“Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail” – Benjamin Franklin

It is the email you have been waiting for. You have been invited to interview for your dream job. You are overwhelmed with joy and the excitement is unreal. You begin to imagine yourself on the campus and performing the role, happy with your new job. Then you snap back to present day, realizing there is one last hurdle to this vision becoming reality. Now you just have to nail the interview.

At this point in my professional life, I estimate that I have done over 30 job interviews. From these experiences, I have learned what works well and what does not. Here, I want to pass on some very helpful tips and tools to best position you for success on your next interview.

Read Through The Job Description Carefully

To best be prepared for the questions you will get, the best starting point is to familiarize yourself with the job requirements. Reading the job description is the first view into the perspective of the hiring manager. Examine the job function, responsibilities, and desired and preferred skills. Look for key words, tasks or subject matters within which you should become familiar.

Read Through Your Resume Carefully

After examining the job description, I have found it incredibly effective to immediately review my resume to have a fresh comparison between what the hiring manager is looking for and what I have to offer. I can more easily see where my skills and experience align with the job or where there are disconnects, perhaps some qualities or experiences I need to be prepared to speak to in the interview. It is best to assume that if I can identify a gap, so will the interviewers.

Research The Organization

I suggest researching the organization not in preparation for a quiz from your interviewer, but so that you can begin to build depth in your knowledge of the organization, its products and services and challenges and opportunities within the industry. From an interviewer perspective, a more informed conversation with a candidate who understands the organization and industry is more desirable and effective than one who clearly has little knowledge. In doing this exercise of exploratory research, you will likely develop questions and insightful thoughts to create meaningful discussion with your interview panel.

Research Your Interviewers

Thanks to the internet and powerful social tools like LinkedIn, it is inexcusable to not know the backgrounds of your hiring manager. Of course, not everyone is on LinkedIn, but I have found that it is quite effective of understanding the background, interests and common ground of my interviewees prior to the interview. This is especially powerful when preparing for a panel interview, where multiple people will support evaluating your fit within the organization. I have used this process to map out key points to make about my experience and skills with certain individuals and this has proven effective for generating engagement with the panel.

Anticipate Key Questions

This is the time to put yourself into the shoes of your interviewer. If you were hiring for the role, what would you be looking for? What are their biggest challenges? What do they worry about most? What skills and experiences are most important to them. This insight is gleaned from the earlier steps of reviewing the job description and interviewer backgrounds. The more you can anticipate, the better.

Important Interview Reminders

Now that you have done your preparation, here are a few important reminders for the day of your interview.

Ask Intelligent Questions

“There is no such thing as a dumb question.” – FALSE

Interviewers want to select the candidate that has a genuine interest in the organization and its challenges and has a desire to join the organization and make a meaningful impact. This means that there are such things as “dumb questions.” Dumb questions are those that you can easily learn the answer to from reading online or doing basic research. Intelligent questions are those that are deeper level and get to the core of the needs and challenges. Here is an example:

“What challenges or needs exist on the program?”
”What bottlenecks are you experiencing in the production process.”
”Has your organization been impacted by the supply chain capacity issues overseas?”
”How has the team worked to resolve the high turnover common in this industry.”

These examples should guide you on what I mean by depth. Each question must be tailored towards the industry and organizational climate. Remember, an interview is just as much your opportunity to interview the team and company. Take advantage of this opportunity.

STAR Method

If you are not familiar with the STAR interview process, in a nutshell, it is a strategy to clearly articulate your skills and experiences by using very specific examples and outcomes. It goes like this.

Situation: What was the problem or challenge?

Task: What needed to be done?

Action: What steps did you take to resolve the issue?

Result: What was the result?

From my experience, in every interview situation, the STAR method is useful. Use it and make it natural.

Practice Frequently

“Practice Makes Perfect.” – Not Exactly

Practice may not lead to perfection, but it leads to familiarity and confidence. The more you do something in a simulated environment, the more you are prepared to do it in the real situation. Sure it may be unnerving and stressful, but you will be glad that you got your reps in before the real thing. As a tip, practice walking through your resume, highlighting your experiences, being expressive and exciting and even asking questions.

Practice being conversational. Experiment with different inflections and intonations of your voice. When it comes down to the real interview, you certainly will not repeat your practice responses verbatim, but you will be prepared for a discussion on your qualifications and needs for the job. Practice does not make perfect, but it creates preparation. And preparation is the most you can control in preparing for your interview.