You have updated resume, submitted for applications, tapped on various contacts for opportunities.. and now interview invitations are coming!
“Many interviewers said they made rapid decisions about a candidate’s suitability: 4.9% decided within the first minute, and 25.5% decided within the first five minutes.” (quoted from Quartz article)
5 minutes! Besides the obvious things like arrive early and dress appropriately, how do you make a great impression within the first 5 minutes and nail down your interview?
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Be prepared – Research about the company
The number 1 thing to do is really to do a lot of research about the company (which includes company history, core values, visions, competitors, recent news (stock price included if this is listed on exchange), industry updates), the role you are interviewing for (job scope, expectation from team lead etc.). The more you know the better; after all you want to find out as well if this is a company worth working for.
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Research more about the company
If you have any connections currently working with the company, ask them questions about the interview processes, office culture, any challenges that company is facing etc. Find out who is your hiring manager / future teammates. Browse their profiles on LinkedIn or just Google them (they probably do the same with you as well). Some companies have recruitment program and they post testimonials from their employees (or employee profiles) online, read them! This is the best way to find out what kind of candidates the organization is really looking for.
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Prepare potential questions and answers
Just Google – “most popular interview questions at XXX company” and have them answered. For competency based questions, come out with a few real examples that you had experienced. Write down your bullet points and rehearse your answering in front of mirror; better, get your friends or family as live audience. And you have to prepare questions to ask the interviewer(s) too! Ask insightful questions to show that you have done your homework, or sometimes it could be some suggestions to their products or services as well. Interview is also a chance for you to find out more about them if this is a company that you really want to work for, make full use of it.
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Be self-aware, know yourself well
To really nail down any interview we must know ourselves very well. Interviews are for hiring managers to find out more about the candidates; show them your characters, skillsets, strengths, career aspirations, your own vision etc. Show how you can add values to the organization and how you can work with others. It is very hard to answer all these well if we are not self-aware enough.
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Give your real answers and be yourself
Answer questions politely, but give real answers. If you are afraid to give real answers because you think hiring manager might not appreciate them and hence wanna be more politically correct, you might be better off working at somewhere else. Because you won’t fit in to the company culture anyway.
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Use positive body language
There are many research on body language online, just practice some of them and they will help you a ton! For instance some simple ones: keep an open position (ie no crossing hands), lean forward instead of sitting back (to show you are interested), smile and make eye contact.
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Power up your professional online presence
No LinkedIn profile yet? You miss out a lot of opportunities! Most of the headhunters / HR screen through LinkedIn for recruitment. Apart from that, you can easily connect to your potential teammates / hiring managers even before you go for the interview. Use it smartly and it will do wonder. Besides LinkedIn, think using other additional platforms as well to showcase more about your talents or skill sets. Get a personal website (your own domain name / get it from Wix or Strikingly), have a blog or project portfolio. Your interviewers are possibly checking you out now before the interview. Now go power up your online profile to star-strength level!
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Follow up post interview
Send them a simple thank you note after the interview; follow up with them if you have not heard back for a few days. What? You don’t have their contacts? Ask them right after your interview session for emails, phone numbers or LinkedIn profiles.
Too long to read? In short: do a lot of homework before any job interview! Good luck folks =)
Note: This post is part of the series Work In Progress (WIP).