You’ve slogged through myriad job sites and stalked your dream companies on LinkedIn for months. You’ve filled out countless online application forms and written hundreds of cover letters highlighting your strengths and putting you in the best possible light as a potential candidate. And it’s paid off. You hardly read the subject line of the hallowed email before picking up the phone to tell your mom the good news. You have an interview for what could be the job of your dreams! It’s finally happening for you. Now all you have to do is nail this.
Job interviews are tricky, and it doesn’t matter where you are at in your career because each poses a unique set of challenges. But the important thing about first interviews is this, they aren’t testing you to see if you have the knowledge or skills to do the job, they already know that info from your CV. What they really want to know is would you fit in well with the company and do you ‘speak their language’. It’s like a slightly awkward first date where you met online and after doing enough research to make sure that the other person wasn’t a psycho you agreed to get to know each other a little better.
Some of the questions that they’ll ask are almost exactly like a first date - Where did you grow up? What do you like to do for fun? What are you looking for in a company?
So here’s the thing: like a first date type of scenario, it is important for both parties to establish if there is a rapport and to see if they are interested in a follow up date after having learnt more about each other. Having been on both sides of the spectrum of conducting and being in interviews I know from experience that there are a few things to look out for and some things you definitely don’t want to do. Not all interviews are going to play out in the same fashion. We are all human, and as prepared as you can be you can expect there to be some curve balls thrown your way along the process from first interview to hired. Here’s what I hope to be a quick guide on what you can do to get yourself as ready as possible for an interview, and what to look out for to stay the course and not be knocked off your game.
1. Leading up to the interview.
As they say the devil is in the details. Your first action would naturally be to thank the hiring manager and set up an appointment that suits both parties for your interview. A simple word of advice: read your emails carefully and remember to spell check. There is nothing more mortifying than having a typo in your first professional communication to the company or misspelling the recruiters name. If in doubt, read your email out loud before you send to hear how the email reads.
Research the company and what your duties will entail. It is helpful to compile a short summary of the company for your own benefit so that you can confidently display how well informed and read-up you are. List 5 things that you know about the company based on your research. You should check out all resources available including their website, Linkedin and some of their client sites. You should know what their product/service offering is and who the clients are at the very least. They will never ask you, pop quiz style, who their top clients are and what their company values strive to. But it will be a big red flag on their end if you don’t even know the basics of what they even do.
Try to find out who will be conducting the interview. Will it just be the recruiter, or will there be more people in the interview? This will be a good way to ascertain what you need to prepare and help you compile some questions to ask. Will this be an initial screening interview, or will they be checking for cultural fit as well? Check out their LinkedIn profiles and see what their responsibilities are and where they fit in the organisation.
Practice practice practice. Too many people fail to prepare sufficiently for their interview and make unnecessary, silly mistakes that could cost them the position. Check out sites like ambitionbox.com or AceTheInterview to learn from typical questions that the company might ask. You can also join a Linkedin community to see what other experienced community members suggest are common questions and how to answer them when they come up. If you are willing to invest then signing up to LinkedIn Premium (the first month is free!) will give you access to all kinds of courses including how to prepare and get through a successful interview. Do not go into an interview unprepared or try to wing it. This very seldom, if ever, works.
2. During the interview.
Have your notebook of facts written down and things you might want to bring up in the interview handy. Past projects, successes and company notes are all good things to remember. It is also good to have somewhere to jot down notes and thoughts as they come up in the interview. Chances are you will be feeling nervous and having everything at hand for quick reference will not only make you feel more in control but could make you look more professional and prepared. If you can remember everything off by heart then this will be first prize, but having something to refer to won’t put you in bad stead.
In the interview itself make sure to answer your questions properly. Before answering a complex question, rephrase the interviewer’s question to make sure you understand it properly. You can even write down the points to answer if it is a multi-facetted question to make sure you cover all your bases. Remember, your interviewers might not say anything upfront, but answering a question only in part could signal to the hiring committee that you aren’t as competent as you claim to be or could make you seem inattentive and inexperienced. If still uncertain, then after answering your question you can just ask ‘have I answered your question completely?’ or something to that tune. Any interviewer would be happy to let you know what information they are still wanting you to convey.
Have a list of questions ready for the interviewing panel and know what responses you would like to receive. Take some time and give it some thought, what’s important to you about a company and the place where you will be spending most of your time? The culture? What growth opportunities there might be? What training and support they offer? The work life balance? All of the above? Have a list of several questions ready to ask so that you in turn have a chance to learn something on your first date. By asking questions you will be able to deduce if the company really also cares about the same stuff that you do and if you actually will be happy in this environment or not. A great way to kick off your Q&A session would be to ask why the position has become available. Was this a newly created position or are you taking over from someone else? This question will give you some quick insights into the company and will impress your interviewers. If you are taking over from someone then perhaps ask about handovers and what training might be provided.
