How to Prepare for an Internal Job Inter­view

Applying for a different role inside your own organisation can feel different from applying elsewhere, because people may already know you. This guide helps you prepare with evidence, a comparison of your current and target responsibilities, and questions about how the process works. It does not describe how any particular organisation runs internal applications, so it asks you to find out.

The practice suggestions here are optional. Honesty, confidentiality and permission are not optional. All examples are fictional and are not for you to copy as your own experience.

Find out how the process works

Read the published process, or ask the contact named in the advert. Do not assume the answers. Useful questions include:

• Who is involved, and what are the stages, such as an interview, a task or a panel?
• Is my current manager told, and if so, when and by whom?
• Is there guidance on what I may say to colleagues about the application?
• Is there anything in the advert or process about who may apply?
• How and when will I hear the outcome, and will I receive feedback?

If the answer is not written down, ask politely and note what you are told.

Give the panel your evidence in full

Colleagues and managers may know your work, but the panel may include people who do not, and you cannot be sure what each person knows. "You already know what I do" is not an answer. Describe a specific piece of work, what you did, what others did and what happened, including if the outcome is unknown. Our guide to explaining your contribution to a team achievement covers separating your part from the team's.

Compare current and target responsibilities

Write short answers to these prompts:

• What are you responsible for now? List real duties, and say which decisions are made by others.
• What does the target role ask for? Take it from the advert or job description, not from what you have heard.
• Where do the two overlap? Choose real examples.
• Where is the gap? Say what you have not done, and how you would learn it.

Be honest about the difference between doing a similar task and holding the responsibility. If the target role is in a different field, our guide to explaining a career change may help.

Talk about your current team respectfully and truthfully

You may be asked why you want to move or how you would work with former colleagues. You can give a true, relevant answer, including about something that was difficult. Keep to the facts that matter for the role, say them respectfully, and leave out unnecessary personal or confidential detail. Do not use internal documents, figures or details about colleagues as evidence unless you are sure you may share them with this panel. If you are unsure, ask the named contact or describe the work in general terms.

Make an evidence note

For each question you expect, write four lines. Here is a fictional note.

Fictional evidence note:

• Task asked: "Tell us about a time you coordinated work involving more than one team."
• True existing example: "I coordinate the weekly supervisor rota. I collect leave requests from the team and pass them to my supervisor, who decides. I send the finished rota to the team and to the departments affected."
• Responsibility not yet held: "I have not agreed changes with department heads myself. My supervisor does that."
• Question for the panel: "In this role, which part of that agreement would be mine, and what support would there be at first?"

A fictional question about the process might be: "Could you tell me what the stages are and who will be on the panel?"

Practise your answer

Say your answers aloud if you wish. If you practise with another person, agree with them before recording and before sharing any recording, and do not use colleagues' confidential material. In a real interview, do not use any tool to generate answers unless the organiser has explicitly allowed it.

This guide is published by Muqabala. You can visit our interview practice page for your next practice session. Do not paste confidential employer, client or personal information into any practice tool.