How To Ace Your Next Job Interview

For many job seekers, nothing is more dreaded than the interview process. Whether you have been interviewed countless times, you might still hate it when the time rolls around to hop on that Zoom call and share your best smile. There is just something inherently uncomfortable–especially for women–about having an entire conversation focused around ourselves, our capabilities and bragging about our accomplishments. Interviews feel like a hyper-tense, finite time that exists solely for us to present ourselves in a positive light; to thinly mask begging for employment as a bulletproof argument that feels like it was crafted by Annalise Keating. And therein lies the thinking that takes out most job-seekers; viewing the interview as a soup kitchen where they are the hungry and disadvantaged. When you click “submit” on your next application, remember hiring managers are just as hungry on the other side of that button.

Hiring is a business investment for a company. That makes you both the sales rep and the product. You have something companies want and they have something you want. With that in mind, here are ways to improve your interview strategy by looking at it for what it truly is; a business transaction.

For the First Timers

You might be facing your first time interview and have little to no experience discussing yourself in a professional light. There’s a lot of advice around the obvious; speak slowly, make eye contact, listen carefully. But let’s dig deeper and look at three ways to make the best impression in your interview process.

Articulate Your Skills, Not Your Duties

Many people without much work experience make the mistake of listing everything they did at a previous job as a skill–but duties are not skills. Duties are things you did while skills are the assets that allow you to get things done. You might have sold clothes at your last job, that is a duty. But sales is the skill–you can do that anywhere irrespective of  the product. Within sales are other skills; like product knowledge and relationship building. Spend your interview speaking about skills because these are the values hiring managers are looking for. Be explicit in how your skills will contribute to the duties on the job.

Prepare Ahead of Time

This might be the hardest learned lesson for job candidates. It’s extremely important to research the company beforehand. If they have a product or service, visit the site and read about it, especially in the help section. See how they describe themselves to their customers. Understand their audience and their pain points as a business. Know their competition. Read interviews with their leaders. Research your would-be manager on LinkedIn. The more you learn, the better questions you can ask at the end of your meeting. This will also help you prepare for any assessment tests the interviewer might have. For example, you might need to prepare for verbal reasoning tests if you are applying for a job in a big corporation.

Candidly Ask for Feedback

You will strike out. We all will. Ask for feedback every time you end an interview process without the role. Don’t expect everyone to answer but being upfront about the fact that you’re new to the interview process and would like to be better will absolutely inspire some true leaders to give you a tip or two.

When It’s Not Your First Rodeo

For those of you who have interviewed many times before with varying results, here are ways to strengthen your interview process:

Understand Your Brand

As a professional with tenure, you should be able to quickly and aptly explain your brand; who you are and what you bring to the table. You should be able to do it in a sentence. I say “I’m a tech leader specializing in building customer relationships for start-up companies.” Or I might say “I help women professionals empower themselves and get what they want from their careers.” No matter what part of my brand I talk about, I know exactly how to explain what I offer. These sentences are short, to the point and memorable to someone looking for those skills. A one sentence pitch is the perfect guide for what anecdotes and experiences you should offer in an interview to explain what you do and why a business would benefit from you.

Be True to Your “Weight Class”

As you build skill and tenure, your conversation in an interview should show that. Your expertise should be apparent in the way you discuss your work. As you mature as a professional, you should go from just speaking about your professional experiences to being able to quote articles and podcasts you read, to discuss strategy, theory and trends in your field and paint a picture of how they relate to the challenges the business is facing and expecting you to be able to fill.

And If You’ve Been Out The Game For A Minute

Going a lengthy period of time without interviewing or being in the job market space can come with its own set of challenges. Here are ways to ease back into the interview game.

Keep Doing Your Research

Things change often in the job market, from general availability and hiring trends to the way interviews are conducted and considered. Continue scouring the internet for great resources like Bauce Mag, so you can stay abreast of the latest trends and challenges for candidates. Network with other people who have also taken a long break from job seeking; you might learn something new from other candidates. When doing something new, absorbing knowledge is always the first step.

Own Your Narrative

Whether you have been working for the same employer for a long time or doing something unrelated to your profession (raising a family, traveling, recovering from illness or other tough life events), it’s important to have strong, set language on how you tell your story. Hiring managers are human, so they will place judgment on things you say, sometimes knowingly. It can be taboo talking around being unemployed for a long time after being fired. You might focus the conversation on how important it is for you to find the right match vs how difficult it has been.

Practice Self-Care

While the interview process is rough for every demographic in this article–it’s especially difficult for folks who have been out of the game for a while. You may not have the bushy tailed, bright eyed optimism of the graduate eager to try and fail. You also might not have the practiced resilience of a professional who gets interviewed relatively often. No matter where you are in your interview experience, let a strong understanding of your professional value guide your interactions.