Developing Employment Interview and Interviewing Skills in Small-group Project Work

The value of communications skills in geographical education is briefly discussed. In particular the lack of interview and interviewing practice is noted. The use of realistic interviews as part of small-group project work has been developed at Salford over 10 years. The elements include the drafting of job and person specifications, the writing of a cv and covering letter, and the organisation and running of interview panels. Detail is given of how the whole process is assessed. Negotiation skills are also developed. An important element is the realism of the process. The principal down-side is the amount of staff time involved, but this is more than compensated for by the students' perceived value of the skills developed.