4 Steps to a Memorable Interview

Hello, brave job applicant. In your search for greener employment pastures, you’ve embarked on a potentially anxious and testing journey, and I wish you the best of luck. But before you begin your interview expedition, take a quick trip with me, if you will, to the other side of the desk – settle into this lovely ergonomic office chair, prepare your notebook, and slip on the shoes of your interviewer, the hiring manager.

Imagine: you have an open position that you need filled yesterday, and have five interviews lined up for the afternoon. The candidates are well-qualified on paper and were chosen as the best-of-the-best from a solid stack of resumes, so now it comes down to meeting face-to-face and selecting the top of the crop to be your next shining star.

Maybe you’re not exactly sure what you hope to see in these interviews, but you certainly know what you don’t want to see – five versions of the same candidate, each giving the same answers, asking the same questions, and blending the memory of each into the other the minute they leave your office. You want a candidate who steals the show and makes your decision an easy one. You want someone who stands out.

It’s easy to forget when we’re on the candidate side of the interview process because we’re generally targeted into just one or a few different opportunities, but a manager who is hiring is likely considering a variety of candidates, and sometimes needs a little help being sold on why you are not only a great choice for their opening, but the best choice. Luckily, separating yourself from the herd isn’t all that tough with just a little preparation and strategy. 

1. Set the Table

You can’t exceed expectations without meeting them first, so it’s important to be mindful of ticking the boxes of basic expectation. Are you dressed to impress? How’s your handshake? Did you check out your interviewer on LinkedIn to hunt for any easy ice-breaking talking points? Do you have a basic understanding of the role and what the company does? Do you know how to pronounce the company’s name? Do you have questions prepared?

These might seem like no-brainer aspects to consider, but that’s sort of the point – you don’t want to be the one interview that, “could have been so good, if only she’d not been five minutes late.” First impressions matter, so you have to make sure you aren’t losing ground on the group because of an easily-avoidable misstep.

2. Tailor Your Sales Pitch

Specificity sells, and in an interview, you’re your own sales rep. An open seat represents a problem to a hiring manager, and finding someone to hire is their solution, so it’s up to you to present yourself as the best possible solution. How? By building a sales pitch that highlights your strengths, supports your claims with specific examples, and spins those attributes into reasons you’re not just a great candidate, but a great candidate for this particular opening.

In theory, if you’ve done something successfully in the past, you should be able to do it in the future, and if you pitch your successes properly, you’ll answer the interviewer’s questions before they even ask them. And the more specific you can be, the better – maybe every candidate under consideration has created an eye-catching marketing campaign, but if you can show that yours boosted store visits by 250% in three months, you’re giving the interviewer something tangible to hold in their memory.

3. Base Questions on Research

There are two ways to demonstrate the research you’ve done: by outright stating what you know about the job and company at the beginning of the conversation, or by taking what you’ve learned to the next level and incorporating it into the questions you ask throughout the interview – guess which option I prefer?

You should assume that every candidate will come equipped with questions, but using your questions to demonstrate interest and insight is a great way to make your interview stand out – after all, you can’t wonder how the company will create momentum from last quarter’s great sales numbers without having taken the effort to research how the company has been performing, right? Asking research-backed questions is a simple and effective shortcut to demonstrate how prepared, organized, and insightful you are.

And along those same lines, it’s never a bad idea to ask follow-up questions of the interviewer. Aside from simply making your interview more conversational and therefore more involving and comfortable, follow-up questions demonstrate that you’re actually listening to the interviewer and processing what they’re saying. The more an interviewer has to actually think about their responses rather than just responding on reflex, the more likely the interview is to stick with them afterward.

4. Follow Up

And finally, if you want your interview to be remembered, send a reminder. There’s a pretty solid divide on whether it’s best to follow up with a hand-written note or an email (I personally prefer email because it’s more immediate), but there’s no disagreement over the fact that a generic, non-specific template note equates to nothing more than a pile of wasted words.

There’s no need to send a minute-by-minute breakdown of the meeting, but if something said by the interviewer increased your already high interest, mention it. If you connected briefly on your shared love of baking, throw that in there. The follow-up letter is your last chance to sell your fit for that role and that company as the best one imaginable, and you can’t get that job done with a note that sounds like it could apply to any random job you applied for. Make your message specific, and congratulate yourself for giving that interviewer an interaction they won’t easily forget.