It’s part art and part science. But you can definitely improve your interviewing skills if you want to. I’ve interviewed hundreds of job candidates throughout my career and used that experience to assemble a series of blog posts.
Here’s the make up of this blog post series:
See my related blog post series on Job Hunting and Resume Writing.
Our society seems to have drifted away from formal Thank You’s. But this isn’t the time to ignore the tradition. You should ask each interviewer for a business card, mainly for the purpose of sending a thank you note. I personally find it hugely respectful and professional when I receive a written Thank You card but I believe it’s OK to send an email thank you. In the email, you want to 1) thank them for taking valuable time from their schedule to meet with you 2) reiterate your interest in their company and the role they are hiring 3) remind them of something you discussed about yourself that uniquely qualifies you for the job/company. In closing your email you can show your willingness to have a follow-up phone discussion or in-person visit, if needed.
See the rest of my series on Interviewing Tips here. I also have a related series for Resume Writing and one for Job Hunting.
It’s not out of the question to ask how you did at the end of the interview. But the way you ask is important. You don’t want to say, “So, do you think I’ll get the job”. Instead, you could ask, “Do you mind if I ask if you have any initial observations or comments about the interview we just had?”. Another slightly more aggressive approach would be to ask, “Is there anything about the interview we just had that would cause you concern about my ability to perform this job well?”.
See the rest of my series on Interviewing Tips here. I also have a related series for Resume Writing and one for Job Hunting.
In my previous post I described who should be talking during the interview. Remember that during the face-to-face interview you are hopefully interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. So, absolutely have a list of questions that you would like to get answered.
Your list of questions can be as long as it needs to be, even though you will probably only ask 1-2 questions per interview. If you are interviewing with multiple company representatives, then split the list based on the most appropriate person to direct the question to. And some of your questions possibly should be directed at multiple interviewers to compare their responses later.
Be very mindful of the fact that your questions tell a lot about you. So don’t blow them. In other words, don’t ask a shallow question whose answer is front and center on the website homepage. This will just show that you didn’t dig very deep with your research. Instead, ask a question that digs deeper into the strategy of the company or industry. Or ask a question that demonstrates you’re seeking to advance your career over time, not just find a job with a paycheck. Here are some ideas:
Don’t ask questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. Instead, ask what are called open-ended questions. These questions might start off with “How would you describe ….”, “How does the company go about …”, or “What methods does the company use …”.
Some interviewers like to start the interview by allowing the candidate to ask a couple of questions. So be prepared for that. But don’t take over the interview. Instead, start with 2 good questions and then give an opportunity for the interviewer to take the steering wheel. With most interviews, the interviewer gives the candidate a chance to ask some questions towards the interview. And you should always be ready to follow a particular answer of yours with a related question from your list.
Finally, feel free to glance at a pre-written list of questions and take brief notes during this part of your interview. It shows that you are paying attention and actually care about the answer, even if you only write a few words down with each answer. Having a simple note-taking portfolio and pen helps with the look of being a serious interviewee. It’s also customary for the interviewee to ask the interviewer if they mind if notes are taken, even though the answer is always “yes”.
See the rest of my series on Interviewing Tips here. I also have a related series for Resume Writing and one for Job Hunting.
There is absolutely no excuse for not being ready for the most commonly asked interview questions. Knock these out of the ballpark by being prepared ahead of time.
I’ve created a list of questions commonly asked during interviews and you can download it here: Interview Questions to be Ready For. Don’t necessarily memorize your response word-for-word, but definitely know which points you want to make and practice this a few times via role play with a friend or family member so that your answers are easy to recall.
The very first couple of interviews you have are not going to be your best. That’s because even if you did some practice interviews with friends, you haven’t done it for real when the stakes are high.
Because of this, don’t interview first with the #1 or #2 company on your wish list. Instead, find a company or two that has a desirable open role but aren’t companies you’re dying to work for. That way, you can get some practice with your answers. Immediately after the interviews, critique yourself and identify the opportunities for improvement.
There’s a developing trend towards including questions that help assess culture, while also helping the employer learn how you think and react in certain situations. These aren’t puff-ball questions, but they’re important enough that I want to describe the topic a bit further to help prepare you.
Behavioral interviews are also extremely helpful in gauging an employee’s likely success in a business world increasingly influenced by A.I. tools and capabilities. Interviews need to understand how you will think and act when A.I. tools and capabilities are all around you to exploit, rather than you having to do all the work yourself.
Below are some examples of behavioral interview questions. Do a search to find more. These questions often start with “Tell me about a time when . . .”. What the interviewer wants you to do is describe the situation and then explain how you handled, or reacted to, the situation.
In many cases, your interviewer isn’t looking for a specific answer as much as wanting to understand how you think and operate. Your answer should mostly involve storytelling, but without taking 5 minutes to answer the question. Provide a little background so the interviewer understands how it matches the behavioral interview question they presented. Then describe how you handled the situation as well as how things worked out in the end.
If the company you’re interviewing with has stated core values, you should know that your answers will be measured against their fit to those core values. This is actually so important that during your initial phone screen interview or first in-person interview, try to find out what the company’s core values are.
