95739 Chap.12 Interview Skills, Career Pitching and Reflection
Interview Skills, Career Pitching and Reflection
Preparing
The UTS Careers module asks you to research the job description, skills, role and culture, and to manage first impressions in person and online.
Answering
Introductory questions open the interview and call for a career pitch; behavioural questions form the bulk and are best answered with STAR stories from real experience.
Reflecting
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and good time journaling turn experiences, including interviews and work placements, into learning you can describe to employers.
Why it sits in this subject
The module prepares you to describe your public health skills to employers, and its reflection tools also help you learn from assessment feedback during the session.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Researching the job and organisation
- 02
First impressions in person and online
- 03
Introductory questions and the career pitch
- 04
Behavioural questions
- 05
The STAR method
- 06
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle
- 07
Good time journaling
- 08
After the interview
Worked example · free
Sort six reflection notes into the Gibbs cycle
- 1The argument about the topic is Description.
- 1Feeling frustrated and unheard is Feelings.
- 1The vote working while two members disengaged is Evaluation.
- 1Having no agreed way to decide is Analysis, explaining why things went as they did.
- 1Learning to propose a decision rule is Conclusion.
- 1Planning a time limit and vote is the Action plan.
Key terms
- Career Pitch
- A short account of your studies, skills, experience and interests that answers “tell me about yourself”.
- STAR Method
- A structure for behavioural answers: situation, task, actions and results.
- Behavioural Question
- An interview question that asks for a real past example to show how you behave.
Interview Skills, Career Pitching and Reflection FAQ
What is the STAR method?
A way to structure answers to behavioural questions: describe the Situation, the Task you faced, the Actions you personally took and the Results. The module advises choosing recent, relevant and specific examples, avoiding hypothetical answers, and preparing more than one example for each likely question.
What is a career pitch for?
It answers “tell me about yourself”, the most common interview question, by summarising your studies, skills, experience and professional interests briefly. It sets the tone, builds the interviewer’s curiosity, highlights what makes you different and can be adapted for networking and meeting mentors.
What are the stages of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle?
Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion and Action plan. Each stage has guiding questions, moving from what happened and how it felt, to what worked and why, to what you learned and what you will do differently next time.
How should you prepare before an interview?
Review the job description and advertisement for essential and desirable skills, what the role involves day to day and the organisation’s values, and revisit your research on the company. The module also suggests taking a screenshot of the job advertisement before it expires.
What should you do after an interview?
Thank the interviewer by email, link up on LinkedIn, let your referees know about the interview, wait the stated time before asking for an update, and be ready to discuss salary. If you are unsuccessful, ask for specific feedback, reflect on your answers and preparation, and focus on improving.
What is good time journaling?
A reflective activity from the module that tracks your energy and engagement in daily work or placement tasks, noting moments of flow and what drains you. You spend 5 to 10 minutes a day, or 15 to 30 minutes every few days, and look for themes at the end of each week.
What makes a good example for a behavioural question?
The module suggests examples from employment, extra-curricular activities or university that are recent, relevant and specific, and that convey enough complexity to count as evidence. Avoid hypothetical situations, prepare more than one example for each likely question, and do not reuse the same story across several answers.
Assessment move
Draft your career pitch on the module’s activity sheet and say it aloud until it takes about a minute. Prepare three STAR stories from work, study or volunteering, each with a measurable result. After each interview or placement, write a short Gibbs reflection, and keep a good time journal for two weeks to see which tasks energise you.
Record yourself giving the pitch and one STAR answer, then use the Gibbs cycle on the recording.
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