Interviewing for the new Create for Confidence Researcher

Recently, the Create for Confidence team have been searching for a new researcher to join the team. Being able to communicate with young people is vital for the job. So who better to assess the candidates than members of the Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG)? Jihaan (aged 16) and Ayaan (aged 12) joined the interview recruitment panel to feed back on how well the interviewees could communicate.

Jihaan and Ayaan share how they found their interviewing experience.

Jihaan, YPAG member

Last year, around this time, I found myself in an unexpected role at a YPAG meeting—an interview panellist. It was a refreshing change from the usual routine, so you really cannot imagine my excitement when Lucy reached out again this year for another round.

My task was to observe and evaluate candidates vying for the Research Associate post at Create for Confidence. As a representative of the general public, I simply had to listen, assess, and rate presentations out of 10.

Lucy mentioned a few tweaks for this year like no long breaks, which I was glad to hear because I didn’t want to wander around town aimlessly for two hours, and a new partner, which meant no more working with Stan. While I’ll miss his company, I looked forward to working with Ayaan. I’d met Ayaan in different YPAG events beforehand and every time I’d met him he’d been lovely so I was looking forward to deciding on a few strangers’ foreseeable futures with him.

Considering the fact that I’m writing this a little over a month after the event, I don’t really remember the exact specifics of the day, but I do remember the candidates were warm and engaging, and their presentations left a lasting impression. Yet, amidst the VERY impressive displays, I was slightly disappointed none of the candidates’ presentations involved an expressive dance about mental health.

Nevertheless, the experience was amazing. The insights gained from the candidates’ presentations have really resonated with me, and I’m not just saying that to be nice. I can still recall almost every presentation over a month later, just from how well they presented it alone.

Overall, the experience was amazing, the presentations were amazing, everything was great. I’m kinda hoping this interview panel becomes an annual thing where Lucy just gives me the power to decide on some strangers’ fates once a year.

Ayaan, YPAG member

My role was to take part in the interview process for the Research Associate role for Create for Confidence.

This was a great experience. I enjoyed interviewing, observing and meeting people, then watching their slides on the screens.

The day went great. Firstly, we walked in and sat down, getting ready and preparing ourselves for interviewing. We went upstairs to sit with Naomi and two of her nice colleagues on the panel, we were waiting excitedly for the first candidate. Then we interviewed the contestants one by one, starting with portraying their slide shows. When they each finished their piece, Carmel took us back to the room and we discussed and wrote about their presentations and findings. We scored and shortlisted the candidates, and we had a mutual agreement on who we thought would be a best fit for the role.

I enjoyed watching their presentations and being part of the whole experience, it has given me an insight to how it may look like when I go for my first interview.

This opportunity gave me loads of confidence in how to observe people and how to identify their skills and experience. I think it has been really interesting and I would like to take part in opportunities like this in future, I think it would be really cool to find out how other organisations interview people.

To find out more about the Create for Confidence project, see the Create for Confidence website or get in touch with the team at: create-for-confidence@bristol.ac.uk