Mentoring for an interview - Janine Brooks

Janine Brooks is a founder member of Dental Mentors UK - click here to read her profile

Working with a mentor as you prepare for an interview is time well invested in your future. Any interview can be nerve wracking and it often doesn’t get any easier the more interviews you have or the longer you have worked in the profession. Dental professionals can struggle more than most as we often have fewer jobs throughout our career which means fewer interviews.

Some mentors will have more experience of conducting interviews, for example, those who work in larger organisations, for example Trusts, Corporates and Education establishments. When looking for a mentor to help you prepare for an interview these are the experiences to look for in your potential mentor. They will have constructed job descriptions and person specifications, they will have short listed candidates and conducted interviews. They will be used to formulating questions for interviews and can help you understand how to present yourself at your very best.

Another way that a mentor can help is to undertake a mock interview with you, this is great experience to build your confidence and give you practice in answering (and asking) questions. The feedback they give you will improve your performance at the real interview.

A mentor can help you to prepare how you look to ensure you present a confident, professional image in the way you dress and your body language. They can act as a mirror, picking up on mannerisms that you may not be aware of but that could affect your success.