I thought I’d kick off my first mostly non-intro post ever (quietly hyperventilating) by talking about something familiar to just about everyone.
Bananas.
Wait, no. Interviews. I meant interviews.
Unless you’re one of those lucky ducks who was able to get a job through connections, you’ve gone to an interview before! And those people with connections can just mosey on off because screw you too. Kidding. Mostly.
So why am I qualified to talk about hiring and interviews? Well, I’m not! Nobody truly is qualified to talk about this, and anyone who says they are is a liar. Every single hiring manager in existence is a different person, with different views and needs and thoughts. Every single company is different, and should be treated as such! There’s some very general things that I can recommend, and I’m happy to talk about why they work. However, I don’t ever recommend going into an interview all super jazzed thinking you know exactly how to handle it because you typed “Top 12 Things That’ll Get You Hired” into the Google machine. Instead, focus on these broad BS-level techniques to hide your flaws and show your strong points. It’ll serve you well, trust me. These tips start at the 3:15 minute mark in the video by the way!
Also, these are interview tips. Not tips to get pulled out of the terrifying black hole that is the resume pile. That’s a whole other thing.
Super Awesome Technique List Go!
- Be totally confident that you can do this job.
- Related experience matters.
- Answer questions as if you have the job already when you need to cover an experience gap.
- Brag about your accomplishments, but within reason (don’t ramble).
- Research the company before your interview, at least a little.
- Ask questions that get the interviewers talking.
Or…. BRA BRA. How on earth did I do that. I swear I didn’t try.
The video above goes into much further detail about…. BRA BRA (I truly did not mean for this to happen) but it all boils down to this:
Trust your skills and be confident that you can do this job. You’ve done so much, and lived an entire life before this job. You know a lot and you can learn anything you don’t know yet. Tell yourself this in the mirror over and over. There’s nothing they can ask that you can’t answer. Literally. “I’ve never done that, but this is what I’d do in this position” is a perfectly reasonable answer. Yeah maybe don’t apply to be a software engineer if you can’t code but as long as you’re applying to a job in your wheelhouse, you’re going to be just fine.
Does this mean you’ll succeed in every single interview from now on? Of course not! There’s going to be so many applicants and piles of competition. But if you go into every interview with confidence, positivity, and passion, then no interviewer will be forgetting you by lunchtime. And I can tell you from experience that someone will appreciate that and give you a chance.
Do you have any interview tips? I’d love to discuss them! And thank you for attending my long-winded BS session. There will be plenty more to come!
Video Editor: Haley Marie
I Totally Knew That 