Interview Guide
I hope what I have learnt over more than a decade recruiting within insurance can help current job seekers, so wanted to start with some advice I hope might be of use to anyone interviewing at present.
This is a general guide aiming to cover the basics as well as being fairly comprehensive across all areas to prepare, and what to expect in a typical interview process for Insurance Pricing, Analytics and Data Science roles. If you are preparing for interviews at present, I hope you find it useful!
1. Do you get nervous in interview situations? Remember to take a deep breath before you enter the room or join the meeting. And don’t forget to smile! It’s a small thing but smiling no matter how nervous you feel will generally win you a smile back from the interviewer – and help set a relaxed tone to the interview. Studies have also shown smiling helps reduce the body’s response to stress and lower the heart rate in tense situations. Avoid coffee, rather chew gum prior to the interview if you want to stimulate the brain cells without the potential for jitters. Still feeling nervous? A sugary drink pre-interview can also help calm nerves. Sugar has been shown to shut down the release of stress hormone cortisol and release feel-good brain chemicals dopamine and serotonin.
2. Be yourself! This is one of the most frequent pre-interview pieces of advice I give. Obviously be your professional self, not your pub closing time self. But don’t be afraid to show a little humour, or geekiness, or whatever it is that makes you, you. If your interviewers respond well to this, there is a good chance you will enjoy working with them. And establishing a good rapport will give the interviewer confidence they will also enjoy working with you.
3. Be prepared – research the role and company. And prepare a few questions. I always suggest to think of any questions you have from the job description to ensure you have a complete understanding of the role and the work it involves – this way you are well positioned to assess whether you will enjoy the day to day work, and help you make the best possible decision if you are successful and offered the role. Similarly good questions you ask, based on your independent research of the company,will show you have taken the time to do this, are pro-active, inquisitive, and invested in the process.
4. Be prepared to answer open questions around your experience (e.g. ‘tell me about your experience to date’). This is your opportunity to showcase what you have done and what you have achieved. And you can tailor this to the role you are interviewing for. Interviewing for a Manager level role focused on Technical Pricing? Ensure you highlight details about your relevant experience in technical pricing, and leadership experience. If you can, include any relevant achievements too. If you can quantify the business impact of these results to emphasise these achievements, even better.
5. Be prepared to discuss in greater detail the experience you showcase on your CV. This is the starting point for the interviewer, and of course they will want to fully understand your experience. If an agency has submitted your CV, ask for a copy of any Cover Sheet they have created, so you are aware of what they have shared with the potential employer around your experience too. At Alexander Williams Recruitment, we always share this with candidates prior to interview, and pride ourselves on taking the time to create powerful, effective Cover Sheets driving home the relevancy of candidates’ experience.
6. Use any insight you have on the interview format to prepare for specific types of questions (e.g. Competency based) you might expect. There is tons of guidance online on answering these types of questions, and we are happy to provide further guidance specific to these types of questions. Essentially interviewers are looking to assess how you behave in certain situations, based on how you have behaved in, or what you have learnt from, similar situations in the past. The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is a great way of structuring answers, and is equally useful to keep in mind when answering questions around the experience alluded to on your CV (which as per point the previous point, you should absolutely be prepared to discuss in more detail!) Interviewers will typically ask Competency based questions around certain behaviours seen as key to performing well in the role (so for example questions relating to leadership for managers). Many of the insurer clients I have worked with over the years ask them around their Company Values too, so always worth familiarising yourself with these, and thinking about situations where you have demonstrated them.
7. The Technical element of interviews vary massively from employer to employer. Some will require technical assessments on the day, others take-home assignments, sometimes presentations, and some will purely be technical discussions and deep, probing questions around your technical abilities. If interviewing through us, we will always do our best to ensure you fully know what to expect, as well as the interviewers’expectations from you.
8. Don’t try and close interviews – if you’re keen, ask when you might expect to hear. If it feels right, ask if there is anything else around your own experience you can clarify for them (you might feel certain relevant aspects of your experience weren’t discussed). But putting an interviewer (who might be nervous themselves!) on the spot to ask for immediate feedback isn’t typically a good look.
I hope this benefits any insurance Pricing, Analytics and Data Science professionals interviewing currently, and feel free contact us anytime if you would appreciate any further guidance around preparing for interviews!
