How do I prepare for a graduate scheme interview?

Prepare in four time-boxed phases. In the week before, work out whether the interview is competency-based, strengths-based or skills-based, build six to eight STAR stories from your degree, part-time work, societies and volunteering, write your answer to why this scheme around one specific detail, and practise any assessment-centre exercises the invitation lists. The day before, say every story out loud in about two minutes, record your opening answer and your weakest story and fix one fault in each, and stop preparing by the evening. On the morning, say your opening answer twice. In the five minutes before, slow your breathing and decide the sentence you will use when you need thinking time.

What is the difference between a strengths-based and a competency-based interview?

A competency-based interview asks you to prove a skill with a past example, usually phrased as "tell me about a time when you...", and is best answered with a STAR story. A strengths-based interview, as TARGETjobs describes it, focuses on how your natural strengths and behaviours would make you a good candidate in future rather than on your past experience, so questions ask what you enjoy, what you find easy and what drains you, often in quick succession. Nestlé UK, for example, says its graduate process focuses on strengths and potential. Prepare for competency questions with stories and for strengths questions with honest self-knowledge. Some employers, including EY, now describe their approach as skills-based.

What happens at a graduate assessment centre?

An assessment centre combines several exercises, typically a group exercise, a case study or in-tray task, a presentation or written task, and an interview, and sometimes repeats the aptitude tests from earlier stages. TARGETjobs notes that they were traditionally a full day but are now often two or three hours, especially when held online. The most useful fact for preparation is that candidates are assessed against the employer's criteria, not against each other, so several people from the same group can pass. In the group exercise that means contributing, building on others' ideas and keeping time will usually score better than dominating the discussion.

How long should a graduate interview answer be?

About two minutes. Pre-recorded video interviews, which many graduate employers use as a first round on platforms such as HireVue, Sonru and SparkHire, usually allow between one and three minutes per answer, and a live interviewer will usually interrupt anything much longer. Spend one sentence on the situation, most of the time on what you personally did, and finish with the result and what you learned. If a story will not fit in two minutes when said out loud, it contains two stories; choose the stronger half. Timing answers aloud the day before is the quickest way to find the ones that overrun.

Graduate Scheme Interview Prep: The Week-Before Countdown

Prepare for a graduate scheme interview in four time-boxed phases. In the week before, work out whether the interview is competency-based, strengths-based or skills-based, because each type needs different preparation and a different kind of answer. Build six to eight STAR stories from your degree, part-time work, societies and volunteering, write your answer to "why this scheme" around one specific detail, and practise any assessment-centre exercise the invitation lists. The day before, say every story out loud in about two minutes, record your opening answer and your weakest story, and fix one fault in each. On the morning, say your opening answer twice and remember that assessment centres score you against the employer's criteria, not against the other candidates. In the five minutes before, slow your breathing and decide the sentence you will use when you need a moment to think.

Graduate recruitment is crowded: the Institute of Student Employers reported an average of 140 applications per graduate vacancy in 2025, the highest since its records began in 1991, with an average graduate salary of £33,000. By interview stage you have already passed the application and usually the online tests. What decides the rest is whether your examples come out clearly under pressure, which is a rehearsal problem more than a research one. This plan is ordered by the days you have left.

The week before

Find out which kind of interview it is, then build for that

1.Work out the interview type from the invitation and the employer's careers pages. Competency interviews ask about the past ("tell me about a time you..."), strengths interviews ask what you enjoy and do naturally, and some employers now describe their process as skills-based. The preparation is different for each, so settle this first.
2.Build six to eight stories from your degree, part-time work, societies, sport or volunteering: a team project that went wrong, a deadline you nearly missed, a time you persuaded someone, something you started or fixed. Write each as STAR with one line on what you learned.
3.For a strengths interview, list the tasks that give you energy and the ones that drain you, with an example of each. These questions come quickly and are meant to catch your honest reaction, so the preparation is knowing yourself, not scripting answers.
4.Write your answer to "why this scheme and why us" around one specific thing: a business area, a recent project, or a person you spoke to at a careers event. General praise for the company is the answer every candidate gives.
5.If an assessment centre is next, practise the exercise types it lists: a timed case study or in-tray task, a short presentation, and a group exercise. If it is a pre-recorded video interview, do a test recording on the same device, in the same room and light.

