Preparing for and excuting succesful interviews

Successfully interviewing for me has always been about preparation. In essence, interviews are almost always tests that you can get the answers to beforehand! So here's how I prepare.

Prepare for the baseline questions

Most interviews will use a similar set of basic questions. So do a little research! There are a bazillion blogs out there that list out the most popular interview questions. Take them down. You probaby need a list of 20 - 30.

Here's the preparation you actually need to do:

First, write out answers for all 30 questions. There are lots of guides on how to answer each of these questions. Do the research, and write out a compelling answer.

Practice your answers to these questions out loud, in a mirror if you want, WITHOUT reading what you wrote down. The answers you wrote down are your scaffolding. The WORST thing you could do with these written answers is memorize them word for word and repeat them back to the interviewer. You want to have an answer on hand, but you want it to sound natural. So practice it, naturally.

Prepare for the job specific questions.

There are two approaches I take when preparing for job specific questions.

Approach #1

Imagine that you're the hirer for this job. What would you want to know about a candidate to hire them? Write out questions that you would want the interviewee to answer and traits / skills you'd want them to demonstrate.

Approach #2

Go through the job description line by line, and similar to above, write out answers for how you are qualified for each line item on the job description.

It's okay if your answer is I don't have this skill or I haven't done that before. Make sure that if that is the case, you're ready with a response that describes either a similar skill or experience or how you plan to cover that hole in your resume.

Get practicing

Similar to the general questions, you must practice these as well. Take your written answers, give them a read through, and then answer the questions without looking at your written notes. If you do this well, when someone asks about a specific area of the job description, you'll be prepared with a reasonable and meaningful answer!

Get to know your interviewers

Researching your interviewers is the third and final critical piece to preparing for your interview. Usually, you'll be able to ask the recruiter who you'll be itnerviewing with and get a list. It isn't a secret. The recruiter is on your side and absolutely wants you to succeed (it means they succeeded!) so simply ask, "Would you mind letting me know who I'll be interviewing with and what their job titles are? I'd love to make sure I'm prepared to speak with them individually."

Boom done.

What to do with this list?

First, know who they are and what they do. Get on LinkedIn and scour their profile. Google their name and company. Read any interview, listen to any podcast, or other piece of media you can find that they participated in.

A really important note on social media

You also should absolutely look at their social media accounts if you can find them. But, I'll put a big caveat on this one, DO NOT BE CREEPY. If you find someone on Instagram and see they had a baby last year, you SHOULD NOT ask them how their baby is doing. What you're looking for are ways to either relate to them on a personal level or ask specific questions that they might be able to answer for you.

So for example, let's say you did see they had a child recently. Instead of saying ANYTHING about their child, maybe you ask them at the end of the interview if they happen to know anything about the company's paternity/maternity policies. BOOM now you've got a great little conversation to have with them that was gleaned from being creepy, but executed in a noncreepy way.

Here's another example. Let's say that you see they are really into sailing. And you also happen to be in to sailing! Great, DO NOT SAY "Oh I saw that you're into sailing". Find an organic way to bring it into the conversation. Maybe they'll ask you what you like to do outside of work, and instead of saying that you like cooking (which you also do) you'll opt to talk about sailing, because you konw that they like it! That's how you do social media for job interviews.

If you don't think you can handle that, skip it. It's not worth accidentally coming off as creepy.

Put on your interviewer's shoes

It's important to understand the perspective of your interview. Knowong how their job relates to the job you'd be doing allows you to highlight throughout your intervierw what they care most about.

This is critical. Everyone is self-centered, even if they don't have a big ego. What they care most about when hiring is not if you'll do the job well. They care most about if you'll do the job well in RELATION to their job.

Through your research, you should be able to figure out what they do, and at least roughly how their role relates to the one you're applying for.

Prepare your questions for them

Once you know who your interviewers are, you need to prepare questions for them. Every interview I've ever had ended with a few minutes for open conversation. This is your opportunity to lead and demonstrate that you're someone they'd want to work with. The best way to do this is to ask them specific questions.

So, for each person you're interviewing with, walk in with 3-5 questions for them.

It's okay to not have these ones memorized. In fact, I'd encourage you to write them down and bring a pen and paper with you.

Here are a couple of my favorite questions to ask:

1. Looking back on this hire a year from now, what will he or she have done to exceed your expectations?

2. Having now spoken with me for a bit and reviewed my resume, are there any gaps or remaining questions that I can help fill in before we go?

Bring a pen and paper!

It's important to take notes, but also you can use it as a reference for questions or even sneak some triggers in there for common questions.

Boom. If you followed this process, you should now be prepared for your interviews.

Much of my interview strategy is derivative of resources found at Cultivated Culture (opens in a new tab). I highly recommend checking them out for further reading.