Finding a job is a cumbersome experience, getting called to an interview is exciting but then going through the process is nerve-wracking. Even if you are a confident person, there are always some butterflies in your stomach when you are preparing or going through an interview.
I have done multiple interviews since I graduated from school and I was also an interviewer for the strategy analyst position in my consulting job. So I have experienced both sides of the coin. And here are some tips when interviewing for a position:
- Read about the company. Read as much as you can about the company, understand what it is they do, what their culture is, what their values are. Don’t just go into their website, but check if they have YouTube videos, a Facebook page, or an Instragram account. Look at their latest news and posts so that you can bring that up during the interview.
- Understand the requirements of the position you are applying to. Carefully read the job responsibilities of the position you are applying to. Understand what the requirements are, what you are expected to do and who you will be working with.
- Link job requirements to personal experiences / examples. You must have in your back pocket some examples of personal experiences that map to the job requirements. This way, when you are explaining why you are a good fit, you can assure the recruiter that you have direct or indirect experience in the required areas. Even if you don’t have previous corporate experience, think about a volunteer experience or a university group project you had to complete.
- Prepare closing questions for the interviewer. This is key, interviewers usually expect some questions from the candidate. Either “a day in a life” question on how their job is, or a question about the company culture, or bring up some of the recent news you read or heard about the company. But always ask at least one question; this shows that you have prepared.
- Don’t try to be someone you aren’t. As an interviewee, we have the temptation to sound smart and cool, and we end up coming across as arrogant. Do not do this. We all know you are smart, the interviewer knows you are smart! You don’t have to prove anything to him. Why does he know that? Well, you made it to the interview stage! You know how difficult it is to even get an interview? Scanning resumes is a process where discarding people is sooooo easy!! Only the top of the top make it through the next stage. So make sure you are being yourself. Your happy, silly, smiley, intelligent self (or whatever that is). This is huge, if the interviewer likes you as a person, even if you might not be 100% qualified, he/she will recommend you. People want to work with people they like, they don’t want to work with someone who is arrogant and thinks is better than others.
- Be honest throughout the interview. Sometimes, you might get asked questions which you do not know the answers to. Instead of babbling away or changing the subject, be honest! Tell the interviewer that you do not know the answer, ask him if he can help you out because you are stuck. This happened to me when I applied to my consulting job. I got asked a math question which I had NO IDEA how to even solve. Within 30 seconds of thinking about it, I looked at the recruiter, smiled, and said “To be honest, I have no idea how to get to the answer. Can you help me?”. Nowadays, I think this is what got me into the next round of interviews. The interviewer saw that I wasn’t scared to not know the answer, that I was confident enough to admit it and ask for help. You will experience this everyday in your job, where you will be asked things that you don’t know the answer to. And what do you do? Admit it! Say you don’t know it, that you will talk with your manager, or that you will do research to find out and that you will get back to them.
Be sure to prepare ahead of time for your interview. And if you are a nerve-wreck, try to do something before the interview that calms you down: either exercise, yoga, listen to music, writing, reading, drinking a coffee…anything that keeps your mind in a calm state. Be confident. If you prepared, then you’ve got this. Good luck!
Your truly. Gbs
Truly yours. Gbs 