions on the table. This is something of a hybrid of rehearsing and revising. While you don’t want to provide generic, standard answers your interviewer will hear from anyone, it’s good to think about what you want to say in advance. Ever been asked a question on the spot, fumbled out an answer and then 1 hour later thought of a dozen better things you could have said but didn’t? That’s what you want to avoid.

Whilst you will never be able to predict every question you’ll get asked, searching any variation of ‘most popular interview questions’ will give you a starting point. Getting others to ask you questions will too.

BONUS TIP: Researching information about the company you are applying to, including their history and any recent news or successes of theirs, is never a wasted effort. If they don’t ask you directly, it can be easily included in most responses to other questions, a common example being ‘Why do you want to work for us?’. 

BE Dressed for the Occasion

Whilst this is great for first impressions, it will help you on the day too. If you are dressed professionally, you will feel more professional. Project what you want to be onto your outfit.

This doesn’t necessarily mean go out and buy new, expensive clothes, but even choosing what you personally feel to be your best outfit will help, and it helps if that outfit is reasonably comfortable (which means heels are not prerequisite!).

Two things I like to remember:

1. Unless you’re wearing a ball gown or top hat and tails, it’s better to feel overdressed than underdressed; and
2. You’d be surprised how much importance is afforded to footwear – clean and polish your shoes the night before, even if it’s only you that looks at them, it will be a more reassuring sight to bolster your courage than scuff marks and dirt.

BE Punctual

Be on time – or, better yet, be really early and set yourself up in a nearby cafe with your application to review. Do a dry run of the journey a few days before. Plan for eventualities. Check the news for traffic reports.

Most employers will understand broken down trains and road closures – these are out of your control – but being late simply because you didn’t allow yourself enough time between changing trains or you’d forgotten about the roadworks near your house is slightly less forgivable.

BE Comfortable

This is much, much easier, said than done but hopefully your interviewers will be the nice, personable people that make an effort to put you at ease (like mine!). Just remember, they are people too who have sat exactly where you are sitting. There is no ‘trick’ to confidence, there’s only the right mindset and, in most cases, acting.

Some of the most effective tips I have had given to me to relax were the simplest ones. Take a deep breath and smile – it’s cliché but you’d be surprised how much this actually improves your mood and ability to think – and ‘take the glass of water’.

‘Take the glass of water’ was a bit of advice I heard on a podcast. The helpfulness of ‘the glass of water’ is twofold.

One: the person offering you a drink at your job interview is likely doing so partly because it’s polite but also try to put you at ease, in any small way they can. By accepting the drink, you’re allowing them to and by requesting simply a glass of water there’s no minefield of ‘milk? One sugar or two? Decaf? Teabag in or out?’, coffee breath, the possibility of an irritated drink maker and a dissatisfying drink. It’s an easy option.

Two: you now have a glass of water to do all manner of useful things with like pausing to take a sip while you formulate the next answer to a question, quench a dry throat after talking for 30 minutes straight, silence yourself with if you realise you’re talking too much, or to hold to stop yourself fidgeting – the possibilities are truly endless.

BE Yourself

You want them to hire you, you, not some other version of yourself. That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t present the best version of yourself, but trying to be someone you are not will only be more stressful as you fight to maintain the act. If you know, in your heart of hearts as many of us do (myself included), that you are not funny, don’t try to be. If you truly don’t know the answer to a question, don’t pretend to.

Be honest, be authentic and do your best.

I hope this has been helpful and best of luck for your interview!