Interview Preparation 101

So, you took the time to perfect your CV/cover letter, brief your recruiter on what you are looking for, and have possibly passed some technical assessments.

You’ve done basically everything you need to win an interview, and you are now invited to the first (phone) interview. It‘s time to give yourself a pat at the back and get ready for the next, and more important step, first interview.

Research, Research, Research!

You probably have done some researches on the company and/or have heard quite a bit about the company through your recruiter; however, what get you interested or get you through the door is usually not enough to get you the job.

Put yourself into the position of the interviewer and imagine how you would feel when you talk to candidates who has expressed interest in the company, but when asked, they simply know nothing about the position/the role? (Worse still, you probably have more CVs to scan, more interviews and meetings to attend.)

Your first interviewer’s impression have a strong impact on your chance in getting the job — not only that they could fail you outright, if you impress them in the wrong way, you will get an internal champion to support you through the process. So, before you go into the interview, be sure to research on:

1. the goal of the interview: is it a cultural fit interview or a purely technical interview? If you are using a recruiter, they will be able to help. If you are not, just ask your contact when they schedule with you.
2. your interviewer! Are you speaking to the HR or the hiring manager or the founder? The dynamic of the interview, the question they ask, and the question you should be asking will differ significantly.
3. the company and its product: during the interview, you would want to show that you are the person to help them achieve their goals, so make sure that you know what the goals/vision/mission is and think about how you can contribute to that. (bonus: if you are interviewing for a product company, be sure to download their product to try it out!)
4. the team: if you are interviewing for smaller companies/a specific team in a big company, you can easily find information about the team on Linkedin — while you probably would not be able to find everyone, it would be good to review the profile of some of your potential colleagues/supervisor and think about how similar/different you are to/from them.
5. FAQs: this one could be a bit tricky if you are not using a recruiter. Most teams have a standard set of questions/topics that they would cover in the interview. If you are using a recruiter, they should be able to give you some insight. However, if you are not, sites like glassdoor, indeed will be able to shed some light.
6. competitor: it is good that you can show that you know a lot about them, but it would be even better if you can tell them what you know about their competitor, and why/how you think they can be better than their competitors!
7. social media: most companies would share news and updates on social media but may fail to keep updating their company page/career site. (regarding social media, your interviewer probably have googled you or look you up on Facebook/IG, be sure that your public posts are “interviewer ready!)

When you research on the above, you would not only be able to impress your interviewer, but also to help you understand better on whether the company is a good fit or any potential red flags. If you see anything that bothers you, you should bring it up in the interview in a productive manner.

Interview process is a 2-way street, and try to gather all the information you need to make a right decision!

Prepare for a self-introduction

After conducting your research, you should know enough about what you are getting yourself into (:P), and it’s time to think about yourself.

Many people have underestimated the difficulty of doing a good self-introduction. While you may know yourself very well, are you prepared to tell people who you are (with your 20+ years of existence) to the other?

Furthermore, as you pitching yourself to a company, it is important that you make yourself sound like the person they are looking for.

Identify the your key selling points by matching your experience, personality and accomplishments to the role/requirements/culture. After you figure out what are the important points to share, prepare a 1 to maximum 2 mins speech that includes all these key points.

Be prepared to share what you like about the company/product/team/role

Companies place stronger emphasis then ever on “cultural” and “team” fit, and whether a candidate “shares their value” or “gets them”. Make sure that you can honestly answer this question — if you can’t, you should reconsider your application.

Prepare on the common questions

Whereas every company/interviewer would have their own style and special questions to ask, the topic is invariably the same — whether you have what it takes to excel in the role? Whether you are going to be a good fit for their team?

More and more companies are moving towards behavioral interview these days, which is a good news for you. There are some many resources (for example, this blog post) on common interview questions, that you can refer to.

Apart from behaviorial interview question, questions that test you on your logical thinking/deduction skills are pretty common, too. Google for common {position} interview questions and you will find many useful information!

Remember what you wrote on your CV

If you are tailoring your CV for different companies or it’s been a while since you update your CV, chances are you may not remember what’s on there and that would be a huge red flag.

Please read through your CV and think of all the supporting documents, work examples, and achievements for each role you have.

If you have included specific skills in your CV, pick 1 or 2 project(s) that you can demonstrate your proficiency. it would look really bad if you claim yourself to be a node.js expert, but does not have any evidence of production experience with it.

5-steps Framework to Answer (Technical) Questions

We have seen many capable candidates struggle to answer a technical questions/demonstrate their knowledge. If you find yourself fitting into this description, you can use the following 5 steps to improve the quality of your answer:

1. clarify on the question — make sure that you understand the question correctly.
2. high-level answer — provide an answer on a theoretical level
3. showcasing your experience — further elaborate on how you handled a similar issue/questions irl
4. quantify the outcome whenever possible — increasing efficiency by x%, reduce support ticket by y%, etc..
5. confirm that you have properly answered the question, and ask for followup questions!

Make sure that you have some good questions to ask

We have seen a good number of good candidates being rejected for a simple reason — they fail to ask any question at the end of the interview.

You may find it unfair, but many interviewers take it as a sign that the candidate is not interested in the role if they have nothing to ask. If you find yourself a person of few questions, remember to search for and memorize a few good questions to ask.

(Good resources: https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/questions-ask-an-interviewer/ , https://biginterview.com/blog/2011/08/best-questions-to-ask-end-interview.html, https://www.thebalancecareers.com/questions-to-ask-in-a-job-interview-2061205)

Pick the right location (phone interview) or right choice of clothing (on-site)

Most of the first interviews are phone interview, make sure that you are taking the call in a place that has good reception and is quiet. It is no fun if you need to constantly ask your interviewer to repeat the question or vice versa.

If you happen to be invited to an on-site interview off-the-bat, be sure to dress appropriately for that. While some companies prefer more formal attire, some would deem that as a cultural fit red flag. When in doubt, always ask for/search for tips.

Most of the thing you need to know is one Google search away!

Most importantly — be yourself!

We have talked quite a lot about putting your best foot forward, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is be true to yourself.

We have seen candidates over analysing the situation and got rejected because they got led by the HR/HM to another direction. When you are answering every question, think about why you are attracted to the role, what your motivations are, and what your goals are. For 90% of the time, that would get you to a better answer than saying something that you believe the interviewer wants to hear!

Lastly, while you could fake it or answering questions in a way that appeal to the interviewer to get the job, but it is unlikely that you would be able to keep faking it for a long period of time.

Our recruiters are experts with insider tips to helping their candidates to prepare for interviews. Feel free to reach out to us for great career opportunities and (company-specific) interview tips!