One of our clients prepared the interview with Skills4Dev and got the job. We are telling you here how it happened.

📍 Sara (not a real name) has had a few sessions with us before, while she was in the middle of a job transition from one international NGOs to another one. She had been preparing for this transition and already had a significant level of experience. In the previous sessions, we had worked on many aspects of her job, including dealing with a new supervisor, dealing with emotions in her team and designing project proposals following RBM principles.
One day, Sara told her S4D coach that she had been invited to an interview for a position in a UN agency. Her coach (Julien Hautier) proposed: “What about using the following sessions to prepare the interview?”. They had two sessions on it and when they debriefed about the interview....
Julien knew that something had clicked ⏩ Sara mentioned signals that the panel got engaged: they got interested, asked follow-up questions about her stories, and "it felt more as discussion than an interview", she said.
👉 How do you get this engagement in a job interview? By adding some spice to the facts.
👉 How do you do that? By telling a good story.
I am talking about a job interview and this is the second time that I use the word “story”... on purpose!
Because in a job interview, you need to tell good stories. No BS, or invented facts... a real narrative that will make you stand out, a narrative that sticks on the panel's mind.
👉 How do I tell a good story? By having a solid story structure and by communicating emotions.
Think about a movie… when do you consider a movie to be good? When you have been able to feel emotions, to connect with the story, with the characters, right? This is exactly the same thing in a job interview (it does not need to be so dramatic though): the panel needs to connect with your story. No need to be fake, no need to amplify… you just need to add “spice”. The spice are the elements that allow your audience to stick to your story, while you deliver on technical facts (This is exactly the type of things we work on during a Skills4Dev session on job interview, or on high-stake communication in general)
In Sara’s case, we prepared a case on how she managed a difficult situation between two team members while on a field trip. Her coach told her: “We will prepare and practice your narrative until I can feel that I am in the field with you on this precise day, and I can visualize your skills in action”.
Sara got the UN job. Obviously, it was not down to the 2 sessions only. Sara had a very relevant background and great skills. The 2 sessions allowed her to put them forward in a more convincing way.
🖐 Ask more questions in the comment sections below
🖐 Tag friends looking for a job in international organizations or NGOs, preparing for a job interview or simply getting ready for the next step :)
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