Acing your Interview - general tips
When you are looking for a new job, you will need to do several interviews, in order for the company to understand both if you have the right skill set and if you would fit in with the team. There are plenty of pitfalls that you need to avoid so you can be acing your interview that will lead to an eventual job. In this post we’ll go through some general tips on how to be totally awesome during your next interview and acing it.
Acing your interview
The next posts will go through a first Skype/Hangout/Phone interview, then In person interviews and lastly Live coding tips.
Believe in yourself
If you don’t believe you will get this job, how can you convince someone else you’re the perfect fit?
Be yourself
Well, unless you’re a total freak – don’t try to be someone you’re not. There is no point in trying to be completely different from your real you, the one they will hire. That will end badly for all involved parties.
Be on time
This one applies to any kind of interview. If it’s a physical interview, research the exact location and how to get there, and then try to arrive at location around 15 minutes before the interview is scheduled to start, and then go to the reception around 5 minutes before the interview. For Skype and other virtual meetings, make sure you are available and have added the interviewer if you have their ID. If you don’t, send them an email with your ID around 5 minutes before the interview.
Be humble
Sure, you probably contributed a lot to the success of your previous jobs, but it’s not believable that you did everything on your own. Lift up your contributions to the projects you’ve been involved with, but also those of your co-workers. Most companies are looking for a team player, not a solo renegade.
Know who you will be talking to
What is this persons name? Is it a recruiter, a manager or your future team leader? Is it a man or a woman? With gender neutral names or names from a different culture, it’s not always 100% certain and nobody likes being called Sir/Madam…
Know how to pronounce the interviewers name
This is connected to the previous point. Try to research how the name of the interviewer is pronounced if it’s not a name you know already. In today’s global world, you will run into names you don’t know how to pronounce every now and then. If you can’t figure it out, ask. It really sucks to be called the wrong name for an hour.
Prepare some questions
You will get asked a lot of questions, but you should also be prepared to ask the interviewer questions. Not asking anything just shows you don’t really care about getting the job. Write down questions during the interview to ask at the end.
Research the company
If I had a $1 for every time I interviewed a candidate that start a conversation with “I don’t know ANYTHING about your company!”… You expect the person that interviews you to have at least checked your CV and you should at least read through the company web site and try to understand what they do.
Be prepared for tech questions
We only hire developers and other technically skilled people, so this is very relevant to our industry. Always be prepared to answer a technical question, even during a first interview or with a recruiter. Don’t be caught off guard.
Research common interview questions
There are some questions that always come up, try be prepared for them. Some of them will probably be the extremely boring “what is your worst quality?” or similar. I know, those questions suck and we never ask them at Devv, but you WILL run into them every now and then, so you might as well have given it some thought.
Practice speaking the language the interview is in
Again, this is a point that is very relevant to the way we work, since we hire from all over the world. If the interview will be in English and that’s not your first language, get as much practice as you can beforehand. Even if you’re confident in your written English, try speaking it for an hour or so before the interview so you’re warmed up. The rustier your language skills are, the longer you need to practice.
Prepare references
You will most likely be asked about references, so talk to some of your former co-workers, managers and clients beforehand so you can give their contact details if asked.
Practice your body language
This applies mostly to physical interviews and virtual interviews with webcam. Over half of your communication is your body language, so be mindful not to send out the wrong signals.
Focus!
Be present, be focused. Make sure you don’t have anything else on your mind than the interview. Don’t browse Facebook while being interviewed…
Smile!
Both on the phone and in person. It makes you sound more confident and friendly. If you’re meeting in person or over webcam, don’t smile ALL the time though. That comes off as creepy and insincere.
Be clear and concise
Don’t drag out into long and convoluted answers. Answer the question to the best of your knowledge and then be quiet. I could have dragged each point in this article out to 10 sentences each, but it would just add reading time without giving you more information. The same is true for an interview.
Don’t bore the interviewer
This connects to the above point. If you go on and on about the same thing for 5 minutes you will bore the interviewer and most likely lose your chance at the job. Look for engagement from the interviewer to gauge interest.
