Interview process
At Edinburgh Airport, we want to give candidates the best chance to demonstrate their skills and experience during an interview, so we have outlined our common interview format below, along with some example questions you may be asked on the day.
When you are invited to an interview for one of our roles, we will provide an invite with all the relevant information – timings, parking arrangements, what to bring with you and where to go on arrival. We will also provide the core competencies and values in advance, so you can be prepared for the type of questions that will be asked.
Our Aviation Security role has a different recruitment process, and you can read more information here – you will have a one to one interview as part of our Security recruitment process, so the below advice is still helpful.
Please note this page outlines the steps for Edinburgh Airport and Edinburgh Airport Services roles only. Our partners follow their own processes and you should consult the relevant brand’s guidance for this.
Types of interview question
Most of our interviews will have a competency based section, where you will be asked a question about your experience, often a situational or ‘tell me about a time..’ question, and you can demonstrate your relevant experience and learnings from the example. We would recommend structuring your answers in the ‘STAR’ format for these types of questions, as outlined here.
An example of these questions can be; ‘Describe a time you experience an unexpected challenge at work. How did you approach this?‘, – testing Problem Solving as a competency or ‘What is a recent difficult decision you have had to make? What made it difficult? How long did it take you?‘ – testing Decision Making as a competency
Our values are core to all areas of our business, and our employees demonstrate our values daily – so we want to ensure anyone joining the airport understands their importance and can demonstrate this through actions. You can read more about our values here.
An example of these questions may be; ‘Tell me about an occasion when you helped team morale. How did you do this?‘ which relates to our ‘Working Together’ value, or ‘Could you give an example of a situation in which you listened carefully to another person? How did that show?‘ which relates to our ‘Caring about what we do’ value.
Depending on the role, you may be asked technical questions – these will be specific to the position you have applied to, and will be used to learn more about your experience in a particular specialist area of a subject.
For example, if you’ve applied for one of our IT Operations roles, we may ask for your experience in using a specific software, or steps you would take to resolve an issue in a scenario.
Interview hints and tips
- You should give yourself plenty of time to prepare for an interview – review the job description, understand the skills and experience we are asking for, and think of some relevant examples you could use during the interview.
- It is natural to be nervous during an interview, and our hiring managers know that! You can always ask for a minute to collect your thoughts, or ask the interviewer to repeat the question.
- It’s important to be clear and concise when answering questions – don’t speak too quickly, and ensure you have answered all aspects of the question.
- We recommend the STAR method of answering interview questions – more information is available here – which keeps you on track and helps you to formulate a well structured answer.
- Remember an interview is a two way street – so please ask us questions and make sure that Edinburgh Airport is the right place for you!