I didn't realise how much they'd already decided before the interview even started.

I'd been preparing like it was going to be structured.
It isn't. It's more about how you are with people in the room.

Honestly, this was so much better than a PDF.
The gold standard answers helped me understand the level, and the practice areas made me actually do the work instead of just reading.

For me it was the camera practice.
I was not terrible, but I could see I was rushing and looking away too much. I fixed that before recording the real one.

I’d already bought interview questions before.
This was different because it made me think about the room, the group task and how I was behaving, not only my answers.

The timer and recording bit helped so much.
I thought my answer was fine, then I watched it back and realised I was talking too fast and not finishing cleanly.

Had to go back over the TAOR bit a couple times.
Didn’t click straight away.
Some examples felt a bit lighter than the others.

The group exercise part.
No one really explains that.
That's where I'd been going wrong.

I remember standing there thinking I was ready.
Then it started and I was more focused on saying something than actually paying attention.

I thought I understood what they meant by being natural.
I probably did… but not in how I actually came across.

It was the bit where you're waiting to be called in.
I didn't think that part mattered.

I was the one in the grey blazer who kept nodding too much. I didn’t even realise I did that until I read the section on over-signalling.

I kept trying to remember the ‘right’ thing to say and then halfway through I realised I’d basically stopped listening.

I always thought my issue was my answers. It wasn’t. It was how fast I was speaking. Slowing down made me sound calmer instantly.

Some parts felt uncomfortable to read at first — mostly because it pointed out things I didn’t realise I was doing.