Graduate mock interview
Answer common graduate programme and first-job interview questions out loud, from “Tell me about yourself” to competency and scenario questions, then get feedback on what you said.
- Free, no account
- Answer by voice or by typing
- About 10 minutes
What they assess
What Graduate interviews look for
Motivation
Why this programme and this employer, and whether you understand what the work involves day to day.
Teamwork
How you work in group projects, clubs, sport or part-time jobs: what you contributed, and how you handled people who didn’t pull their weight.
Problem solving and learning
How you approach something you haven’t done before, and how quickly you pick things up. Graduate employers hire for potential, so this counts.
Communication
Whether you can explain your degree, a project or a decision clearly to someone outside your field.
Resilience and judgement
How you handle setbacks, pressure and grey areas, often tested with scenario questions about what you would do.
Questions
8 common Graduate interview questions, and how to answer them
- Opening
Tell me about yourself.
What they’re looking for: A short summary that links your degree, what you’ve done outside it, and why you’re applying for this role.
How to answer: Start with what you studied and one part that interested you most. Add one or two experiences, such as a part-time job, internship, society role or project. Finish with why this programme is where you want to start.
- Motivation
Why did you apply for this graduate programme?
What they’re looking for: That you’ve researched this programme specifically: its structure, training, rotations and the work graduates actually do.
How to answer: Name two or three specific things about the programme and why they matter to you. Connect them to your study or experience. Avoid reasons that would fit any employer, such as “great training” with no detail.
- Behavioural
Tell me about a time you worked in a team to achieve something. What was your role?
What they’re looking for: What you personally contributed, how you worked with others, and a clear outcome. Group projects, sport, volunteering and part-time work all count.
How to answer: Set up the team and the goal in a sentence or two. Spend most of the answer on what you did, including any problem in the team and how you handled it. End with the result and what you learned about working with others.
- Behavioural
Describe a time you had to manage several deadlines at once.
What they’re looking for: That you can plan and prioritise: how you decided what came first, and what you did when things slipped.
How to answer: Pick a real crunch, such as exams alongside a part-time job, or a dissertation alongside club commitments. Explain how you planned and what you dropped or moved. Finish with how it turned out and what you’d do differently.
- Behavioural
Tell me about a time you faced a setback. What did you do next?
What they’re looking for: Honesty and resilience: that you own your part in what went wrong, respond well, and change something as a result.
How to answer: Choose a real setback from study, sport, a job or an application, not a strength in disguise. Say briefly what happened and your part in it. Spend most of the answer on what you did next and what changed.
- Role-specific
You notice a colleague has made an error in a report that’s about to go to a client. What would you do?
What they’re looking for: Sound judgement: that you act before harm is done, raise it with the right person, and treat your colleague fairly.
How to answer: Say what you’d do first and why, such as speaking to your colleague straight away. Explain when you’d involve your manager, and what changes if the deadline is minutes away. Show you weighed the client, the team and the colleague.
- Role-specific
Our programme includes rotations across different teams. Where would you like to start, and why?
What they’re looking for: That you understand the business areas and have thought about how you’d learn, while staying open to where you’re placed.
How to answer: Name a team and give a reason linked to your skills or interests. Say what you’d hope to learn there and what you could contribute. Finish by showing you’re open to the other rotations and see value in each.
- Role-specific
What have you learned from your degree that you’d use in this job?
What they’re looking for: That you can connect study to work: specific skills or ways of thinking, not just the name of your subject.
How to answer: Pick one or two skills, such as analysing data, writing clearly or working to a brief. Give an example of using them in a project or assignment. Then say how you’d use them in the role.
More Graduate interview questions to practise
- Talk me through your degree and why you chose it.Opening
- Why do you want to work in this industry?Motivation
- Where do you see yourself in five years?Motivation
- Tell me about a time you showed leadership, at university or outside it.Behavioural
- Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly.Behavioural
- Describe a time you dealt with a difficult customer or member of the public.Behavioural
- Tell me about a time you persuaded someone to change their mind.Behavioural
- Tell me about a time you used your initiative to improve something.Behavioural
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone in a group project.Behavioural
- Why should we choose you over other graduates?Role-specific
- What do you think a typical first year on this programme looks like?Role-specific
- Your manager gives you a task with an unclear brief, then goes on leave for a week. What do you do?Role-specific
- Two managers each ask you for urgent work by the same afternoon. How do you handle it?Role-specific
- What’s a recent trend or news story in our industry that interests you, and why?Role-specific
- What do you think will be the hardest part of moving from university to full-time work?Role-specific
- What questions do you have about the programme?Closing
All 24 questions on this page are in the practice above; each round picks five.
Mistakes to avoid
- Giving a “why this programme” answer that would fit any employer, with nothing specific about its training, rotations or business.
- Only using coursework examples, when a part-time job, club or volunteering role would show the skill better.
- Saying “we” in group project stories, so the interviewer can’t tell what you did yourself.
- Answering scenario questions with what you think they want to hear, instead of the steps you’d take and why.
Questions
About Graduate interviews
How the practice works and what happens to your answers: about this mock interview.
What is a graduate interview usually like?
Large graduate programmes often have several stages: an online application, tests or a recorded video interview, then a final interview or assessment centre with group exercises and competency questions. Smaller employers hiring for a first job often use one or two interviews instead. This practice covers the spoken questions.
What if I don’t have much work experience?
Use examples from study, group projects, part-time jobs, volunteering, sport or clubs. Graduate interviewers expect this. What matters is that the example shows the skill clearly, and that you explain what you did and what happened.
How do I answer situational judgement questions?
Say what you would do first, why, and what you’d do if that didn’t work. There’s often no single right answer. Interviewers want to see that you think about the people involved, act with integrity and know when to ask for help.