30. "Career Interview Tips"

Interviews are one of the most stressful and necessary parts of our career. The common saying is that you interview them as much as they interview you, but when you are getting interviewed and you really want to job are you actually thinking clearly enough to judge them too? This week I give my best tips to make sure they pick you, and for you to think about whether they are a good fit for you too!

My Experience of Interviews

At last count I have had 22 different jobs. So I have been in many, many interviews. After the job interview, both you and the employer want to be as sure as possible about the commitment you are making to each other.

Despite the number of interviews I have been in, I don't really have any funny or interesting interview stories. They have all been pretty standard.

My philosophy for applying for jobs is to only apply for jobs I can see myself doing, enjoying and being challenged in. I always think of what new skills I can pick up in the role, and what skills I already have that I can maybe extend. I also imagine myself in the role, imagine what the daily task list would look like, and think about what I would like about the job. I believe this visualisation exercise allows me to really think about the job, and get excited about it and that enthusiasm comes out during the interview. (If I am not excited abut it after the visualisation exercise I rarely apply.)

But above all else, I am myself, I am confident and I build rapport with my interviewer to leave the best first impression I can.

Below is my cheat sheet for achieving these three things.

The Lessons

Knowing how to prepare for an interview is crucial to progressing your career.

If you are called for an interview, CONGRATULATIONS!! Here is what that phone call has already told you:

1. The employer believes you have the skills/ability to do the job (they will not interview anyone who cannot do the job)

2. You were among the top few candidates to apply (they only interview the top applicants)

3. They believe you are worth the amount advertised (they will not pay someone above their perceived value).

After you get that phone call you need to start preparing for the actual interview. You generally get about a week, and if you are not willing to put in some work in that week, then you probably don't want the job.

BEING MYSELF

• Amplify what you already have

I am quite extroverted, generally like meeting new people, talking about data and my career. So for me, the interviews I did after my post-doc were quite easy as I was so in love with data and was genuinely excited to analyse any new dataset, or look at an old one in a new way. Many interviewers (later employers), told me 'Your love of data really showed in the interview.'

So in the interview I simply dialled up my genuine love of data. I emphasised a part of myself that already existed.

So my advice is to think of what one or two aspects of this job really stand out to you, what makes you excited about the job? Focus on those aspects and amplify your excitement in whatever way you express yourself naturally. Are you enthusiastic like me or more under-stated?

• Be yourself, do not be a version of yourself you think they will like

Always be yourself in an interview, if you put on an act, you will have to repeat that act everyday of your career at that workplace. That just sounds exhausting.

Also, I would rather know in the interview if my personality is not a good fit for the company. I will be disappointed, but if they cannot accept who I am in the interview, a more polished version of myself, I would likely have had a short and unsatisfying career there anyway. Before long, I would likely be weighing up whether to stay or leave that job. See the blog 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go?' if you are currently facing this career dilemma.

CONFIDENCE

The most important thing about an interview is confidence. Most of us are not overflowing with confidence, so here is how I boost my confidence:

• Wear a killer work outfit.

Wear something that you believe will fit into the role that you are going for. If possible, look on their website to see pictures of people the same sex as you to see what they are wearing. If they are all wearing suits, wear a suit. If they are all wearing dresses, wear a dress. But bottom line, you should feel good in that outfit. I always wear a dress, that is in the black/white/grey colour family. Even though my wardrobe is quite bright and colourful, I always go monotone and conservative for the interview.

• Think of any nervous/unconscious/thinking habits you have and devise ways to over come them

My two unconscious habits are to play with my hair whenever it is out, and play with my rings when I am thinking. I will take it off my finger and then pull it on and off every finger when I am thinking. So for every job interview, I tie my hair back and take my rings off. All of my energy should be focused on the interviewers and answering their questions. Playing with your hair or rings does not exude confidence it exudes the opposite.

• Never lie

Lying also exudes a lack of confidence so never lie on your job application or during the interview. You will get found out, either during the interview process or when you start working there. If the employer believes you have lied about one thing, then they will not know what to believe and they may think you are lying about everything.

I once hired someone who lied about a qualification they had, and I knew within the first week that they were not as experienced as their CV implied. It took me 2 weeks to know exactly how they had lied.

• Read over the job ad.

To inspire your confidence read over the job ad, write down the key responsibilities for this position, and think of how you have demonstrated your skills in those areas.

Also, prepare the answers to highly likely interview questions, such as:

"Why did you apply for this position?"

