Sell Yourself! How to Ace a Job Interview
Feeling well-prepared and confident about your interview skills will have a tremendous impact on your job search. Enlisting a friend or trusted colleague to help you practice answering some of the more commonly asked interview questions is a great start, but you’ll want to be sure you check each of the following items off your list before every interview:
Checklist
Thoroughly review the job description
Develop a solid understanding of what the company is into
Research relevant industry and company news
Practice explaining your experience in a nutshell
Practice explaining how your experience will complement this role
Pick relevant, engaging questions to ask
Research your interviewers ( check out their company bios or LinkedIn profiles)
Research the organization’s dress code and select an outfit that’ll reflect the company culture (don’t wear a full business suit to a startup or jeans to a law firm!)
For phone interviews, secure a quiet place to talk (with great reception or—even better—a landline!)
For video interviews, stage the background of the room you’ll be in
For in-person interviews, take steps to ensure that you’ll arrive early (five to 10 minutes is good), but not too early.
Be ready to answer questions about your availability to start a new job
Some of the most important questions to prepare an answer to are:
Tell me a little bit about yourself: However simple this question may seem if you don’t prepare for this question you’re missing out on the greatest opportunity to sell yourself to the job. Unless you’re applying for a dog breeder job, this is not the time you talk about how much you like dogs for example. This is where you go through the parts of your life that prepared you for this job and highlight how every experience makes you ready to take on the job.
What excites you about the job: You shouldn't give ambiguous answers to questions like the one above. The interviewer wants to know specifics about your personality, goals, and qualifications, and you should be prepared to avoid generic answers.
The interviewer will ask this question to ensure that you understand the job you're seeking. They need to see that you comprehend the key requirements, as well as the skills needed to excel, and how your experience matches up with the responsibilities of the job. Basically, interviewers are looking to see that your understanding of the role matches what the company is looking for.
When answering general questions about the role, don't talk about how you would benefit from being hired. For example, answers like, “I want a job that will help me build my career” make you seem more focused on yourself rather than how your background benefits the company. You also want to avoid answers that emphasize the job's perks, from health insurance to free lunches or make it seem like the real appeal is employment and a paycheck.
Be enthusiastic in your response. This is an opportunity to talk about what you find appealing about the position, and you should seem positive and eager to take on the role in your response. You should emphasize that you're qualified for and passionate about the job.
As much as possible, make it clear how hiring you will benefit the company in terms of the role itself, the product, and the organizational mission.
Example:
I'm interested in this job as a programmer because I'm extremely interested in, and skilled at, learning and excelling at new technologies. I've mastered programs and languages ranging from Python to Java, and I look forward to mastering more programs as they're developed. I'm also interested in creative problem solving, a skill I developed when working as an analyst for the past ten years.
Where do you see yourself in X years / what are your ambitions / what do you hope to accomplish: When a hiring manager asks you this, there may be a few things running through your brain. “Moving (way) up the ranks,” “running this place,” “working for myself,” or “in your job,” for example. None of which are necessary things you should say out loud in an interview.
This can feel like a bit of a trick question, because sometimes the answer is, “not in this job,” or, “in your job,” or something like, “at a bigger better opportunity elsewhere.” But none of those are things you actually want to say to a hiring manager.
The good news is you can be honest while still telling them what they really want to know. Do you have realistic expectations for your career? Are you ambitious? And does this particular position align with your growth and goals overall?
It’d be great to think about where this position could realistically take you, and think about how that aligns with some of your broader professional goals.
So, for example, you might say, “Well I’m really excited by this position at ABC Consulting because in five years, I’d like to be seen as someone with deep expertise in the health sector, and I know that’s something that I’ll have an opportunity to do here. I’m also really excited to take on more managerial responsibilities in the next few years and potentially even take the lead on some projects. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing managers, and so developing into a great manager myself is something I’m really excited about.”
