The first two posts in this series were from the point of view of the interviewer. But suppose you are on the other side of the table?
Do’s
Do your research. It’s really disappointing for an interviewer when a candidate doesn’t have the first notion of what the company or the team does, and it’s great when they have intelligent questions. “I tried out your product, and it seems like one of your big challenges is integration with systems that customers are already using. Is that right? How are you handling that?” So much better than somebody who doesn’t have a clue. These days you can learn staggering amounts about almost anything on the Internet. So check out the company, the project, and the people.
Do practice. Interviewing is unnatural for most people. You won’t have concise soundbites ready to roll out about the work you did in previous jobs. You may be rusty or misremember the details. It’s very, very useful to have some mock interviews before you go into the real thing, especially if you can do it with experienced interviewers who will be honest enough to give you candid feedback.
Do interview them. You are preparing to commit huge amounts of your time to this team and this project. It’s probably the biggest investment decision you are going to make – your time is your biggest asset. So learn as much as you can while you are there. Are these people you actually like? Is the work inspiring? Will you learn something and stay engaged for the long haul?
Do prepare. Be ready for hard questions. “Why didn’t you finish school?” “Why do you jump from job to job?” “Why have you been unemployed for the last two years?” “Why did the product you worked on get panned by every review?” Look over your resume through the eyes of a stranger (or ask another person), and think up the most difficult questions you can. Answer them honestly, be open about mistakes (if appropriate), and tell people what you learned. Don’t be bitter, don’t whine about your past co-workers .. be constructive.
Do be concrete. I think the best questions are not open-ended and general. But lots of interviewers use them, anyway. Don’t meet vague questions with vague answers – ground your answer in detail. Tell stories. Not “I think I’m very results-oriented.” Ugh. Instead, “in my last job, I drove the marketing campaign for Jumble. It was a tough push, but we delivered on time into five different channels, driving a positive awareness of 44% – the best result of any campaign our company had done.”
Do be passionate. It’s deeply dull to listen to somebody drone on in a monotone listing facts and figures about their career. Boorrrrinnngg. It’s very interesting when somebody’s eyes light up as they share personal stories about things they’ve done that inspired them. Find things to talk about that you are excited about, that you loved doing in previous jobs or educational experiences. You’re a human being, not a resume – let people get to know you. Share yourself and what you love.
Don’ts
Don’t assume! If you aren’t sure you understand the question that you are supposed to answer, don’t launch off and answer it anyway. You can ask, or you can explain. Start by asking: “when you asked me to design an operating system, did you mean something like Linux, or something else like an embedded system?” Some interviewers want you to dive in and don’t want to be interrogated, however. You can usually tell immediately based on their reaction to your first question. In that case, I’d stop asking and make some assumptions, but I’d be explicit about them. “Ok, I’m going to assume unless you stop me that you want an operating system like Linux. That means a general purpose server OS that …” Then you are diving in and moving forward but are clear about the assumptions you have made. In any case, don’t ask too many questions – the purpose of the interview is not to collaborate with your interviewer on defining an extremely precise question, it’s to show that you are good at answering them. So make sure you spend most of your time on the answer.
Don’t be prickly. Interviews are inherently awkward, and some people like to put you under pressure to see how you perform. I don’t like that approach as an interviewer, and don’t use it, but many swear by it. That means they are going to push you. They’ll ask tough questions or brain teasers and watch you sweat. They’ll push back on your answers, with varying amounts of respect, to see how you handle it. Don’t freak out .. just stay calm, and focus on the answer, not how you feel about the situation. That doesn’t mean that you should allow yourself to be abused or mistreated, but keep your cool even if the other person is pretty hard on you. If you think of it as a test, and letting yourself get emotional is failing the test, that might help. Don’t let them throw you.
Don’t be desperate. This is easier said than done, especially if you ARE kind of desperate to get the job. But realize that the odds may well be against you in any particular interview. They may have a favored candidate lined up and are just checking to make sure they aren’t missing a bet. You may be a bad fit for what they think they need in the role. The more you build up the job in your mind and get wound up about how you absolutely have to get it, the worse you are likely to perform. So be hungry, give it your best shot, but don’t think it all rides on that one interview, because life is mostly not like that.
Don’t lie. This should go without saying, but a lot of people seem to think it’s ok to fudge on a resume. Who is going to find out, right? Wrong. In the age of Facebook and blogging and LinkedIn, it’s crazy to be confident that you can get away with it. If the employer finds out that you have been deceptive, that’s probably game over. And the world is a small place, so there is every chance that they might tell the next company you talk to. So in addition to it being immoral, it’s also dumb. Just don’t go there.
I hope that these ideas help you prepare for your next interview .. good luck!