Students prepare for Degree Apprenticeship interviews the wrong way.

Lots of students prepare for Degree Apprenticeship interviews the wrong way.

They focus on memorising answers……whilst the strongest candidates focus on really understanding the opportunity.

Three questions come up time and time again:

👉 Why do you want to work for this company?

👉 Why do you want to work in this industry?

👉 Why do you want to do this role?

Let’s start with the first one:

Why this company?

Don't guess 🤔. Don’t just have a quick look on their website - research them properly:

Put a couple of nights aside and really dig into their website - especially the ‘early careers’ page.

Take a tonne of notes. Watch the videos that explain what the company do….watch the videos of current apprentices.

Check out recent LinkedIn posts, along with other social media platforms including YouTube.

🖨️ Print screenshots off and use them as a notepad - spoiler alert - you’ll be taking those notes into the interview with you…..but that’s for another post!

You’ll start to notice key phrases that appear multiple times 🧐. You’ll begin to understand how their core values run through all of the content they share.

The ‘early careers’ website section is often the company's sales pitch to applicants. If they're selling you their mentoring, exciting projects, development opportunities and career progression, those are likely to be some of the reasons you want to work there too! 🪞Hold up a mirror and reflect them back to them.

And when giving your answer be as specific as you can.

“I watched the videos of your Apprentices and the one with Jamie really connected with me because.....”

“The new projects page on your website showed some incredible work….I thought the work you’re doing on the new xxxxx looked really interesting because...”

“I’ve connected with some of your current apprentices on LinkedIn, and every single one has told me how supportive the company is. Chloe and Matt both messaged me to let me know how well they felt supported with their university work.”

Don't be afraid to say, "The chance to work with experts on world-leading projects, continue my education to get a degree, get paid at the same time and have no student loan is an incredible opportunity"

We'll post about the 2 other key questions in the next few days: