How should I prepare for an interview?
Congrats, friend! You landed the interview. At this stage, you’ve most likely spoken with the recruiter and hiring manager. They’ve learned enough about you and your background to have confidence in your ability to do the job and thrive in the company’s culture. So, what can you do to have the greatest impact on turning that confidence into certainty? I’ve got a few interview tips for you. Let’s walk through them.
Do your research. You want to convey a foundational understanding of what the company does (the product or service they sell), its mission and core values, a little bit about the industry and recent news. It shows your level of engagement and interest in not just the role and the company, but what’s happening in the broader ecosystem it’s a part of. It’s as simple as a quick google search and checking out their presence on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, BuiltIn and other sources.
Learn about the interview team. Learn about who you’re interviewing with and the leadership team. This will help piece together how they work together and interact with the role you’re interviewing for. You may even get bonus points for questions about the interviewers role or experience.
Work your network. If you know someone, or know someone who knows someone, that’s connected to where you’re interviewing, see if you can get 20-30 minutes with them to get some intel on the company, it’s culture, and the role. If you think you don’t have a network you probably do and treat this interaction like an interview before the interview.
Get ready to START. The on-site interviews are typically used to dive deeper into your experiences, skills, and understand how you work. Most companies tend to ask, at minimum, a similar core group of questions including: Tell me about a project you led cross-functionally. Describe a time you received constructive feedback and how you reacted. Tell me how you use data to influence a decision. Noticing a theme here? They all ask for you to tell a story. Pro Tip: Most interviewers are looking for you to tell a story that follows the START model; one that describes the situation (or task), then the action, the result, and finally the takeaway. The more specific you are, the better your answer will land.
Come with questions. Doing all that pre-interview research is like a two-for-one: you’ll perform stronger in the interview and is a source of inspiration for questions. Most interviewers will leave the last 5-10 minutes of an interview for this. Pro Tip: Always ask questions! Even if it’s just one — ask it. It demonstrates engagement and curiosity into the business and the people you’re speaking with.
You’ve got this!
Gabby
