Apprenticeship Interview Tips

Apprenticeships are a fantastic opportunity to kickstart your career. Interviews for apprenticeships, however, can be daunting and leave you unprepared if not prepared in advance. Following these apprenticeship interview tips can help you ace your apprentice interview and get the role of your dreams! Read on to discover a variety of apprentice interview questions and answers.

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Before your interview

Before your interview for an apprenticeship, you should prepare. Discover different interview questions for an apprentice (which we’ll cover next) and work out how you want to respond to them.

Research the employer, and do a bit of “professional stalking”. Go on their website, blog and social media, and find out what they are working on. Be ready to talk about it. You should also prepare a couple of questions to ask at the end of an apprenticeship interview with your prospective employer.

Re-read the job description and understand the skills and experience they want. Decide what you’re good at and how this is relevant to the job, and convey this to the employer during your apprenticeship interview.

Common interview questions for apprenticeships

Tell us a bit about yourself

This is one of the most common interview questions, and will likely come up in your apprentice interview. The interviewer will use this question to get to know more about your education and work experience, and also to get to know you more on a personal level. Keep this response short, talk about your CV briefly and make sure to inject some personality.

Why have you applied for this apprenticeship?

You must be able to convey to the interviewer why you have applied for the apprenticeship. The job description will come in handy here during the interview as you can relate back to your skills and interests. Ask yourself does the company attract you? Does the content of the apprenticeship interest you? Answering these questions will help you to answer this question in your interview.

What skills can you bring to this role?

One of the most important apprenticeship interview tips to remember is to be honest and concise, especially when answering apprenticeship interview questions like this. Avoid listing buzzwords or soft skills when talking about your strengths. Focus on two or three soft skills and give an example of when and how you developed them.

What would you say is your biggest weakness?

No one wants to hear “I work too hard” or “I’m a perfectionist” during your apprenticeship interview, as this is an opportunity to demonstrate that you’re honest and can evaluate your own performance. Make a list of your weaknesses and work out the solution to these.

How to prepare for an apprenticeship interview

Dress well

No matter the type of apprenticeship you are applying for, be it engineering or business, wearing professional clothing will show that you’re taking the interview seriously.

Turn your phone off

Even before the interview, don’t sit scrolling on your phone. Engage with people passing by, smile, and say hello. Be sure to turn your phone off whilst in the interview in order to minimise distractions.

Maintain eye contact

This will show you are engaged with the interviewer, and that you are paying attention.

Arrive early

Be sure to arrive with around 15 minutes to spare. You don’t want to rush into your interview, as this won’t give you the time to settle any nerves.

 

Questions to ask at the end of an apprenticeship interview

When the interview has concluded, it’s time for you to ask your own apprenticeship interview questions! Popular apprentice questions to ask employer at the end of the interview include: “How much time will I spend with the learning provider?”, “What’s the company culture like?”, or “What are the main goals of the company?”. This will show you are interested.

Things to avoid doing when attending an interview

First, try and avoid arriving late; it looks bad and puts you in a negative light before the conversation has even started. Furthermore, don’t forget to dress appropriately for the occasion – although you should aim to look smart, it’s also important not to go overboard. Additionally, make sure you don’t appear overconfident or too casual; always maintain a professional but friendly attitude throughout. Lastly, avoid bringing any distractions such as a mobile phone with you into the interview room – this could be seen as disrespectful if used during the process.

After the interview

It does no harm to follow up with the company when your interview has finished. Ask the employer for feedback if you aren’t successful, and bear this in mind for the next interview.

 

 

Find an apprenticeship with Estio

Estio is a leading provider of digital and technology apprenticeship programmes, offering a comprehensive apprenticeship course informed by industry expertise, and delivered remotely to ensure enough flexibility for your apprentice’s needs to be suited. 

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