Preparing for an interview can feel daunting - but it doesn’t have to be. Whether you're applying for your first role or stepping into a leadership position, the key to success lies in preparation, self-awareness, and a clear understanding of what we value.
This guide is here to help you put your best foot forward. From understanding our interview process to showcasing your strengths and aligning with our kaupapa, you'll find practical tips and insights to help you feel confident, prepared, and ready to shine.
Please note that for each role we recruit, the process will all be slightly different but are created to support Hōkai Rangi.
Reasonable accommodation and/or support people
Reasonable accommodation and/or support people
We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience for all candidates. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you require any accommodations to ensure you have what is needed to interview comfortably. Please let us know in advance, and we will do our best to support you.
If you would like to have a support person join you for the interview; whether that's for emotional support, accessibility reasons, or anything else - just let us know you would like to bring someone. We are happy to make that happen, please let us know the name of the support person you would like to bring so we can welcome them appropriately.
Preparing for your interview
Preparing for your interview
We use behavioural (competency-based) interview questions. These questions ask you to share examples from past situations to demonstrate how you have handled specific challenges or tasks.
Before your interview, we recommend reviewing the position description to ensure you fully understand the requirements of the role. Start thinking about examples from your work, volunteering, or study that you’re proud of and that show the skills outlined in the job description and advertisement.
Remember that interviews are a two-way process, it is important that you use this opportunity to learn more about us and the team you are applying to join to ensure that it meets your requirements
Answering using STAR framework
Answering using STAR framework
The STAR framework is a helpful tool for structuring your answers to competency-based questions. This tool helps you deliver clear and concise responses. When responding to questions think of your contributions, the impact of your actions and lessons learned. The examples can be from your past work experience, volunteer roles or academic projects.
Situation | Briefly describe the situation you faced | Provide context around a specific situation or challenge you faced. You should spend the least amount of time on this part of your answer as interviewers are more concerned with the actions you took and the results you achieved. |
Task | What specifically did you have to do | Describe your responsibility or role in the situation or challenge. In other words, discuss the goal or task set out for you. Consider just one or two main points that best illustrate the task you needed to complete. This section requires a minimal amount of time, similar to the situation component |
Action | What action did you take and why | Explain the specific actions you took to handle the situation or overcome the challenge. Identify and discuss a few of the most impactful steps you took to find success. Even if your actions were taken as part of a team, avoid using "we" in your response and instead use "I" to highlight your contributions. This part of your answer requires the most in-depth description as this is what largely indicates your fitness for a role. |
Result | What was the outcome of the situation you faced | Focus on two or three main results of your actions and discuss what you learned, how you grew and why you're a stronger employee because of the experience. If possible, provide concrete examples of the results of your efforts. You should spend less time discussing the results than your actions. |
What to expect
What to expect
When you arrive at your interview, you will be greeted by the panel, who will introduce themselves and their roles. You will also have the chance to introduce yourself in a way that feels most comfortable to you.
Following the introductions, the panel will provide more details about the role, and there will be a few introductory questions to help you feel at ease. After that, the panel will ask you competency-based questions. We recommend answering these questions using the STAR framework to ensure you provide well-rounded responses.
Here are some tips to help you prepare for your interview:
Research our organisation and the details of the job you have applied for - visit our website and talk to people you know who have experience with working with us.
Refer to the position description to identify the competencies and key accountabilities for the role and provide specific examples or situations that reflect your expertise in those areas.
Write down your examples using the STAR format and practice saying them aloud (to yourself or a friend) - this can help you feel more comfortable expressing your ideas clearly and confidently.
Feel free to takes notes with you to the interview to remind yourself of the examples you prepared earlier.
If you are interviewing for a position that requires a skill that you haven’t used for a while, take time to refresh your knowledge.
Take your time to understand each question being asked, and don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer follow up questions if you need further clarification.
Following the competency-based questions you will have the opportunity to share information about yourself that you don’t feel you had the chance to share with the panel during the questions.
You will also have an opportunity to ask the panel any questions you may have. We encourage you to prepare a few questions to ask us about the role, team, or organisation.
At the end of the interview, the panel will explain the next steps and when you can expect an update on the outcome.
Presentations
Presentations
If a presentation is included in the interview, information on what needs to be included will be sent through to you in your interview invite. This could be presented as a PowerPoint, print out or you may decide to simply talk to the question being asked.
A few tips:
Keep track of your time – ensure you stay within the time limit given for your presentation.
Practice delivering your presentation – this will help refine your delivery and ensure it fits within the time frame.
If you are using a PowerPoint presentation, please send a copy to the email address provided in your interview invite a day prior to your interview, so we can ensure its compatible with our system.
Exercises
Exercises
Sometimes there may be exercises that are used, depending on the role. These may include:
Written exercises – you will be given time to write a report, email or minutes for us to assess your written capability relevant to the role.
Case scenarios – the panel will assess your problem-solving skills by presenting you with a business scenario or issue to solve in real-time.
You will be informed if there is an exercise as part of your interview and this will be included in your interview confirmation pack
Assessment centres
Assessment centres
If you have applied for a frontline role that includes an assessment centre, we encourage you to read the separate guide relating to assessment centres provided to help you prepare and know what to expect.
After the interview
After the interview
If you are progressed to the next stage of the recruitment process, you will be asked to provide references – your current or most recent manager and a previous manager. If you are not progressed further, you will receive constructive feedback from the panel to help you with your future applications.
If you have applied for frontline or community-based roles, next steps may include SCOPE, PRA and/or medical, which you will be informed of by our Recruitment team.