Preparing for your interview.

Pre-interview research.

Don’t be surprised if the first question in your interview is “what do you know about us?”. It’s part of the assessment, and your research before your interview will help you nail your answer.

If you’re struggling to answer their question concisely, or you’re desperately reading their company website aloud, word-for-word, the interviewers and recruiters will probably pick up on it.

My advice;

Do at least 30 minutes of research; check the company website, about us page, product and/or services pages, and company blogs.

Google industry press about the company, company social media pages, and check out the LinkedIn pages of the people you’ll meet in the interview.

Write an elevator pitch, to summarise what you’ve learned about the company. Think about the company’s ‘what’, ‘how’, and ‘why’.

Make notes on the things that grabbed your attention and the areas you want to dig deeper (it looks good if you take notes with you to the interview).

And, when you get to the interview;

Ask relevant questions that flow with your conversation; concentrate on the topics that you’re passionate about.

Actively listen. This may be a given, but sometimes it can be the hardest thing to do.

Talking about your CV and experience.

The interviewer may have invested a lot of time to read through your CV. But, this isn’t always the case if there are large volumes of applicants or busy schedules. Either way, you should still approach your CV walkthrough with the same plan in mind;

Keep it simple. Talk about the elements most relevant to the position you’re gunning for. Study the job description, and you should get an idea about the key things, and try to mirror the spec.

Use the S.T.A.R technique to describe your experience;

Situation (15%); overview of the situation, the employer name, industry, and size.

Task (15%): your role, and your key responsibilities.

Action (55%): how you solved the problems, and what tools you used.

Result (15%): metrics showing the impact you made.

Ask questions. In real life, you would ask if you needed to explain more; so don’t shy away from “does that make sense?” or “do you want me to talk more about any details”.

Opinion Questions.

Opinion questions are insightful, yet they’re neglected by most candidates.

They are especially practical when you’re asked “do you have any questions for us?”. People ask matter-of-fact questions about the team size or the tech stack, and these facts are important, but usually covered already.

Ask relevant questions that engage the opinions or personality, i.e:

What are you most proud of in your time at [XXXX]?

What do you enjoy about the environment at [XXXX]?

What are you looking forward to in the next 12 months at [XXXX]?

What have been the most satisfying challenges at [XXXX]?

What is the biggest lesson from your time at [XXXX]?

Opinion questions have three benefits;

You get to see personality, making it easier to figure out if you’d like to work with them.

You will build rapport, separating you from other interviewees.

You get the chance to show that you share interests, an ideal way to end an interview.

Talking about what you want, and what you don’t want.

You will be judged on your motivations and their alignment with the role, team, and organisation.

It’s vital that you can describe the work and work-life things you care about, i.e. learning & development, mission, culture, feeling valued, impact, work-life balance, career ladder, complex challenges, teamwork, benefits, etc, etc.

Make a note of 5 things that you’re seeking from your next job, and why they’re essential for you. Also, think about 3 things you don’t want, want to avoid, or reasons you’re leaving your current job. And, be ready to explain them.

A candidate that has marginally less skill or experience, but whose passions are more aligned with the opportunity, is often the better hire in the long run.

Meeting multiple people in your process.

Modern interview processes are designed to be impartial. It’s unlikely that two people would have exchanged notes about you.

When you meet several people throughout a process, try not to assume they know about you, and be prepared to repeat yourself. Keep up your enthusiasm, and don’t hold back from asking similar opinion questions to multiple interviewers.

Top tip: If you’re in an interview with more than one person, don’t be shy to talk to them individually; wait patiently for the first response and then ask the next person for their opinion. It will show your communication skills and will leave each person feeling valued.

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Article⁠

posted on LinkedIn in 2015.

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