Do you have any further questions? No is not the right answer! Since this question is common at the end of every type of job interview, it makes sense to plan for it in advance and be prepared. Develop a list of questions that you want to be answered and keep in mind that your questions may change slightly based upon your interviewer. If you're meeting with someone from human resources, for instance, your questions might focus on the interview process or on the overall organization of the company. If you're meeting with the person who will be your manager, you might ask specific questions about your intended role or about the hiring process for new employees.
Prepare several questions, as many of them may be addressed during the interview.
Your questions should make it clear that you were engaged during the interview and have quickly gained a sense of the company's goals and priorities. You can reflect back to earlier moments in the interview or build off of news within the company or its market.
Below are a few broad categories of questions that are appropriate to ask.
Questions about the role: This is a great opportunity to learn more about what you'll do if it hasn't already been thoroughly covered in the earlier part of the interview. Questions could include:
Can you share more about the day-to-day responsibilities of this role? How would you describe the pace of a typical day?
If I were hired for this role, what would you want me to achieve in my first two months?
What mechanisms are in place for performance reviews and when would I receive my first formal evaluation?
In your opinion, what is the single most important indicator of success in this role?
Questions about the company or the interviewer: This is a good opportunity to get a sense of company culture and how the company is performing.
How would you describe the management style of the organization?
What's something that makes you happy about coming to work each day?
How long have you been at the company?
Can you talk about company culture?
What is the greatest challenge facing the company?
What are the company's goals for the upcoming year?
Questions about you: You can use this moment to get a sense of how the interviewer perceived you during the interview, and if they think you're a good candidate. With these questions, you might want to preface by expressing your excitement for the role, and then (based on the feedback you get) address the issue on the spot. You can ask:
What are your concerns about my candidacy?
Are there any qualifications that you think I'm missing?
Consider following up on the answers to these questions with a thank-you letter.
What Not to Ask
It may be an open-ended question, but that doesn't mean any response goes. Stay away from questions on the following topics:
Off-work activities: It's fine to ask questions about the culture at the job, but stay away from queries that are focused on non-work activities, like happy hour outings, lunch, or vacation time. These types of questions will make you seem uninterested in actually doing the work, which isn't the right impression to leave. Similarly, don't ask how many hours you'll need to work each day.
The interviewer's personal life or office gossip: Give interviewers the same courtesy you'd want them to give to you by not asking about their family, living situation, or gossip about people you may both know.
Things you could answer yourself: If your question could be easily answered with a quick online search or by glancing at the company website, skip it. Time-wasting questions won't be appreciated. Interviewers expect that you will have done research on the company and familiarize yourself with the basics.
Salary and benefits: If it's a first-round interview, getting specific about salary and benefits can make you seem uninterested in the work and the company, and focused only on yourself. If your interviewer does ask about salary, here are some tips on how you can respond.
Very complicated or multi-part questions: Asking multi-part questions can overwhelm interviewers. Ask just one question at a time. You can always follow up. Aim to make the moment feel conversational.
Don't ask:
What are some of the latest developments at your company?
How much can I expect to earn during the first year?
What do employees do for fun with colleagues after work?
Do you have children? Is this a child-friendly employer?
What are the five strategic goals for the organization during the next five years?
What you say is only half the interview, pay attention to your body language:
Walk into the room confidently
Introduce yourself
Shake hands
Look people in the eyes
Sit up straight with arms open
Nod your head while listening
End every interview with the question; do you have any concerns regarding my experience and my application for this job? Not only will this provide really good feedback as to how recruiters see you and your fit for the job, but it is also a great opportunity to address any weaknesses they see. For example, the feedback could be: “We love your enthusiasm and experience with X, but find your experience with Y a bit weak.” In which case your response should be: “Thank you for that feedback, I was already regretting I didn’t get to talk about my project on Z. Because I actually gained lots of experience with Y on that project. If you have two more minutes I could briefly tell you a bit more?”