Top Ten Tips for Interviewees, from Mike Cooper (BA Exeter, 1975)
1 - Do your homework on the company/organisation/industry, and even on the job itself, in advance – but do ‘wear your learning lightly’, in the interview!
Some reasonable background research would normally be expected from a job candidate – especially one who’s a graduate or near-graduate. This would apply even in situations where you feel you already know quite a lot (and do try to update any prior familiarity, if so). But all of this needn’t be exhaustive, either. You could consider checking their website and social media presence, contacting a past or current employee if possible – or even being up-front by talking with their recruitment team.
At the same time, however, don’t ‘unload’ everything you know and think about the job’s context in the interview. Choose what you contribute with care, doing so sparingly but effectively. If more is asked, you can use other information; but again, be careful and concise. It’s OK as a candidate to say “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure”.
2 - Dress appropriately for the occasion, the interview method, and the organisation.
A face-to-face interview with a bank might mean a certain kind of clothing – and that could be slightly different to an online interview. Similarly, either kind of occasion with a small tech start-up needs thinking about, too: the same clothes, or different?
3 - Get your overall body language right, from the start – and maintain that. Consider your vocal patterns, facial expressions and eye-contact (and their ‘messages’) carefully.
The very first image you present (whether in person, on the phone or on-screen) is obviously vital. Visually, that’s not just about dress, but posture, position and gesture – even your distance from and/or angle to a camera, if it’s an on-screen situation.
Be as conscious as possible of your normal voice and speech habits (pace, pauses, pitch), and use or modify those as appropriate, throughout (although this doesn’t really include regional accents and so on: stay authentic to yourself!).
Eye-contact is vital: establish and maintain that direct person-to-person link (especially if you’re with more than one person in a room or a Zoom). But don’t be afraid to let your eyes ‘unlock’, for a particular purpose. Looking thoughtful by occasionally looking elsewhere than into someone else’s eyes is fine. At the other end of the scale, of course, a steady and unvaried ‘death-stare’ is pretty unwise!
4 - Ensure that you understand each question or discussion-prompt clearly and fully. Don’t be afraid to ask honestly for a repeat, a re-statement, or a clarification.
It’s not a sign of weakness to do this (unless you’re giving the impression of being unfocussed or distracted). In some cases, it can be taken as an indication of genuine, and valuable, thoughtfulness and critical thinking.
You can (carefully!) use strategies like “If I understand you correctly...”, “Well, it depends on what’s meant by...” or “Do you mean/Are you asking about..?”
5 - Once you’re clear, stick to answering the exact question put to you – at first, anyway.
Don’t answer the question that you wish they’d put to you, or even any of the ‘supplementary questions’ that might seem to be logical. There will sometimes be room for that – either coming from them after you’ve addressed the key issue, or as something that you can briefly hint about at the very end of your reply, as a possible ‘teaser’ for them. That almost always needs to be their choice, though.
As with essays and assignments, answering the question or task you’re given demonstrates your abilities to listen and interpret effectively. Opportunities to show your lateral thinking and wider knowledge will arise; but they’re secondary.
6 - Always remember that ‘less is more’, when replying (at least, initially!); but be specific.
Whether you’re dealing with that direct and concise initial answer, or going on to providing extra detail and/or moving onto a related matter, always try to ‘leave them wanting a bit more’ – and thus leaving them to be in control of that. You can always just simply ask “Is that enough, or do you want me to expand?”
Importantly, though, this doesn’t mean just quickly generalising with clichés and theory (or ‘waffle’!). Particular and relevant examples and illustrations of all kinds will be important, to establish and reinforce your thinking, understanding and other skills. Just try to ensure that they, too, are always as concise and clear as possible. If more or different examples are wanted, the interviewer/s will then ask you for some.
7 - Try to display a mixture of: (a) having initially thought things through; and, (b) ‘riffing’ with some spontaneous thinking-aloud. Be ready for surprising or challenging questions.
An interviewee who appears over-prepared, and perhaps also rigidly so, may not be displaying a full personality or skill-set, or doing so most effectively. Similarly, just winging it, with little or no forethought evident may not show you to best advantage.
There are some pretty standard questions (clichés, even!) like “Why do you want this job?” or “Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?” You can think carefully about those, of course, in order to be ready if they do feature. That’s a more ‘internal’ kind of research, compared to what’s in Point 1 above. Just be ready for other queries.
It's rare these days to find aggressive questions from interviewers designed to wrong-foot or undermine you – but sometimes, it might still appear to be rather like that. Accept that anything of that sort may simply be a kind of lateral thinking on the part of an interviewer, or just designed to test your lateral thinking. You can also hark back to Tip No. 5 above, to be certain that they and you are very clear about things!
8 - Make sensible, relevant and convincing connections when responding to prompts and questions – especially your life-history, experiences, achievements, interests and ideas.
A real person – not an all-purpose cardboard cut-out – is being interviewed: you. So making strong, relevant and genuine personal links with the role, and any questions, is clearly important. Part of your preparation will usefully be to establish what those might be, and which are the most important and convincing ones to apply. This is a refinement of Point 7, above.
You need to avoid making it all about you, your lived experience and world-view, of course. However, fitting yourself to the role, and the role to you (and thus, responding in that way to the development of an interview conversation) matters a good deal.
9 - Ensure you ‘take charge’ – gently and politely, but positively – at least for a moment or two, and especially near the end. Make a sensible query or two (whether that’s pre-planned, or arises organically from the interview) which means that they need to respond to you.
Passive participation throughout, as the one-way subject of the process, is unlikely to demonstrate you to best advantage. You can be quietly but pro-actively assertive over practical matters like pay and conditions, training and support, or the organisation’s vision, policies, methods and track-record. Just be sure to be brief, clear, open and positive when you do so.
10 - Practice your interviewing skills – as often as you can, with as wide a variety of people taking on roles and methods ‘at the other end’ as you can manage, and in as many different contexts as possible.
Use your friendship, peer, family and past employment networks – and shamelessly!
The wider the spectrum of personalities and personality-types that you can talk with, whether face-to-face or electronically (audio or visual), the better. You can give them a context and a role, or leave them to suggest that. They can devise the questions, or you can supply those to them; co-creating them can be a good exercise, too.
You can even task someone you trust to give you a bit of a tough time, deliberately – just for ‘safe’ practice in the business of dealing with tricky situations, awkward moments and people who you might normally find a bit unsettling.
Good luck!