Grantee portal 
Last month, Community Foundation North East welcomed senior leaders from across the voluntary and community sector to an interactive workshop focused on one of the most challenging career moments: the interview.
Delivered as part of our Sector Support programme, ‘How to Crack the Interview: The Successful Formula for Standing Out and Representing Your Best Authentic Self’ brought together James Carss, recruitment expert and Founder of Castle Peak Group, and communications coach Paul Weedon to share practical insights on what helps candidates stand out.
Drawing on years of senior recruitment experience, James offered a valuable perspective on what decision-makers are really listening for. He encouraged participants to move beyond standard frameworks and focus instead on delivering responses that feel authentic, clear, and memorable.
Paul then explored how leaders can communicate their experience with confidence and impact. Drawing on his work coaching senior leaders at organisations including Amazon, PepsiCo and Lancôme, he demonstrated how storytelling techniques can help candidates structure stronger answers and connect more effectively with interview panels.
As Paul explained:
“The strongest interview answers aren’t the most polished, they’re the most human. When leaders learn how to structure their experiences as stories, showing the challenge, the thinking behind their decisions and what they learned, they create answers that interviewers remember.”
Reflecting on the session, Colette Harrison, Sector Support Manager at Community Foundation North East, said:
“Interviews can be daunting and this session was developed to inspire attendees to feel better-prepared to enter the interview room and move beyond rehearsed answers to convey experience and ambition with confidence. We are very grateful to James and Paul for their generosity of time and expertise in creating this practical and motivating workshop.”
Sessions like this form part of the Community Foundation’s ongoing commitment to strengthening leadership across the sector. We are pleased to share that following the session, one of the attendees put their learning into practice and has since secured a new job.
Paul will be returning in June to deliver a Pitching workshop, exploring how leaders can communicate ideas with clarity and impact. You can book your place here.
You can find out more about our Sector Support programme here, or you can contact Colette Harrison using the form below.
Contact Colette Harrison
Colette oversees the Foundation’s sector support offer, brokering pro-bono support and training opportunities for local charities and community organisations.
ch@communityfoundation.org.uk