Hints on how to interview well

[Catseye]

If your child is already quite gregarious and self confident and can talk the hind legs off a donkey-leave them to it.

just wanted to add a caveat-they could just be talking a load of gibberish-Boys are particularly prone to such drivel.

Personally, I find such children very irritating and get this overwhelming desire to gag them and lock them up in a cupboard for their own safety.I much prefer the quiet introspective/reflective child that once you gain their confidence can take an idea and just fly with it,rather than the overconfident loudmouth.

Linking or circling back to the question is an important skill(one reason is it keeps the mind focused on the task at hand and not just answering the question the candidate wants to answer and the applicant is forced to revisit the actual question more than once-so little chance of misunderstanding the question another is it shows an insight of the importance of self-reflection ) and it's not just about what information that is explicit in the question but also what information one does not have,latent or hidden the secret is keep looping around until you have enough information to state the method required to solve the problem,it avoids awkward silences and keeps the conversation moving forward that is what any interview should be imo(a conversation, I defy any reasonable human not to assist a 10 year old candidate unless they have a heart of stone)

The correct answer is more or less irrelevant

[wrsxp17]

Regarding group interviews can anyone give advise on what sort of topics the interview has been based on for group 2 consortium schools or for any other indie schools?

[Daogroupie]

The Group Interview at St Albans is a task to check that your dd is a team player and does not try to take over. DG

[Ladymuck]

Yes, it is probably worth emphasising to your dd, that it is not what she says on the topic that is important, but how she says it. Is she listening to other girls and building on what has already been said? With the group discussions it is even more important not to try and prepare for certain topics or answers, because they're not looking for a "right answer" but rather how do you discuss ideas with other people, and can you build upon what other people say. So have family discussions over a meal on something in the news - make sure that they're listening to others and acknowledging the other people round the table.

[wrsxp17]

Thanks DG and Ladymuck for your advice.

[LostInTheShuffle]

Just looked through notes taken from DD's interviews (N London consortium, NLCS and SPGS) last year. In general, they all asked basic personal stuff like siblings, hobbies, etc and checked on the fundamentals in maths and/or English. The interesting bit - designed to identify spark, creativity and originality - was highly varied, ranging from open-ended questions ("When does life begin?") to giving a DC several objects and asking them to make sense of them.

As a number of posters have advised, it may not be helpful (and may even be counterproductive) to prepare too specifically for interviews - a DC may come off as too rehearsed and the particular questions and exercises will likely change from year to year. If anything, I would recommend that parents encourage their DC to be spontaneous and let their personality, interests and - this is equally important - quirkiness come out.

[Catseye]

this is equally important - quirkiness come out.

One woman's sense of quirkiness maybe another woman's sense of idiocy!

It's very subjective, if you want to play it safe a lifetime learning of methodical analysis/critiquing will get you through, right up to Oxbridge entry.

You really don't have to that bright.

[avidskier]

Has anyone got any tips for the St Albans High individual interview... It is only 15 minutes!