One of the most essential parts of the recruitment process is interviews. During interviews, it allows candidates to express themselves, help HR professionals find the perfect candidate, and identify individuals who best align with the company’s goals and culture. It is important to ace the interview to land the job and in order to do so one must build the confidence and come prepared for the interview.
How to prepare for the interview?
Research the company and role you are applying to. To show the hiring team your desire to work and learn about the organization as much as possible. What are the attributes, working environments, or professional programs that best intrigued you? An easy way is starting on the company website, learning their mission and vision, visiting their social media, and reading employee reviews.
Understand the common questions & practice your response. After doing your research, know what the common questions to be asked are. Look through your resume to understand your skills, experiences, and value you have to offer. By practicing you will be able to understand how to highlight yourself to become the best fit candidate. Also remember to dress appropriately and know your body language.
Strategies to ace your interview: Arrive on time, to your in-person or virtual interview. Remember to give yourself at least 15 to 20 minutes prior to your interview for unexpected situations or technical difficulties. Make a strong impression, this can be in the form of how you dress or how you display your confidence. This can be done by perfecting your body language. As you communicate yourself, speak clearly, make eye contact, nod in agreement, and make sure you are heard.
When answering questions, be as honest and authentic. For behavioral questions, use the STAR method: explain a situation, what task needed to be performed, what actions did you take, and what were the results. Always prepare a few examples of your experiences, don’t just explain your responsibilities or duties instead let them know what you were able to accomplish while in that position.
Ask questions and follow-up afterwards:
When the interviewer reaches the end of the meeting, the question do you have any questions for us can be alarming and scary. Most people choose not to ask additional questions because they genuinely don’t have any or because they did not prepare ahead of time. As previously mentioned it is important to research the company you are interviewing for. At that same moment you can prepare questions pertaining to the role, responsibilities, the company, potential growth opportunities, or company culture. Take the opportunity to ask questions because at that time you are demonstrating your preparedness and effort to make an impression.
After the interview, send a thank you note to express your appreciation for the interview. Take the time to reiterate your interest in the position and company. Make sure to summarize some key takeaways from the interviews you learned in the interview. At this time, you can inquire about what the next steps to the hiring process looks like. I advise this in the thank-you email and NOT in the interview as it can show an overbearing behavior or money influenced decision.
Applying for a job or internship can be the easy part of the application process. When you receive the email or call that you landed the interview, that is where you can become a little stressed. But if you research, prepare, practice you can easily make an impression at your next interview. Understand that even if you did not land the role you applied for the interview was a learning opportunity to become better at interviews.