Joshua
In an interview, what are some good pointers or tips.
I'm asking because interviews are kind of intimidating. #interviews #career-counseling
6 answers
Adam Sanders
Adam’s Answer
Hey Joshua!
I have been working as one of our technical interview leads for a couple of years now, and I would love to share some tips with you! To give some further background on my advice, our interviews are structured to have two sections one technical based and the other behavioral / personality based.
For the technical questions:
* Make sure to brush up on key concepts and terms related to the field and particularly for what you list on your resume. For example, if you list Java experience on there do not be surprised if you are asked questions related to key Object Oriented Programming concepts.
* If your interview contains a code writing section, be prepared to talk through your thought process while working through it. We have seen several candidates who are very good at explaining the steps they are taking while working through the problem, and this helped them catch any minor mistakes they were making as well as gave us a better insight into their personality and communication skills. While this certainly isn't the easiest thing to do, it is a great skill to have and may be something you would want to practice with a friend before your interview.
* If there is a topic that your interviewer brings up that you don't know, be honest with them. We can generally tell when a candidate truly has no idea and is just completely making something up just to have an answer. At the same time though, make sure to provide a guess or thought about what that particular topic / concept may be. For example, if you didn't know about something like race conditions, a reply of "Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I think they are...." or something similar tends to go over better than simply making up an answer. This is also a good place to provide somewhat relevant experience for topics you may not have worked with directly before.
For the behavioral questions:
* Make sure you know what the company you are applying for is doing. Many of the candidates I've interviewed do not have an answer to the question "What things are we working on that really excite you, and are something you would like to work on in the future". The candidates that do have a good answer there tend to stand out.
* This kind of goes with the second and third bullet in the technical section above, but make sure to be personable. Candidates that seem excited will get much further than someone who simply sounds bored in their interview.
While interviews can be scary, it's important to remember to be yourself. Your interviewers are people too and they will appreciate getting to meet the genuine you.
Thank you for your reply Mr. Sanders, this makes me feel less intimidated knowing this. I just gotta be myself and know the stuff I applied to do. Thank you once again!
Joshua
Hannah Pong
Hannah’s Answer
Interviews are indeed daunting. There are a lot of books/ online resources on this topic and I think you should certainly read up on some if you haven't done so. Or going to your school's career center if there's one, they should have plenty of this information on hand.
From my experiences, the next steps suggested below are some of the ways that it works for me. Good luck.
Hannah recommends the following next steps:
Thank you for the response Mrs. Pong. I learned to look at them as another human be nice and friendly and realize they're not some big buisness scary person.
Joshua
Poonam Kherde
Poonam’s Answer
1. DO NOT FAKE IN YOUR RESUME:
Lying can backfire on you! The individual sitting before you has adequate experience of interviews and can without much of a stretch know when you are faking it. So, keep it genuine and just write in your CV, what you have really accomplished. Else, more often than not, you would be in a soup.
2. TAKE IT EASY:
More than whatever else, the anxiety hampers most interviews. Just before going into the interview room, take a couple of deep breaths and unwind your nerves. It for sure, makes a difference!
3. BE CONFIDENT:
for more tips: Interview tips
Gloria Ortiz
Gloria’s Answer
The most important element of an interview is preparation. I think of an interview is like a sporting event. You know that all of those players don't just get up that day and play a game or run a race. There is a lot of preparation that goes into that event. And your events are interviews.
Specific questions are always great but I would offer some general advice:
- Make sure that you can discuss key elements of your resume. Sometimes you are asked to verbally go through your resume. That is not a reading of the resume. It is how you would explain your experience. They are listening to hear what you consider important about your accomplishments since you are not going to want to spend a long time talking about every detail.
- Prepare questions for your interviewer. You are naturally going to have questions going in, but these are not really meant to be about benefits or salary. This is again your chance to think about something that is important to you that usually goes below the surface of the interview. This question will depend on who is interviewing you. Sometimes your first interview is someone in Human Resources, not the actual hiring manager. This person you might ask about the culture of the company or more important initiatives for the coming year. If you are talking to the hiring manager, you might shift your focus to a more personal question, such as "How would you describe your management style? How do you like to manage your team?" It is just as important for you to like the person that would be hiring you in an interview than them liking you. As you work through your career, you are going to learn that there is an old adage that is true "People don't leave businesses, they leave managers." Your relationship with your direct manager (supervisor, boss) is always the most important one in any job. Learning about how that relationship will go early can keep you from making a mistake.
- Prepare for behavioral interviews. Businesses are moving to more behavioral questioning techniques. Here is a link to some examples: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/most-common-behavioral-interview-questions-and-answers. In general, companies are going to ask you about skills and actions that reflect their corporate culture. For example. my company has four value pillars and we are often asked questions about what and how we have achieved those pillars. This is a time that you can shine, by being able to provide details on your experiences.
Gloria
Adam Heugh
Adam’s Answer
One of the main things that I can suggest when in an interview, is to be confident and maintain eye contact. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to be nervous. I find this is one of the most detrimental things in an interview. Even though you are being asked questions and you are answering them, try to make it into a conversation. The interview is the time to shine and show them what you are about. Direct and closed-off answers are sometimes off-putting to the interviewer.
Also, as mentioned above in other answers, know what's on your resume and why you chose to put it on there. It's never a comfortable moment when you are asked a question about your resume and you weren't aware that the information was even on there.
When answering your questions, try to incorporate your real life experiences. You don't just want to repeat what is on your resume. This is where trying to make a conversation is the best way to do it as it makes the whole process flow better and it can even be enjoyable.
Make sure that you know a little bit about the company that you are applying for and try to incorporate some of their beliefs into your answers.
I also highly recommend having a couple of questions to ask your interviewer. This way it shows that you are interested and that you want to engage.
Interviews can be very uncomfortable. All you can do is prepare yourself mentally, know what your goals are and be confident. And if for some reason you don't get a position, consider the interview as practice. You will only get better at it. Good luck!
Nikhil Patil
Nikhil’s Answer
You need to be confident, positive and attentive during interviews. It doesn't matter you need to answer all questions. If you don't know answer, please say you are still learning for it and request interviewers about answers. This will keep two way conversations.