I wouldn't venture to say I have a great deal of experience interviewing or being interviewed. Though, as I approach my 50th interview given at the G, and looking back at all the jobs and internships I have applied to, the number of interviews where I have been on either side of the table is about a hundred. So it's fair bit. I don't even know if this will help any prospective job searchers. Are there any recent college grads or novice job seekers among the eight (OK, really four) of you who read this blog? But, if it happens to help someone who stumbles on this somehow, so be it.
Here are some general tips, some of it applies to technical interviews, but it is also generalizable:
- Be prepared. There's no way for you to anticipate all the questions you will be asked at your interview. We specifically cull our question sets for things that have been asked so frequently as to have ended up on the Interwebs. Brain teasers are also BS questions, and you look dishonest if you already looked up the answer beforehand and answered it too quickly. So, in light of this, prepare on the material that will be tested: you. As an interviewer, I am looking for how well you fit into the role I'm trying to fill. You as an interviewee should be looking for how well you fit into the same role. Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. Know the top things in your background and resume to talk about. Know past examples to support each of the above. Like G. I. Sun-Tzu once said, 'knowing yourself is half the battle.' Or something.
- Know your shit. In addition to knowing the things you put on your resume and being able to back them up, know the things you know well. This is particularly true for technical interviews. If you say that your best programming language is Java, you better be able to write a `public static void main(String[] args){ }` from scratch. If it's Python, don't start using curly braces and semi-colons. If you say you know something, it should be familiar enough for you to do it on the spot. Small mistakes will happen, but the core should be there. The converse is also true. If you don't know something, don't try to fake your way through it to try and impress anyone; if the interviewer is asking it, that means they know it fairly well. That also means if your particular strengths don't match up well with the job, then it's time to move on.
- Ask interesting questions. Related to being prepared, look up the company you're applying for. When I ask you if you have any questions about the job or the company, these should reflect your interest in the job and the company. This means doing your research before hand. Don't ask me, "What does the job entail?" because you're supposed to have read the job description beforehand. Asking "What does your company do?" may as well get you disqualified on the spot; if you want to work here, you should know. Asking "How did I do in the interview?" makes you look like a tool, and on top of that, I'm not going to answer.
- Dress up. You're interviewing at one of those new-found tech companies with the laid back culture. Awesome! Still dress up. For the fellas, at least put on a clean collared shirt and tuck it in. No jeans. Dress shoes. (For the ladies, I don't know, my best cross-dressing days are behind me.) This is the minimum. I recommend more based on the company and the job. This is for two reasons: One, you can never be over dressed. Two, you don't dress up for yourself, you dress up to demonstrate your respect for the occasion and who you're meeting. Yes, the new techie uniform is a t-shirt (usually ironic), jeans, and shoes optional. No, this does not mean you should dress like your interviewer. You don't have the job yet. If I am an interviewer and I see you dressed poorly, I either don't care or I think it reflects poorly on how seriously you take this. If you are dress well, I either don't care of I think it reflects well on how serious you take this. Notice the explicit inversion. Also, on the off chance you run into a toolbag like myself, who's dressed in a collared shirt and slacks most days, you're going to feel like a bigger toolbag.
- Follow-up. This I don't understand. In the 50 or so interviews I have given, I have maybe gotten a follow-up or thank you email, five times. In the 50 or so interviews I have done, I always sent a standard thank you, with a bit highlighting my strengths etc. (unless the interviewer explicitly would not give me a way to contact them, whereby, F them!) This is a common courtesy and something I was taught by my college career counselor. It's not hard, and there's no down-side. Thank the interviewer for their time. Highlight one or two areas you talked about in the interview and how you match them. Say you're looking forward to hearing back from them. Done.
- Don't FB/LinkedIn stalk your interviewers. OK, this is pretty simple. If you are given the interviewer's name beforehand, don't go and look them up on the Interblags. And even if you can't help yourself, don't try to use this to your advantage. I know we're all curious, voyeuristic creatures, but what do you hope to gain here? Using this information makes you look creepy and desperate to create some kind of connection. At best, it gives you something to chat about, and if you get a job you're not qualified to do only because you BS'ed your way in, you won't do well. At worst, the interviewer is gonna be thrown off by this. In short, don't do it.
Wow, this turned into a full on diatribe. In reality, it might not even be worth anything. But my AU$0.02 on interviewing. Take it with a grain of salt.
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