Four strategies for excelling at interviews
We all know how nerve-racking job interviews can be. This year, I’ve been through dozens of interviews and I’d like to share a few strategies that have helped me succeed at them.
During my search for full-time employment, I noticed a trend that was quite puzzling: so many people kept congratulating me for simply being offered an interview. While I restrained myself from expressing my surprise outwardly, I did spend some time to think about it. Though I had put in a ton of effort in sending out applications and networking, I still felt I hadn’t done much to warrant the congratulatory messages I was receiving, since I was yet to pass the actual interview. Truth be told, I felt as though people automatically expected me to get the job, which put a little extra pressure on me that I was convinced I didn’t need.
I have a slightly different perspective now. Maybe getting an interview is indeed praiseworthy, because it is an opportunity to highlight your skills, experiences and personality in a way that compels your interviewer to want to bring you onto the team. If you’d like to know how to do this, you should read further.
- Understand the requirements
In a year like 2020, you’ve probably made countless networking calls and sent out numerous job applications. But that is just the first step in a series of progressions towards actually securing the job you desire. Once an interview has been granted, the worst thing you can do is go into the interview without properly understanding what is important to your interviewer. Your interviewer will be seeing several candidates, and one of the first tools he or she will use in whittling down potential candidates will be your understanding of what the company’s priorities are.
A great understanding of the job description is essential to your success during the interview. Very often, hiring managers make tradeoffs on job requirements and offer you an interview even when you don’t meet 100% of the job criteria. Carrying out an honest assessment of how your skills and experiences stack up against the job description puts you in an advantageous position. Figuring out how to leverage those strengths in a way that directly corresponds with the priorities of the company shows the interviewer that you understand what they’re looking for and that you’re already poised to positively benefit the company should you be accepted. Your willingness to take the initiative gives you a much greater advantage.
I have found the STAR Stories format very effective in highlighting my skillsets for various roles. After I have determined what is important for the role, I create narratives using the STAR-L template. For example, if leadership and critical thinking are prerequisites for the role, I think about experiences I’ve had where I have exhibited these skills. I recall the “Situation”, my “Task”, the “Actions” I took and the “Results” I achieved. I then tie it back to a “Learning” which highlights my self-awareness and willingness to use the lessons for continuous improvement.
2. Prepare adequately
I cannot stress how key preparation is. Ideally, you want to start preparing for interviews before being offered one, but not everyone can do so. To get started, you’ll need to understand the company as a whole — its mission, vision and strategic objectives. All this information can be found on the company’s website, and in recent articles and news clippings about the company. Spend a little time reading and understanding the key tenets of the company, and the department you might be assigned to.
For bonus points, you should review the company’s recent financials if it’s available. This will help you understand how the company thinks about itself, its competitors, and the strategic direction the company is headed in the short- to medium-term. Reviewing the financials can also help you understand your potential job security in that firm. For example, a high leverage ratio might signal that the company is in financial distress.
Finally, make sure you do some research on your interviewers. Some interviews can last for up to 3 hours with multiple interviewers. LinkedIn is my go-to place for finding relevant professional information. From my research, I can construct questions that are specifically tailored to each of my interviewers based on their roles and interests. This helps to highlight my attention to detail and willingness to go beyond what is required. I also network with people within the company who will not be interviewing me to ask them relevant questions.
Preparedness cannot be faked. If you are well prepared, you will exude confidence.
3. Be personable
Yes, everything you have done to prepare is great, and for most jobs, especially highly competitive ones, you can be certain that almost everyone has done the same. So how are you unique? How do you stand out, and why should you be hired above all the other equally impressive candidates? What you have that is unique compared to everyone else is your personality. People with great personalities always shine through, and interviewers are always looking for people whose personalities will mesh seamlessly with the company’s culture. It is so crucial that you don’t come across as mechanical.
I once had an interview where I was not aware my interviewer had been switched. Because my questions are usually specifically tailored to my presumed interviewer, most of the questions I had prepared did not directly apply to my new interviewer. Rather than freak out, I lightheartedly joked about it during my interview. My interviewer was intrigued and asked me to share some of the questions I had prepared, which I did. He was astounded by my thoughtfulness, curiosity, and attention to detail, which shone through the questions I had prepared.
In my experience, the best interviews I have had were mostly just conversational. In these conversations, I was able to show my technical depth while simultaneously showcasing my humanity. At the end of the day, no one wants to work with a robot. People want to work with other people that are real and they can have a good time with.
4. Read the signs
An interview is as much a sales pitch for you as it is for the company. Although you want the job, it is very vital to pay attention to the ‘signs’. Watch out for things like interviewer preparedness, timeliness and the way you are treated by the recruiter during the hiring process because these are often a foretaste of things to come. All your experiences with the company throughout your engagement period with them are data points which you should use in making your employment decisions. Professionalism should go both ways — if you are expected to act professionally, you should expect to be treated the same way.
Unfortunately, I have been in interviews where my interviewers were not well prepared. I have also applied for jobs at companies where I knew the company culture would not be a great fit for me. It is so easy to get desperate and settle, especially in a year like 2020 with so much economic uncertainty. But remember that every company won’t be an excellent fit for you, and that’s okay. As Steve Jobs, the legendary visionary and co-founder of Apple stated at a Stanford University commencement speech, “You cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards.”
Now you’ve got that interview, go ahead and put your best foot forward.
