Interviewing Tips & Tricks

As a disclaimer the tips & tricks below is my own personal advice from having the opportunity to interview hundreds of candidates and working with a variety of Hiring Leaders over the past 7 years. It does not reflect the opinions or views of any company I currently work for or have in the past.

1.     Research the company you are interviewing for!

This first tip might be the most important. If you do a little research you will find multiple sources say that many Interviewers make their decision on a candidate within the first 5 minutes of the interview. When I ask a candidate “What do you know about our company?” or “What made you interested in working here?” This is the candidate’s time to shine, show they are prepared for their interview and that they took the time to look into our organization before our scheduled call.

·       Even a quick 5-10 min google search on the company (size, values, updates in the news, awards) could be the difference between getting a second interview and the call being ended early.

·       Another reason this is so important- The interviewer can use the things you mentioned to find out what is important to you in a role & tell you more about what is relevant to you. Example- If a candidate says “From doing my company research I saw your guys Training Team was just ranked #1 in the Nation!” At this point as the Interviewer I am going to tell that candidate more about our awesome training programs.

2.     Review the Job Description before you apply & again before the interview

Doing this is important for many reasons. First, it will help you answer the question “What made you interested in applying to this role?” Second, it will help you to think of questions to ask the Interviewer about the role. Third, it will help to eliminate wasted time for you and the interviewer if the position is not the right fit.

·       In the past few months I have had 3-4 candidates answer my call for their scheduled phone interview and tell me, “After reviewing the description further I don’t think this is actually the type of position I am looking for.” At this point the Interviewer is probably questioning your attention to detail and wouldn’t be very inclined to schedule you for an interview in the future for a different role.

3.     Come prepared with questions for your Interviewer

Even though this is 3rd on my list this is probably the second most important tip. It is my personal biggest pet peeve as an Interviewer when candidates do not have questions prepared. So many thoughts come to mind- “This person doesn’t want to know what next steps look like? There isn’t one thing on the job description they would like clarified? They don’t want to know how success is evaluated in this position? They aren’t curious about any of the awesome benefits we offer? They wouldn’t like to know what could set them up for success moving forward?”

·       To prepare for the last role I interviewed for I typed out 6 questions I wanted answered before I could accept the position if I were to get an offer. These were things I wanted to know to gauge how good of a fit the role and team would be for ME. As an Interviewee it is just as important to make sure your questions are answered too so you can make an educated decision on if the role will be the right fit for you.

Side Note: I am personally a fan of having the questions typed/written out- this is a personal preference because I know I tend to get a bit nervous when I am on the other side of the table but always want to ensure I remember to get my questions answered. 

4.     Practice your answers for commonly asked interview questions

Many companies ask a few of the same interview questions and just switch up the verbiage. Going over the commonly asked interview questions and practicing your answers out loud will definitely help when you are in an actual interview. When I was on the job market myself about a year ago, I used the website below to help strategize how I would answer commonly asked questions.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/most-common-behavioral-interview-questions-and-answers

5.     Be Clear & Concise with your responses

·       Elevator pitch is key- 30-60 seconds max

·       Carefully listen and answer the actual question being asked at that time

·       Do not ramble- your Interviewer might have another interview scheduled for right after yours so being able to get through all of the questions they have for you is key

6.     Review your resume- If you can’t speak to it don’t put it on there

If a skill, technology, or responsibility is listed on your resume it is free game for your Interviewer to ask about it. Throwing hot/buzz words on your resume might seem like a great idea so you will come up in more searches when recruiters are looking for qualified candidates, BUT when it comes time to the actual interview and you are asked, “I see here on your resume that you have experience with TDD, can you tell me some of the benefits of TDD vs. Traditional Testing?” If you do not actually know what TDD is you will be in a pickle and leave the Interviewers wondering what else is on your resume that you do not know. 

Good luck! :)