Discussion
Hey Ladies- it’s BB Blog Thursday! This week I’ll be sharing some always useful interview tips . Let’s get right into it: The first step to a successful interview is always to be knowledgeable about the company/interviewer . The company website, social media, or other press releases are great places to gather information about the work they do and what they stand for. Being able to accurately answer questions they may ask or relate their past work to your experiences is a sure fire way to gain some bonus points! If you’re looking up a specific person, say for a research position, the same rules apply. Familiarize yourself with their background, education history, or other tidbits of information that you could use to relate yourself to them. However, be sure not to force a connection! Along with being knowledgeable about the company, you should have a clear understanding of the position you’re applying for . It may help to pull out specific skills detailed in the listing, and find ways that you meet the requirement. That way, when formulating your responses, you can highlight these points and let them know how you can fulfill their needs. While answering questions, it’s important to remain clear and concise. Your answers should include: what you did, how you did it, and the result produced . To ensure this, practice your answers to routine questions either in your mirror or with a friend. Extra bonus points for relating your answers back to the key skills you pulled out from the job listing! Some examples of routine questions are: Tell me about yourself? Why do you want to work here? What are your greatest strengths/ weaknesses? What is a difficulty you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it? As you know: prepare questions for your interviewer. The best interviews are the ones that feel more like conversations than interrogations. Make them feel like a person and inquire about their experiences with the company, their likes/dislikes, or even what brought them to the company. If this doesn’t feel right in the moment, just show a genuine interest in the position. Remember: you’re interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you. You can follow up with what your next steps should be or ask how your performance will be measured in the first few months. Speaking to current events, ask how the employer handled the COVID19 pandemic and how their employees were taken care of, or inquire about what they’ve done to actively increase and promote diversity in the workplace. If you’re feeling bold, or want to check in on your performance, feel free to ask your interviewer if there is anything from your background that would keep them from moving forward with you or how your experience compares to other candidates for the position. It’s possible some may decline to answer, but this is actually a really great growth opportunity. Lastly, send a thank you note! Your note should be sent by email within a few hours of your interview, or the following morning at the latest. Be memorable and personalize the note directly to your interview experience. Thank the person for their time, and express your eagerness to hear from them soon. Some other practices to ensure a smooth interview day are to: - Prepare in advance to be early, you don’t need any additional stress on your big day! - Bring an extra copy of your resume, just in case. - Have your game face on as soon as you step into the building, not just the interviewers office- you never know who’s watching! - If applicable, be prepared to talk salary. Use Indeed’s salary calculator if you’re not sure what the salary for your field should be. - Confidence is key! Show them you belong there! - Relax and be yourself! Your qualifications speak for themselves, but further, who you are is perfect- you shouldn’t need to change for a job, and if you do, maybe rethink if this is the correct position for you. These are all practices that I follow, and, if I do say so myself, I consider myself pretty great at interviews. Follow these pointers, and your interviewer will love you! Talk next week! 💋 Jenn
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