Ask what the main challenges of this position will be. The answers that they give will be a great outline for where you can get started and tell you which areas you can focus on in order to really shine within your first 3 months of being hired. Make notes of these as you go. If some of these challenges sound like things you would rather not be involved in, then this might be a sign that the position is not a good fit for you. And that’s ok. If on the other hand, these problems sound like interesting challenges and make you excited to get started then that's a good sign!
Trust your gut if you pick up any red flags when asking your questions. A scenario: you ask the interviewing panel how the company likes to motivate and engage with their employees. They respond with polite smiles of confusion. Someone babbles a bit about how you can get free coffee and a nice office space. This would be a red flag. Chances are that if someone isn’t able to tell you about how they enjoy being with the company and give examples of how work is put into benefiting and up-skilling employees then this is probably something that the company doesn’t focus on as a priority. Is this something you could get behind? Note if they are able to answer your questions properly just like they would like you to answer yours. It is easy to overlook problematic areas when you are eager to please and want to put your best self forward, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to do your absolute best, but don’t be ready to settle if there are some obvious problems that make you uneasy.
Another flag that I tend to watch out for based on experience is whether or not the panel brings up how you handle difficult team members or conflict within the environment. This could be an innocent question and could be related to a specific role you would play, like HR. So when a question like this comes up it is a good idea to delve deeper and ask for more specific information. They might be asking to see if you really are a team player, as you most likely mentioned on your CV, if you are suited to the management role and know who to handle a professional team, or they might be asking because your boss is notoriously difficult and temperamental and they need to know if you have staying power. This is also another reason to ask why this position has become available.
Once you have asked all your questions and they theirs, the interview will come to an end. Thank the panel for their time and ask when you might hear back from them regarding the next steps. This shows you are a professional who values her time, but also means that they need to commit to giving you an answer on whether there will be a second date or not within a specified timeframe. This will put your mind at ease. Send a follow up email thanking them and express your continued interest in the role should this be the case.
If your first interview is successful then there will be a few follow up interviews and lastly HR will reach out to your references provided. Then you will enter into salary negotiations. Remember to prepare for each interview properly as each phase requires something different and gives you the opportunity to see from a different perspective if this position will suit you as well in terms of your skills and interests.
3. Some after thoughts:
Know your worth. This applies to the salary you wish to receive as well as your strengths and what you bring to the table. Websites like payscale.com and indeed.com or a recruiter will be able to guide you on what to expect salary-wise. This is important so that during the interview you can establish whether or not this company is suited to your needs and is willing to offer you fair pay. Be careful of out-pricing yourself and demanding too much or else you could put yourself out of the running, but on the flip side don’t sell yourself too cheap as this could be an indication to the company that your skills or talents aren’t as valuable as the next candidate’s. It will also put you on the back foot when it comes to future salaries and your growth within the company. Should you decide to take a lesser salary because of potential future growth or the opportunity to learn sought-after skills that will benefit you down the line then this is your prerogative and not necessarily a bad move. Whatever your reasoning might be just make sure that the trade-off is worth it and that you aren't short changing yourself unnecessarily.
Know your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses. Part of the research you will conduct is knowing what you must bring to the table, how your strengths and experience match this, and how you are able to contribute to your future company. Once you know this about yourself you will be able to communicate this to a potential employer. Knowing your worth means that you are able to tell others how you are awesome, truthfully.
However, it can also happen in some unfortunate cases where the interviewer is not up to scratch. This is a fault of the company’s, not yours. If the interviewer is not worth his or her salt then they will ask irrelevant questions and will not pick up on the fantastic ways that your talents compliment the role and will basically be looking for someone who matches the paper they are reading from point by point. They will not realise that you are able to learn and adapt, and they will not see how your attitude and drive for success will uplift and support the team. They are looking for an exact replica of the person who just left and have unrealistic expectations of what the role entails and be misaligned in terms of the skills they should be looking out for. In these cases it is best to accept that you will probably not land the job. Nobody will. Learn from this and apply this knowledge in your next interview. There will be one.
In conclusion.
If you are well prepared, then you will have the confidence to walk (or dial) in to your next interview knowing what you are about, what you have to offer, and most importantly you will know if the company is for you. Don’t settle. I know that beggars can’t be choosers and that having a job is something to be extremely grateful for, but you also deserve to be happy. So my advice is to be critical but not irrational, you spend far too much time at your job for this not to be considered a lifestyle decision. Prepare with this in mind, know your worth, and nail it.