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Everyone dreams of feeling confident, quickly and clearly answering all questions and captivating a recruiter with their diction. Especially those who came to get their first job in life. A career coach tells you how to make your dream come true.
Before the polar expedition you will go to the equipment store, before the triathlon you will train daily. For an interview, especially the first one, you need to prepare just as carefully. It may sound pathetic, but it’s better to be a little more prudent and get a job than to get confused in an interview and miss out on a dream job.
Explore the data
Read about the company’s values and mission on its website. Find research on its position in the market. Use this in response to recruiter questions. So he will see that you are prepared and interested in becoming part of the team.
Study the job. In the interview, talk about your experience in key skills. If they ask for experience in a particular program and you have it, talk about it. Don’t talk about the skills you are just learning: they will be useful in the job, but they will not impress in the interview.
Write a short story about yourself in advance and rehearse it. Ask friends or family to conduct a test interview for you. They will point out your strengths and mistakes or unnecessary reasoning. Another option is to record yourself on video. You will be surprised how often you repeat yourself, insert parasitic words, stutter, or, conversely, speak too quickly.
“It doesn’t matter how confident you are in yourself and your abilities. If you haven’t prepared and rehearsed a story about yourself in advance, it’s likely that during an interview you will start talking about something completely different, ”explains Diana Dmitrieva, career consultant at Skypro Online University. “I know a lot of examples where well-trained developers and analysts started talking about their personal lives or started complaining that they had been going to interviews for two weeks to no avail.”
How to answer questions
Compile a list of answers to the most common recruiter questions. This way they won’t take you by surprise during the interview. You do not have to collect thoughts in a heap in a couple of seconds. A reasoned answer, backed up by facts, is already ready. What are the most frequently asked questions?
“Do you have work experience?”
Talk only about experiences that are related to the key skills of the position. It is unlikely that the fact that you sold fruits in the nearest stall as a student will reveal your ability to write clean code in Java.
“Why should we take you?”
Focus on soft skills – these are your personal qualities and skills. Describe the experience of working in a team, give examples of how you coped with a difficult task. A beginner’s portfolio is unlikely to include analytical reports for large banks or full-fledged online shopping sites. But if in a conversation you show interest, high motivation and a desire to pump technical skills, you will definitely be appreciated.
“Motivation is something that is assessed during an interview for any position in any field, and even more so in IT. An extinct look, detachment, indifference – definitely not what a recruiter expects to see, – Diana Dmitrieva is sure. – Ask questions to show your interest. Learn about the company, project, team, and roles.
Ask about the details of your future tasks, job evaluation criteria, as well as development and career opportunities. Lastly, specify the nuances of design, schedule, format of work and mechanism for paying remuneration.
“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
Everyone has minuses. Describe how you turned your weaknesses into strengths. For example, they learned to listen and work in a team, although before they tried to do everything alone and missed deadlines. This will show that you are ready to admit and correct mistakes.
“Do you have references/portfolio?”
Show, don’t tell! Even if your projects are educational. You wrote a small program in an online course with other students or made an analytical report for a thesis.
Checklist before the interview
- Don’t be late. Punctuality is a good habit not only in job interviews.
- Get yourself in order. It is not necessary to iron a white collar – just go to the shower, comb your hair and put on clean clothes.
- Get to know the interviewer. Specify in advance who is conducting the interview: HR, department or project manager. An HR specialist is unlikely to ask how to optimize the code, but a development manager will most likely ask a similar question.
- Check the time and place. Write down the address where the interview will take place, the time and contact details of the person who will meet you.
- Find out what documents to take.
“We found out that the interview will be held online – check that you have set the zoom. And also make sure that the Internet and the laptop camera will not let you down at a crucial moment. Make sure that no one and nothing distracts you in the process. If you can’t retire at home, find a quiet cafe or coworking nearby, ”the coach sums up.