Weeks literally flew by after sending the application for that job that felt so in line with you and your interests, but then the day comes when you receive the email suggesting a date and time for your interview. And now, what?
The interview moment: your time to shine!
Filling in your personal data, writing about your studies, interests, and expectations from that job…sometimes applying for jobs is such a lengthy and energy-consuming activity that, once you receive that long-awaited invitation for the interview, it almost feels like the deed is done.
Don’t get me wrong, it can be–and I hope it will for you–but you cannot give up now! It is now time to shine. Indeed, we shouldn’t forget that compared to, for example, our parents’ times, the job market is now more competitive, with more young people pursuing a Bachelor’s degree or even carrying on a Master’s or PhD.
It is, then, pretty understandable to notice quite an intergenerational difference in this sense when, for instance, our parents tell us about their own experiences of the job search.
But this should not let us down because with the right attitude and a few tips and tricks, you will nail that interview convincing everyone you are the right person for that job.
My first, unforgettable interview
If I think about my first job interview, many details come to my mind that make me smile.
In other words, my memories are not awful, but I realize that I was totally unaware of technical and content-wise aspects.
On this technical note, my interview was online and I remember that when I turned on the camera I looked like a black shadow as I was sitting with my back against the light coming from a huge window in the living room. While the embarrassment on my side came naturally, this moment broke the ice for the start of the questioning as I made everyone smile in a moment that–don’t forget this–is intense also for who is interviewing you and, perhaps, has already interviewed many other candidates.
After this rather funny icebreaker, the questions started, more or less one from each interviewer; they were a team of three, my future team. While I had prepared myself for a few of them, I did not expect all of them.
One in particular caught me a little bit off guard. Not only was the question related to my hobbies, so less focused on the job itself, but it was also in another language: German. Indeed the position was in Munich and, while in the “minimum requirements” English and Italian were requested, German was expressed as “desirable”.
Luckily for me, I am a person who looks calm and also under pressure so I gave my sentence but, right at the end, I could not remember one final term in German.
At that point, the German interviewer was really nice as she reacted with a “Don’t worry, it’s ok,” which I truly appreciated.
The interview did not last as much as I expected, it must have been around twenty minutes long. But those twenty minutes, comprised of questions I had prepared for but also of unexpected funny and semi-dramatic moments, were enough to receive a call, shortly after in the afternoon, asking me if I was still interested in the position because I was the first candidate they were interested in. Without even having to think about it too much, I said “yes!” and that was the day I discovered I would shortly move to Munich for a four-month internship!
What have I learned?
And here comes the most important part: what have I learned from the “roller coaster” experience of preparing for and having interviews? Here are my tips and tricks:
- By having the right attitude, you are halfway there!
Do you know who is the most important person you need to convince? No, it is not the interviewer you should keep in mind: it is yourself. Because if you are not convinced at the moment you are stating why you are the one for that job, you won’t sound convincing either!
Therefore my advice for you is this one: prepare in due time for the possible interview questions (with practice, you’ll also have a better idea of how much time you take), and then make sure to leave at least one last hour–or even more–for resetting your mind because you do want to start the interview looking relaxed, not nervous. So grab something to drink or some food, if it’s around lunch, and make sure to have a picture in your mind: the picture of you as the ideal candidate.
If you are a person who needs to repeat things out loud like me, then also do that and go on repeating what you prepared, especially the parts linked to the job description and your interests until you feel confident that you are the person for that job!
- Do some technical experiments to avoid surprises
Nowadays the large majority of interviews are online, also for flexibility reasons, so there is a high chance yours will be too! It is, then, not a bad idea, once you know on which online platform the interview will be (Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc…), to try to connect in advance.
This could also enhance your confidence because you’ll have in mind all the worst-case scenarios that could happen, like problems connecting your headphones or–as happened in my case–problems with the lighting.
To keep a positive mind you need to nourish your body!
As mentioned at the beginning, preparing job applications can be energy-consuming and, even if it might not seem so, the interview part is not an exception! I can tell you from my own experiences that one of the biggest mistakes is that of waking up really early to rush into a last-minute preparation for an interview. Why? First, you will look tired once in the interview; then, you will feel tired and, when you feel tired, you will tend to not think straight.
- So, if an unexpected question comes out of the interviewer’s mouth, if you are tired you could react in a worse way than if you are energetic and ready to use your improvisation skills.
For these reasons, my advice to you is the following: don’t rush it and don’t wait until the very last morning of your interview to prepare, especially for your first interviews, when you need more time to make sure you actually feel prepared. - If you have some spare time, use it to do some research on the people interviewing you
How many people will you have in front of a camera? Can you picture them in your mind already?
Thanks to LinkedIn we can actually do this and, if you are scared for them to see you “stalking” their profile, just think they also do it very often. So why shouldn’t you if it can help you to prepare your answers to potential questions? If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, don’t worry, it is not essential.
But, if you do have it, why not leverage it to your advantage? You could get insights on your interviewers’ interests–perhaps also some in common with you! But it could also make you feel calmer just to know who to expect in front of the camera. Also, pay attention to the “details” they provide you via email when inviting you to the interview: did they mention one person or many? How did they sign off on the email?
- When preparing your answers, make sure to connect the job requirements to your experiences and interests
You might have heard this already but this should be your focus when preparing the potential answers to an interview. After some practice with numerous interviews, this is how I learned to proceed: I place the job description, with the requirements, in my document and then I connect each requirement in a bullet point with what I feel are my experiences connected to it and my related interests.
The interests can also be some news you read that caught your curiosity or some related topics that you had the opportunity to explore during your studies, for example. This is strategic as, when they will ask you questions related to the job description, you will certainly have a prepared answer for each!
Some last, few tips
From all of this, you will probably have noticed that the preparation for a job interview is pretty much about having the right mindset–with the help of your good shape on day D–as well as using a little bit of strategic skills. This, you’ll see it, will really help you optimize your energies and your time too!
Last, a word to the wise: do not forget to connect on time to the call on the day and, if you forget to say anything, you can always follow up with an email to the interviewers!