interview

Long gone are the golden days when companies would hover around universities recruiting fresh-faced graduates for high-paying schemes. Now most of us have to look pretty far afield to get a decent starting salary, or indeed any salary at all.

And being forced to travel just to get a 15-minute meeting with a potential employer makes the whole interview process 100 times more stressful than it normally is.

You're not just trying to prepare some answers and get your CV in tip-top shape, you're also dealing with crashing on a friend's sofa or surviving a cheap hotel room in a strange city you're completely lost in.

So that you can concentrate on that all-important prep work, we're sharing a few top tips that'll help make your next out-of-town interview go much smoother. Take a look.

#1: calculate travel expenses before you go

Before you agree to an interview, calculate travel expenses so that you can determine whether or not it's worth it. It might seem awkward, but ask if they offer compensation for travel costs. Lots of bigger companies will, although they may not always advertise it.

If they don't provide financial help, then check Skyscanner for deals on any flights you need and Airbnb for cheaper accommodation, to save as much money as possible.

#2: don't cut it too fine

You've probably heard all the statistics and stories about how competitive the jobs market is at the moment but when it comes to that first interview, the right preparation can take you far. Be ready for a new opportunity with a combination of thorough research, self-analysis and determining what employers are looking for.

It's a good idea to put in some study time on the company itself. The interviewer won't require you to know everything, but will expect that your interest in the post goes beyond the salary. Find out a basic overview of their structure and history with web tools like company house webcheck, look at promotional literature or their website and check out any articles in the media about the brand.

Now turn your attention to your assets versus their needs. Go over your own experience and then look through the job description and person specification, noting down by each point the skills on your CV which will show that you have what they want.

This done, you can think about specific questions they might ask. Many interview questions are competency-based, meaning they will be looking for examples from your life, which demonstrate your suitability.

A group of student actors in London are turning the camera on themselves and their world to create a brand new mockumentary. ‘Thesps' is a web series that will follow the lives of a group of actors sharing a flat together as they attempt to ‘make it' in the daunting world of theatre and film.

The project is a collaboration between students at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and London Met Film School, and they certainly don't lack ambition. The unique way in which they are launching the first episode proves that.

On Thursday and Friday next week British comedian Mark Watson is putting on a 25 Hour Show in aid of Comic Relief. Hosted at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington, he will be joined by a whole range of famous faces all in the hope of raising as much money for charity as possible.

As part of the show, the ‘Thesps' will be attempting to film and edit clips from the opening episode of the series in just 25 hours. To make it even more challenging, questions can be posed to the characters by the audience at the theatre as well as by fans on Twitter and Facebook.

To find out more about this ambitious project, we spoke to Director & Producer Victoria Eyton:

- Why THESPS?

As part of India Week we interviewed the brilliant comedian Inder Manocha about his heritage and how he got in to stand-up:

Tell us about your Indian and British heritage?

My parents are from India, although my mother's background is Iranian. I was born in London and have been to India once, to visit the Baha'i Lotus Temple in New Delhi. I have inherited more 'Indianness' than I probably realise. Even though I don't speak any of the languages, I feel very Indian sometimes: my views on family, the way I can express myself, my mannerisms. But I can also be very English.

What was it like being a student at Oxford University?

This was Oxford in the late 80s. I was one of very few ethnic minority students. In fact I was a bit exotic. I went back recently to do a show and it was very different. Oxford was fine but a bit of a museum. A very traditional approach to my course (I studied modern history). I did a few plays and loved that. That kept me going.

How did you get into the world of comedy and acting?