Where this work started
Orla spent eight years in talent acquisition across financial services and technology, reviewing thousands of applications and sitting on interview panels weekly.
That experience made one thing clear: most candidates prepare for the wrong things. They rehearse answers to questions that rarely appear, while leaving gaps in areas interviewers consistently probe.
What pisoley actually covers
The guides here draw on real hiring patterns — not generic advice. Each piece addresses a specific stage: from application screening to final-round behavioural interviews.
Content is updated regularly using signals from a curated news feed portal and industry hiring reports, so the frameworks reflect current expectations rather than outdated conventions.
How the research holds up
Every guide is cross-referenced against recent hiring data. When interview formats shift — structured panels, asynchronous video, case-based assessments — the content shifts with them.
The goal is not to give readers a script. It is to help them understand the logic behind each format well enough to adapt on their own.
A second perspective
on preparation
Pisoley has always been a collaborative effort. Declan Varga joined in 2021, bringing a background in organisational psychology and assessment design.
His work focuses on the cognitive and structural side of interviews — how decisions are actually made under time pressure, and what that means for how candidates should frame their responses.
-
2018
pisoley founded
First guides published covering competency-based interview formats, drawn from direct hiring panel experience.
-
2019
Sector-specific content added
Guides expanded to cover technology, finance, and public sector interviews — each with different evaluation criteria.
-
2021
Research layer introduced
Declan Varga joined, adding structured analysis of assessment psychology and decision-making patterns in panel interviews.
-
2023
Format tracking begins
Regular monitoring of a news feed portal and hiring trend reports introduced to keep content aligned with current interview formats.
-
2025
Asynchronous interview guides
New material covering video-first and AI-assisted screening — formats now used by a growing share of mid-to-large employers.