Congratulations on getting through to the interview round for a construction or engineering planning role. The following hints and tips should help maximise the chances of a successful outcome.
General tips.
Project planners may be working on site or in offices, but interviews always call for smart office wear, including clean shoes. Also ensure that personal grooming has been attended to. Always double check addresses and contact details for interviews, and leave plenty of time to get there, ringing well in advance if there are any delays.
Read up about the company and the specific role beforehand, and think of some interesting questions to ask the interviewer – for example, what is the company’s expansion plan over the next three years? Take along copies of any CVs or application forms submitted, and look them over again before the interview.
Candidates should familiarise themselves with the key attributes required for the roles and practise how to demonstrate the possession of those skills using past employment or educational examples.
Further information for planning job candidates.
Planning roles cover a wide variety of types of job, but all are key within construction and engineering projects, and as such interviewers will be looking for candidates that can clearly demonstrate that they are reliable, conscientious and forward-thinking, as well as being a proactive team player.
Candidates need to be able to demonstrate these skills through their past employment experience, so think about how best to highlight the attributes; it could be by showing how previous projects were successful, or perhaps showcasing relevant degree work for those with less previous experience.
Interviewers will be expecting candidates to be able to communicate their views clearly and concisely, and to maintain a professional approach at all times.
Anticipating interview questions.
- How would you deal with site employees who disagreed with the timescales you had determined within a plan?
- What do you see as the key challenges faced by planners on a day-to-day basis?
- Do you prefer being office or site based? Why?
- Can you describe what you see as a typical day for a planner?
- Are there any professional qualifications you would like to gain in the next few years?
- What would you say are the most important attributes a successful planner needs?
- What interests you most about working within planning?
General interview questions.
- Why should this company employ you?
- Why are you looking to leave your current role?
- What appeals to you most about this role? What appeals least?
- Why did you apply to this company?
- How do you see your career developing over the next few years?
- Do you have any questions about the role or the company?
Scenario interview questions.
- Describe a recent planning task and tell me what was most and least successful about the project.
- Tell me about a problem you have faced that required logical thinking to solve. Would you approach the problem differently next time?
- Can you explain how you would go about developing the very initial stages of a long-term plan? Who would you engage with first?
Using a recruitment agency will be helpful as they may well have further information about a specific role.