"What unique skills do you have that will make you be able to do this job?"

"Why are you the best candidate for the job?"

In each of these questions you need to think of the key responsibilities of the job and highlight how you have experience in that area. It is best to practice your answer so it seems like a natural answer you just thought of on the spot. Also, do not use a cookie cutter answer. Think of why you did apply for this job specifically, and what excites you about it specifically, so they know why this job appeals to you, specifically. If nothing specifically excites you about the job then ask yourself why you are applying for it.

Think about how to frame your weaknesses. When you are reading though the job ad, identify the skills you do not have much experience in, and think if there is a way to frame your previous experiences to best highlight your ability or that the skill is transferable from another setting. If you think about how to best highlight your weaknesses, you will feel more confident during the interview.

For example, for one job interview, they required someone with SPSS skills. When they asked me about this I said, "I have predominantly used SAS to perform whole-of-population data analyses, as SPSS does not have the power to analyse a dataset with 25 million rows of data." I continued by saying "I used SPSS as an RA, but haven't used it in a little while. However, I am sure I can brush up on my SPSS skills."

In this response, I demonstrated my experience in this area, the reason why I haven't used SPSS, and a willingness to re-learn the required skill for this job. If I lied/stretched the truth and said I was extremely proficient in SPSS, they would have expected a higher quality of analysis work as soon as I started. Instead, they understood it would take me a little while to relearn this skill, and allowed me extra resources and time to perform these analyses.

BUILDING RAPPORT/GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION

• Be on time!!

Always, always, always be on time. When you are the interviewer and you have interviews scheduled right after each other there are few things more frustrating than waiting for a candidate to appear.

As the candidate, make sure you know where the interview is and how long it will take you to get there. I catch public transport to most of my interviews so I leave at least one bus/train earlier than I need to in order to have some time to kill before getting into the interview.

• Think of some ice-breaker questions

You have arrived on time, and now you have the walk from the lobby to the interview room. It will set your nerves at ease if you can make some light conversation, so think of some questions you can ask on this short walk. For example, ask how their day is going, make a remark about the weather, complement the building or talk about how easy it was to find. Neither of you want to feel awkward before the interview starts, as it may just get more awkward when the interview actually begins.

For a more in depth summary, see my previous blog "How Do I Build Rapport?".

INTERVIEWING THEM

They are interviewing you for the job, and they decide whether they will give it to you or not.

If they give it to you, then you decide whether to take it, or not. So think about a few questions you genuinely want to know about the workplace, such as 'Is the position office-based only, or is there a potential to work from home?'

Ask questions that you actually want to know the answer to, so you will be genuinely interested in the answer and ask relevant follow up questions too. Prioritise questions that may have a bearing on whether you accept the role or not.

Another question may be, you work really well to deadlines so you might ask, 'What is the manager's style like? Do they work to deadlines or do they take a more relaxed approach?'

If you ask any questions like this, be prepared to answer the likely follow up questions of: 'Do you work better at home or at the office?', 'What management style do you work best under?'

If you did the visualisation exercise where you imagined working there, what were the most exciting aspects of the job for you? At the end of the interview you could ask them about that skill/aspect of the job, and ask how frequently you would get to do that. Or do they use a specific program/dataset you are interested in? If so, ask them about it.

Other questions may include:

What will be my key responsibilities?

Can you give me an example of a project I may work on?

How many people work at the company? How many people will be in my team?

How do you promote collaboration between teams?

What will my day to day task list look like? Will it change over time or stay the same?

See if they answer your questions fully, or evade them. Clear communication skills are a great perk to have in the workplace, and the way they interact with you during the interview will likely be how they interact with you as an employee. Like you, during the interview they are likely putting the most polished version of themselves on display, so if their interview persona is disheveled, the workplace may also be disheveled.

POST-INTERVIEW

Now the interview is done, how do you feel?

What was the vibe like in the office when you walked in?

Do you want to work there?

How has the communications been thus far? Good and direct, or a bit disorganised? In my experience, if it is disorganised during the interview phase then it will likely be disorganised at the workplace too.

Think about any concerns that you have and think about asking them when they let you know the outcome of the interview.

What are your top interview tips? Do you have any superstitions or rituals before your job interview? What are your nervous tics and how do you overcome them? Let me know your experience by leaving a comment below or emailing me at AuthenticResearchExperiences@gmail.com

Photo by Amber Wolfe on Unsplash

Related posts

"Should I Stay Or Should I Go?"

"How Do I Build Rapport?"

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