"I've recently finished studying Mechanical Engineering and now I'm starting to look for a job. I'd like to stay near Southampton, because I've got a strong interest in sailing, but how much might that limit my employment prospects?"

Duncan is right to be thinking carefully about this issue. The choice about whether to move and whereabouts to work can not only have a big impact on your life, it can affect your whole career.

"On a training course someone told me that I should always 'take control' of the interview, but how in the world would I do that? Where do I even start? I can't imagine trying to force my agenda onto the interviewing panel."

This was from Wendy during a group session on interview technique that I was running recently on behalf of a client making redundancies. Put another way, how do you put across what you really want to say when the interviewer is perhaps asking questions that don't touch on where your real strengths shine from?

“What’s the best way to organise and run a mock interview practice session and who should I do this with? Do I need to pay a trainer or consultant to help me?”

This was raised by Anna H during an out-placement training session and the answer may be quite encouraging for everyone. The prospect of an upcoming interview can be daunting if you haven’t been to any other interviews for a while. It definitely is a case of practice makes perfect.

"I've been given a date and time for a Skype call with a departmental manager from a company I'm applying for a job with. I feel okay about interviews generally, but this is a first for me. Is there anything special I should think about to prepare for it?"

Sally was attending a group interview preparation training session when she asked this question. Early-stage telephone or video preliminary interviews are becoming more and more common.