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To find out more about engaging with our students at our Cornwall Campuses, please contact:

Employer Engagement and Student Employment in Penryn
es-penryn@exeter.ac.uk 

Mock interviews

Mock interviews

The opportunity to practise interview skills with an experienced interviewer can have an enormous impact on student career outcomes.  

Conducting an interview and offering feedback provides valuable insight into the recruitment process and allows you to meet students eager to succeed.  

It can also help build your organisation’s brand with our students as all interviews are widely advertised through various media channels.  

Interviews take place throughout the academic year 

We can run these events either virtually or on-campus, for either a full or half day. Typically a day of mock interviews commences at 10:00 and concludes at 17:00, with a break for lunch.  

Our Employer Engagement team will help you find the most suitable date and time, will set up either the room or the virtual platform as needed and promote the event to our students. The University currently uses Microsoft Teams or Zoom for mock interviews and we are happy to share our expertise in this software with you. 

An interviewer could expect to see between 6-8 students in total during this timeframe. Interviewers can also opt for half days, where they would see between 3-4 students. 

We allow 45 minutes per mock interview slot which consists of 20 minutes for the interview, 10 minutes feedback and a further 15 minutes to allow for overrun/comfort breaks. 

The interviews are completely neutral and therefore students are not expected to have knowledge of the interviewer’s company or sector. As a result, questions posed should be competency based and of the sort that could be asked at interview with any company, regardless of the sector the student may be interested in or that the interviewer works in. 

Students are advised that questions may be drawn from the information provided in their CV/application form. They should be encouraged to ask questions during the feedback period as well as expecting the interviewer to give useful tips. 

Please note: Interviewers should be experienced in the recruitment and interviewing of staff. 

Mock interviews are advertised via our website, weekly email newsletter, and social media channels.

Students are required to contact the Career Zone and provide their CV to book their interview slot. The students’ CVs are shared with the interviewer approximately a week before the interviews take place to allow for preparation.

We recommend booking your mock interview slots as soon as possible to ensure you secure your preferred date.