Mock Interview

Mock Interview 

 

What is a mock interview? 

A mock interview is sort of like a practice interview that emulates what it is like to go for a job interview. In a mock interview you will be asked questions similar to what you would be asked in an interview, and it gives you time to come up with how you would answer their questions, so you don’t end up panicking on the spot. Mock interviews provide many benefits, such as: 

• A mock interview can help you improve your interview/communication skills 

• It gives you a chance to get feedback on the answers you gave during the interview to make sure that your answers are suitable. 

• Interviews are stressful to everyone so partaking in a mock interview would help reduce interview stress. 

 

How to prepare for an interview 

• Research the industry/company that you are interested in so that your answers are tailored to the company you aim to work for. 

• Look up what questions are commonly asked during interviews on sites such as Indeed so you can come up with answers for them. 

• You must be honest and be yourself. 

• Prepare your answers 

• Make sure that you think you’re right for this position as comfort is a big factor when it comes to finding a job. 

• When it comes to going into an interview, you must remember to turn off your phone. 

 

An example of researching a company - The BBC 

The client for this campaign is the company BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Three and BBC England. The BBC is a public broadcaster which was based in the United Kingdom and was established by the Royal Charter. The BBC is funded by something called a TV license which is paid by UK households. The BBC broadcasts to the world on TV but also has various radio stations as well as an online platform that you can use to check the news and additional information in over 40 languages. 

 

The BBC is the largest broadcaster in the world in terms of employees, staffing over 22,00 people in total. They are also the world's oldest broadcaster, which is one of the reasons I chose this company to research into, the history of the company interesting me. 

 

The BBC was formed on the 18th of October in 1922 however broadcasting by the BBC did not actually begin until November 14th of the same year. Following the closure of many different stations at the time, the BBC began its own daily radio service in the city of London however it did not take long until the radio could be heard all across the nation, their news being supplied by an agency and the topics wavering from different things such as music and drama. In December of the same year at the age of 33, a man named John Reith was appointed as the general manager of the BBC. He was inexperienced with broadcasting and what it entailed and during the time there had been no generalised rules, standards, or really anything to guide him in the right direction however with the help of a man named Peter Eckersley he gained experience, and the service began to gradually expand. 

 

“I hadn't the remotest idea as to what broadcasting was.” (“This is the BBC - BBC 100”) - John Reith 

 

In December of 1922, there was the first broadcast from Newcastle upon Tyne (From the station named 5NO) 

In September of 1923, the first edition of “The Radio Times” was released and it included the different programmes the BBC offered at the time. As well as this though, the magazine also included advice for those interested in radio, including advertisements around the radio industry. To this day, this magazine is popular and has grown to become one of the world's most popular magazines. However, the contents have changed over time to suit the ever-changing population. 

 

In 1926 due to the general strike beginning, no newspapers were being published meaning that there were no copies of the radio times being published so due to this, the BBC was broadcasting five different news bulletins a day to make up for the lack of printed news sources. 

In January 1927, the BBC changed its name from the British Broadcasting Company to the British Broadcasting Corporation after being granted a Royal Charter. As well as this, around midway through the month the BBC broadcasted its first ever live sports broadcast (The Rugby Union international England vs Wales) 

 
 

In January of 1928, the first edition of the daily service aired which is a short service from Christians broadcasted every weekday morning between 9:45 and 10am. 

The BBC World Service began in the year 1932 (the BBC went global) During the second world war, this service broadcasted in many different languages and had a large number of viewers across Europe. This is still around to this day, and it averages around 188 million listeners every single week. 

 
 

Originally television broadcasting through the BBC had begun in 1936, however, it had been stopped during the second work war. However, when it returned in 1946, the BBC’s viewers could enjoy things ranging from the Olympic Games as well as Cartoons around Disney’s Mickey Mouse. In the year of 1953, over twenty million people crowded the millions of screens across the country to watch the queen’s coronation and after that occasion, the popularity of Tv began to boom.  

 
 

If we look at the BBC today, we see it is now the largest broadcaster in the world and it had a staff of more than 23,000 people! The company is forever growing to please its viewers. The BBC now has ten Tv Channels in the Uk as well as 59 radio stations and a large internet presence. In Britain, the BBC is so popular that it consists of 30% of British TV viewing due to its broadcasting popular TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, Top Gear, and Frozen Planet as well as many others such as EastEnders. 

 
 

 

Roles at this company: 

• Journalist 

• Tv Presenter 

• Publicist 

• Editor 

• Project Manager 
   

When going for an interview, you may be asked to bring: 

• Birth certificate/Passport 

• National Insurance Number 

• Provisional / driving license  

 

Instead of going ahead with a mock interview, instead, we were given the chance to give a pitch presentation in front of David Longworth from the BBC. The brief we were given for the Pitch was the following: 

• Come up with an original programme/content idea you have for one of the BBC TV, Radio or Online Channels. 

• Include an explanation of what makes your idea different. 

• Think about your target audience, the length of your programme, your idea, the time slot it will be shown in, budgeting, etc. 

BBC Brief .pptx from KatieLouiseMcCririck1

Video of me doing my Pitch: 

What I think I did well: 

 
 

I put a lot into my research for this pitch as I wanted to make sure that it was in-depth so that there was nothing that I had missed for this presentation. I even went as far as making character profiles with headshots that I had customized to each of the characters within the story. I was also glad to have impressed David with the way I had researched budgeting specifically by the BBC and as well as this, the thorough research I had done into the target audience had also impressed him which I was very happy about. 

 
 

What I would change:  

 
 

If I were given the opportunity to go back and redo my pitch, I would ensure that I practiced my pitch once or twice before the actual presentation as you could see clearly see that I was nervous about the way I was rushing through the presentation and stumbling over my words slightly. Another thing I would change is based on the feedback I received from David. I would change the setting for my story and just be broader when it comes to my ideas, as the ideas were very well thought through however they were just a little too similar to other things already on the market. I just need to make my idea more unique if I am given another task like this.