Interview with confidence
Some people are naturally great at interviews and some just aren't. In my line of work, I advise candidates to always prepare for an interview, no matter how great you think you are or how good of a fit you are for the role. Additionally, if you are someone who do not have have a good track record of excelling interviews (i.e. they make you cringe and you start sweating in the all the wrong places!) it’s highly recommended that you begin your prep even before you have an interview if you are someone who don’t have an interview scheduled. Think about it this way, if you are not a runner, but you wanted to run a 5KM race to support a charity or to engage in a community run, would you start your practice runs 1-2 days before? You could, but chances are, on race day, you won’t do very well. You will finish but you won’t finish with a good time and you will feel exhausted. Similarly with an interview, you need to start practicing so you can feel comfortable with your responses and feel comfortable on “interview day.”
Here are some things that you should consider when you’re doing your prep and on the day that you interview that can help:
Be genuinely excited about the opportunity - Get in the right mindset and get pumped! If you are not completely sold on the potential opportunity or the position that you're interviewing for, this will undoubtedly be reflected in your approach, preparation, and attitude. Having a genuine interest in the position and the company is the catalyst for putting the following steps into action.
Clear your mind - now that you're excited/pumped/jazzed (insert applicable word here), you should try and be in the best state of mind possible. Try and stay calm, relaxed, and focused. Treat the upcoming interview day like any other day and follow your regular routine. Being stressed or overly anxious won't help you here! Also, if you are having personal issues, now is the time for you to ditch them.
Do your homework - 1) Research the hiring company (motto/mission statement, current events/news/projects, community involvement, employee reviews on Glassdoor, behavior in the market etc.). 2) Dissect the job description related to the position that you are interviewing for to ensure your skills align and that you can speak to the different types of requirements. 3) Research the person who is interviewing you so you can become familiar with his/her background and current role. An easy way to do this is by going to that person's LinkedIn profile.
Know your resume really well - this might seem like an obvious step but it's not for most people. Going into an interview with a "general idea" of what you have done in previous jobs will create problems for you. The key thing here is to know your resume so well that even if you take it with you to the interview, you don't need to continuously refer to it to generate your responses. Additionally, knowing your resume includes knowing specific details such as position dates, day to day duties, teams you supported, main deliverables, even down to your direct report. When you know your resume you are able to confidently speak to your experience.
Work with a professional interview coach - if you have the previous 4 steps and you are still unsure of how you will perform, then it might be time to invest in yourself. Hire and work with a professional interview coach. An interview coach will work with you on a one to one basis to build your overall confidence and work with how to tackle interview questions and provide responses that impress. You will also be provided with examples of specific questions that you can work through, provide you with individual feedback that will lift your performance and give you confidence going into the interview. The can also do mock interviews with you so you can practice interviewing in real time.
Understand the difference between Behavorial v. Technical Questions - be sure to practice the two different types of questions that can appear in an interview. The technical questions, or questions directly related to your role are easier to identify and in most cases easier to answer; these you can align with the requirements in the job description. However, behaviorial questions are the ones that typically throw most people off. I'll discuss those in a separate point below.
Become a master at Behavorial/Situational Questions - these types of questions do just that, they are aimed at identifying past behavorial traits in a professional environment to predict future behavior. They usually come in the form of questions that ask you to "tell me about a time when..." or "how have you handled conflict with a former employer" etc. The key here is to answer these questions using the STARS (situation - what happened, action - what you did, results - what resulted from the course of action taken) method. Try to remember to be specific here as well and keep your responses around 2-3 minutes. Practice makes perfect, so don't be afraid to write these questions down along with your responses. These are questions that you won't be able to escape.
Understand the structure of interviews - your first two minutes of the interview is the time for you to make your introduction and also drive/influence the flow of how the next 45 minutes to an hour will go. Within the first two minutes say confidently what you've done recently, why you're interested in the opportunity, and how you're excited to learn about how your skills can contribute to what the company is hoping to achieve.
Relax & remain professional - after you're settled into the interview try and remain calm, listen, and remain professional.
60/40 split - this is important and this is where paying attention to the interview style comes in handy. If you are in an interview that is more on the conversational side and the interviewer(s) is not reading from a rigid questionnaire, this is your opportunity to keep the interviewer engaged. 60/40 here meaning you can ask questions as they arise to keep the conversation going, as opposed to waiting until the end of the interview.
Prepare questions of your own - have at least 3-5 questions that you can ask during the interview. Naturally, once you're going through the process you'll think of some more.
