Preparing for the Interview
Friday, August 14, 2020 by Bailey
If you are going to in-person or virtually interview with a company that you are sincerely interested in, then you need to invest the time and prepare for the interview. Here are some basic things that need to be accomplished:
Research the company: Try to understand their business model, products and/or services, recent news & events, vision, and philosophy toward employees, customers, and their business.
Research who you will be interviewing with: Get to know where they went to school, prior employers, and career track to learn if there are any parallels to your background to connect to.
Prepare a list of questions: Have questions center around learning more about the business model, how leadership manages and communicates, core functionality, and opportunities to contribute.
Prepare a list of examples that illustrate your knowledge and abilities that would apply in the role you are interviewing for: Some examples would be if the role requires multi-tasking, then an example of how you multi-task, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines would be appropriate. If the role includes process improvement, look to previous roles where you identified areas that could be streamlined and how you facilitated a change for the better.
Prepare to be asked questions: Many questions are specific, however, be well prepared for the questions most common to many interviews. Here are 15 questions to ponder:
- Why are you interested in working for our company?
- What are your five year goals?
- Why do you want to leave your current employer?
- What are your top three strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What can you offer us that someone else can’t?
- Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
- Give me three to five adjectives that best describe your personality.
- Share a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
- What efforts have you made to fortify your education and gain knowledge?
- How flexible are your work hours?
- Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss?
- If I called your boss right now and asked what can you improve on, what would your boss say?
- What motivates you?
