My top 5 interview preparation tips

With all of the resumes and feedback, I’ve been receiving, the next logical step would be the interviews .  So here are the subsequent high level interview tips:

1. Know yourself

(at least what’s on your resume)

Simple enough but unfortunately not what some people do.

I suggest starting with the posting and with your resume and cross referencing.

• The qualifications on a posting are there for a reason and it would be quite reasonable for you to be asked on how your experiences addresses the requirements the company has
• So you have to be able to speak to each of those points since it would be very reasonable to expect them to ask those questions
• And if you follow our resume feedback, that should be easy since you’ve already used the posting as a “check list” for the relevant activities and achievements you need

Try to understand the value that you could uniquely provide to the company

• Take a step back from the requirements of the posting and try to understand that would be the value that someone in this role would be able to contribute to the company
• Choose 3 main points on the value that you can provide;  Try weave 1 or more of those points into the answers to the questions asked (it might take some practice to be able to do it)

2. Know the company

A growing question is “why us” which helps the interviewer understand if you’ve done your research and know what you’re getting yourself into;  If you didn’t, then it shows you’re probably not interested enough or don’t do the right due diligence to make you effective in the role.

Also knowing about the company, their challenges, their market positions, current events, future plans etc, are great to be able to asking meaningful questions at the end (which you have to make sure you have 2-4; and these questions should be questions that you couldn’t otherwise find in the public domain).

3. Practice!

Find someone that you trust to ask you questions;  You can search for the top X questions on the web and have no reason for NOT being able to answer them;  Typical ones like “tell me about yourself”, “where do you see yourself in 5 years”.

Record yourself, either audio or video (which is pretty easy to do nowadays with most smart phones);  wait a few hours to watch it since you want to disconnect your brain from the context that you had in your head when you were answering the question;  Then observe, learn and adjust as appropriate.

4. Know your logistics

Get this ‘administrative” stuff straight so that you can be more relaxed beforehand

• Know where you are going; make sure you plan to arrive early
• Know who you need to contact when you’re there

5. Stalk

Probably not the right word (but it got your attention); investigate and do some research on the interviewer (if the information is provided) or who you might know in the company;  There’s a theory of 6 degrees of separation from anyone in the world, so you probably know someone who knows someone who knows someone that works there;  If possible, see if you can connect with them to find out more about the company, their culture, their challenges, their opportunities.

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