The day before

Hear yourself, fix one thing, stop

1.Say every story out loud, timed. Keep each to about two minutes; pre-recorded video interviews usually give you one to three minutes per answer, and a live interviewer will interrupt a longer one.
2.Record "tell me about yourself", "why this scheme" and your weakest story. Watch each once and fix the single biggest fault: usually a long situation and a short action.
3.Prepare two questions to ask about the scheme itself, such as how rotations are chosen or what the first six months look like for a current graduate.
4.Sort the practicalities: route or link, what to wear, charged laptop and phone, and for a video interview a quiet room with the camera at eye level.
5.Stop preparing by the evening. A new story learned tonight comes out hesitant tomorrow.

The morning of

Warm up your voice and your opening

1.Say your "tell me about yourself" answer aloud twice. It is usually first, and a steady first minute changes how the rest is heard.
2.Read your story list once and match each story to a likely question. Do not add new ones.
3.For an assessment centre, remind yourself of one rule: you are assessed against the employer's criteria, not against the other candidates. In the group exercise, bringing a quiet candidate in and keeping time can score better than talking most.
4.Arrive or log in ten minutes early. For a pre-recorded interview, start well before the deadline, which is usually within a week of the invitation; HireVue advises setting aside 45 minutes.

The 5 minutes before

Settle, and decide your thinking-time sentence

1.Slow your breathing: in for four, hold for four, out for six, six times.
2.Decide the sentence you will use when you need a moment: "That's a good question, let me think for a second." Then think for a second.
3.Say one sentence out loud at normal volume, especially before a video interview, so your first recorded words are not your first words of the day.
4.Remember the odds are about the answer in front of you, not the field: you only have to meet the bar for this question.

Which interview are you walking into?

TARGETjobs lists the usual graduate sequence as application, online tests, a first-round video interview (live or pre-recorded), then an assessment centre. The interview itself comes in a few types, and the preparation differs.

Type	What they ask	How to prepare
Competency-based	"Tell me about a time you..."	Six to eight STAR stories, each timed at about two minutes.
Strengths-based	What you enjoy, what comes easily, what drains you	Honest self-knowledge with an example for each; do not script.
Pre-recorded video	Set questions on screen, one to three minutes per answer	Test recording on the same device; check whether retakes are allowed before you start.
Assessment centre	Group exercise, case study or in-tray, presentation, interview	Practise one timed exercise of each type; you are scored against criteria, not rivals.
Civil Service (Success Profiles)	Behaviour examples, plus strengths, ability, experience or technical elements	One STAR example per behaviour named in the advert.

How a behaviour answer is scored: the Civil Service example

Most graduate employers do not publish their marking. The Civil Service is an exception in outline: its Success Profiles framework assesses up to five elements (behaviours, strengths, ability, experience and technical). The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, which uses Success Profiles, publishes the seven-point scale it scores behaviours on: 1 not demonstrated, 2 minimal, 3 moderate, 4 acceptable, 5 good, 6 strong and 7 outstanding, with a benchmark of 4 per behaviour. The lesson travels to any employer. An answer reaches "acceptable" by being a real, specific example of the behaviour; it reaches "strong" by showing your own actions, a result, and what you would do differently.

Where recorded practice fits

Graduate candidates usually know their stories and still lose marks on delivery: a two-minute situation, a rushed action, and a result that trails off. The fix is hearing yourself once before the real thing. Record your opening answer and your weakest story the day before, watch for the pace and the moment conviction drops, fix one thing, and stop. The STAR method guide covers answer structure, and video interview practice covers camera framing and eye contact for the pre-recorded round.

Key takeaways

Prepare in four phases keyed to days remaining: the week, the day, the morning, the 5 minutes.
Find out first whether the interview is competency-, strengths- or skills-based.
Build six to eight STAR stories and keep each to about two minutes out loud.
Anchor "why us" to one specific detail, not general praise.
At an assessment centre you are scored against criteria, not the other candidates.
For a pre-recorded interview, do a test recording and check the retake rules first.
Stop adding stories the evening before, and decide your thinking-time sentence.

Sources checked 23 September 2026: TARGETjobs on graduate recruitment stages, strengths-based interviews, assessment centres and video interviews; Institute of Student Employers (2025 figures); Nestlé UK and EY UK careers pages; gov.uk Success Profiles; the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; HireVue candidate FAQ. EchoPitch is not affiliated with any employer named.