Despite the economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, many practices are still recruiting. In a competitive jobs market, job hunters need their interview skills to be sharper than ever.
The pitfalls of online job interviews
Many more job interviews are now being conducted remotely, via videoconferencing software. While standard conventions of the interview process still apply, going online introduces a few new considerations.
“Interviewing remotely has worked, but it has presented a few challenges," states Rhea Shepherd, Senior Architect at HTA. "There could be people walking past in the background, which probably can’t be helped. We will start with a preamble explaining what to do if a connection gets lost.”
Shepherd has recently been interviewing Part 1 students and has found that different candidates deal with the online process in different ways.
“Like most practices, we will expect candidates to talk through their portfolio, explaining design processes and thought processes on projects. Some candidates turned their camera off when giving their presentation. That is disconcerting; you can’t see their facial expressions, reactions or have eye contact.”
Yet most architects seem reasonably comfortable using Teams or Zoom. They are used to using it for work or, in the case of Part 1s, for tutorials.
This had led to something all candidates should be self-critical about: a degree of informality creeping into remote interviews. While Shepherd suggests there is some inevitability to this, with candidates perhaps not as smartly dressed as they would normally be, they should always remember that an interview is a formal situation: candidates are there to demonstrate their professional capabilities.
"All the normal rules of an interview apply," states Kyle Buchanan, Director of Archio, "Be on time, know why you’re applying and make sure you can explain what skills you are offering."
Understand competency based interviews
Kyle Buchanan, Director of Archio, was recently recruiting for a Senior Architect role. He found that a virtual interview was particularly helpful with certain aspects of their competencies based approach to interviewing.
There is an abundance of advice on how to prepare for competency based questions online. A good place to start is the government's National Careers Service, which also explains the related STAR system:
- Situation: the situation you had to deal with
- Task: the task you were given to do
- Action: the action you took
- Result: what happened as a result of your action and what you learned from the experience
“We could manage the interview process better virtually,” Buchanan states. “We could keep a Google Doc with pre-prepared questions behind our screens and do an assessment, keep score, and compare notes afterwards. We set questions designed to examine specific competencies and asked candidates to use their portfolio to illustrate them.”
Two examples of the key competencies Buchanan looks for are:
- the candidate's ability to work with others to solve a problem
- the ability to learn, adapt and innovate
Demonstrate professional understanding
“It comes down to a proper understanding of what the job role is,” Buchanan suggests. “We were specifically looking for a Senior Architect, so demonstrating that they could lead a team was paramount. Secondly, as a practice what we ultimately sell is time, so evidence of properly managing schedules on a project is important.”
“At junior level, demonstrating that you can think through a brief and respond to it in a practical way is crucial," Shepherd states. "For some projects candidates had huge amounts of research to show but did not translate that into what makes a great building.”
What will you bring to the team?
Showing that you are able to fit into a team is very important.
“Strong candidates give a clear impression of how they could be part of our practice, so demonstrating that they can work in a team and understand that it’s a group effort is a must. Some have beautiful images, but do not come across as team players. This does vary slightly according to the specific role, however.”
Conversely, both Buchanan and Shepherd admitted that they are frequently surprised by how little some candidates appear to know about their practices.
“Applying for a job is like writing a bid: you should know as much as possible about the client,” Buchanan suggests. “Who are they? What makes them tick?”
“Very few applications referred to our names and even fewer said something specific about our practice. We are on social media: it does not take much to get under the skin of our practice. One candidate had really done her research and was impressively articulate about what she could bring to us.”
“HTA only do residential work, so it is alarming when an interviewee states they want to work on offices or schools,” Shepherd points out. “That does not disqualify people who do not have housing projects to show, but sometimes candidates clearly have not even visited the website, or gone past the homepage.”
“Standout candidates bring their own work back to what HTA do. Those who really shine have properly researched us and know what to pick from their own projects. We always ask if a candidate has any questions about us at the end, and it is disappointing if they don't.”
“Ultimately, what is most impressive is showing enthusiasm and understanding of design,” Shepherd concludes.
Thanks to Rhea Shepherd, Senior Architect at HTA; and Kyle Buchanan, Director, Archio.
This feature is one of a series that supports architects in building career resilience. The series helps architects at all professional levels with advice on career progression, advancement, promotion and learning.
The RIBA is interested in hearing from members about their own career challenges and successes. Please send us your own experiences, feedback and ideas.
Find out more:
- Does your portfolio tell the right story?
- Seven design tips from architects for compiling your Part 1 portfolio
- How to impress a potential employer with your first architecture portfolio
- Learn to project a more confident you
- Nail that job interview
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As part of the flexible RIBA CPD programme, Professional Features count as microlearning. See further information on the updated RIBA CPD Core Curriculum and on fulfilling your CPD requirements as an RIBA Chartered Member.