There’s one common question I’d like to cover directly in this article because it seems to be stressful for most people. “How much are you looking to make?” or “What is your salary requirement?”. Many people try to wiggle out of answering the question with responses like these:
There’s nothing terrible about the above responses, but what about something like this: “Salary is only a part of my overall selection criteria, but I’m most strongly considering roles that pay in the $x to $y range”. There are some advantages to this approach:
After that bold sentence, you could continue by describing other factors that are part of your selection criteria. Company culture, opportunities for growth, company benefits plan, stock options, daily commute duration, and other things could all be a part of your criteria.
Sometimes you’ll get a question that really forces you to think on-the-spot for a good answer. First, don’t feel pressure to immediately blurt out an answer. It’s totally OK to initially say something like “That’s a really good question. Let me think about it for just a second.” That alone buys you some very valuable time.
You might get asked to describe a time when you performed a particular task or addressed a specific situation but, unfortunately, you’ve never encountered it. Your best approach to this is probably to admit that you haven’t previously encountered that situation/task and then either 1) tell them about something that’s the most similar to the task/situation they asked about 2) tell them how you believe you would go about addressing the situation.
You might get a question that isn’t looking for a precise answer but rather gives you an opportunity to demonstrate how you think. Imagine a question like “How many jelly beans do you think could fit in my empty trash can?” I can think of two ways to answer the question:
The second answer shows more analytical thinking than the first, but you get the idea. The interviewer cares less about your answer and more about how your brain processes analytical challenges.
In the rare event that you get a question that literally leaves you stumped with no response, first ask to come back to it later in the interview. If, when that happens, you still are drawing a blank, just let them know you’re sorry but you don’t have a really good answer at the moment and would love to follow up via email if that’s OK. Then, while driving home think about a possible good response. If you come up with something, include mention of it when you send your thank you email.
I hope this information is helpful to your job search. See the rest of my series on Interviewing Tips here. I also have a related series for Resume Writing and one for Job Hunting.
It’s very common for the interviewer to have a standard set of questions they want to cover first. If so, then let them proceed. But, at the same time, you should find the most appropriate way to get your interviewer talking –especially if they are the hiring manager (or the hiring manager’s boss). The more you can get them talking, the more you will learn about the company and the job. You will get invaluable insights into whether this is actually the company you want to work for. And if you are fortunate enough to get more than one job offer, you will want these insights to assist with your decision-making. One good way to get the interviewer talking is to ask them a suitable related question immediately after answering one of their questions. But be careful about this if you detect they are the type of interviewer that wants to get through their question list first.
Conversely, you’ll come across interviewers that just want to talk about themselves and their company. That’s great for getting additional insights to add to your research but terrible for when the recruiter or hiring manager asks what they thought about you. You’ll need to cleverly figure out ways to jump in with comments that relate to what they are talking about but related to you and your accomplishments. The ideal scenario is when you find yourself in a balanced interview with dialog and questions in both directions.
Finally, be ready with a list of questions that will give you valuable information on the role, company, industry and competition. It’s OK to have these typed/written and stored in your interview binder. You don’t have to memorize them. But while asking these questions, inject some commentary that demonstrates that you’ve done your research. You’d be amazed at how many candidates don’t do research, or if they do they don’t incorporate it into their interview. This will really help you stand out. And feel free to take notes. It shows you’re taking this seriously.
See the rest of my series on Interviewing Tips here. I also have a related series for Resume Writing and one for Job Hunting.
While I can’t say precisely what to wear for the specific company and job you are interviewing for, I can give a solid rule of thumb. Assess the dress attire standard your role would follow once in the job and take it up one notch for the interview.
If you would typically dress in jeans and a t-shirt for the job, then consider interviewing with casual slacks and a polo shirt. If you would typically dress in casual slacks and a button-up collar shirt, then interview with nice slacks, a dress shirt and either a sport coat or a tie. You get the idea. I’m obviously giving examples for men, because that’s what I know best. Women should follow this same general approach using their categories of work attire.
I also recommend mostly ignoring the advice of any existing employees at the company. They might tell you, “Don’t worry about dressing up for the interview, because we’re pretty laid back here.” Instead, just take it up one notch to come across as professional and serious. Don’t upgrade from jeans/t-shirt all the way to a suit & tie, because that’s too much of a jump and might cause you to feel really out of place.
See the rest of my series on Interviewing Tips here. I also have a related series for Resume Writing and one for Job Hunting.
OK, so you made enough of a positive impression with your job application or unsolicited email (see related post) to get a response from the company. This will usually start with a request for a phone interview. It’s the company’s way of conducting a second round of filtering (following the resume filter) to make sure they only spend face-to-face time with the most viable candidates.
The main thing I’ll say about the phone screening interview is shame on you if you don’t have all of your most important research information in front of you during the interview (see related post and this one too). In addition, you should have a cheat sheet of your personal accomplishments right in front of you. Maybe this is just a highlighted version of your resume. Finally, some of the recommendations in the following posts of this series are also excellent preparatory tasks for a phone screening interview. But remember three key things.
See the rest of my series on Interviewing Tips here. I also have a related series for Resume Writing and one for Job Hunting.
Gordon Daugherty 