Show that you want the job
Be enthusiastic, be interested, be curious. You would be surprised at how many people interview for jobs that they don’t seem to want.
Show why you would be a fit
This is a tricky one. Try to understand what the requirements for the job and the tasks you will do are, and try to find parallels to your previous experiences. If you’ve built a similar system or have other skills that would make it easier for you to understand the project quicker than most people, mention that.
Don’t get too personal
I ask non-work related questions all the time, but if you’re being interviewed, wait to be asked before going into personal stuff.
Speak clearly
Don’t mumble and make it hard for the interviewer to understand what you’re saying. Try to annunciate your words properly.
Make the interview a conversation
The best interviews are a give and take where both the interviewer and the interviewee are participating and asking each other questions. Engage the person you speak to.
Be aware of your verbal ticks
Most people have them – words and sounds that are used to fill in silences with “eee” or “mmm” or “you know”. Be mindful of them and try to avoid them.
If you don’t understand a question, ask for a clarification
Sometimes interviewers are vague, unclear or just plain wrong in the way they ask a question. If you’re not sure what question you’re supposed to answer, ask for a clarification or say something like “As far as I understand, you want to know X?”.
Think before you reply
Some people think while talking (I have a tendency to do that myself) but it can come across as babbling. If you’re asked a hard question, say that you have to think about it a few seconds and then do that. It’s better to give off an eloquent answer after 20 seconds of thinking than to go into a 5 minute tirade without really saying anything.
Ask if you should elaborate
If you give a short and focused answer to a question but feel there is more to tell, ask if you should elaborate. It could be a personal experience or a deeper level of understanding behind your answer.
Lift up relevant parts of your experience
This is connected to showing why you’re a fit. Try to think about all your experiences, both at work and personally, and lift up the things you think would benefit your potential employer.
Never talk bad about previous employers
I’ve had bad experiences as well, but an interview is not the place to say how bad your former boss was or how much a former co-worker annoyed you. If you left a company for a specific reason, try to put it in a polite way. The harsher you are about it, the more they will wonder if you will say the same things about them in the future.
Focus on what you can provide
Especially at the earlier interviews, focus more on how you can help the company grow than how they can help you personally. Don’t forget that for a company to hire you, you need to provide a higher value to them than your salary and benefits. The more you show that you can help them, the higher salary you will get in the end.
Match your interviewer
This can be hard to do – but study after study has shown that we like people that are similar to us. If the person that interviews you are very professional and strict, don’t joke and come off as too casual. However, if you talk to me or Kris, feel free to joke and have fun – it makes interviewing a lot more fun for both of us!
Do industry research
Know at least a little bit about the industry the company you interview for is in.
Think about what your social media profiles say about you
We will search for you. Don’t give us a reason to regret that we did. Pictures of you behaving in a non-professional way does not portray you in a good way.
Pick a good interview time if you have the choice
All times are not created equal. Early morning, right before lunch, very late in the day are all bad times to be interviewed. Recruiters are human (most of us at least) and our mood vary during the day. We might be tired in the morning and late in the day and hungry just before lunch. In fact, a study of judges show that they give the harshest sentences right before lunch and in the end of the day.
Don’t make excuses
If you make a mistake and get called out on it – own up to it and admit you were wrong. Lying only makes things worse.
Ask about the next step
When the interview starts to come to a close, ask about the next steps. It shows interest and that you care about getting the job. It also removes some of the guesswork from your side.
Do a post mortem
Think about what you did right and what you can improve for your next interview. If you do get a no, ask for feedback and how you can improve. Be humble when you get feedback and don’t get angry if you disagree about something. Ask a trusted friend on feedback on the same issue to get a second opinion and ask your friend to be honest.
Don’t nod all the time
It does show agreement but if you do it too much the person interviewing you will get annoyed. This is especially important in a face to face interview.
In closing
These are some of our top tips on how Nail your interview. Do you have something to add? Something I got wrong? Don’t be afraid to call me out on Twitter or email me.
Next time I will give you tips on how to improve your Skype/Hangouts/Phone interviews specifically. That will be a shorter post.
