Going into the second half of the semester, many students are starting to look ahead. Jobs, internships and graduate studies are all on our minds now, and are probably causing some anxiety. One of the most important parts of getting any job is the interview. I caught up with Christopher Perrello, director of career services at the iSchool, to get some advice on how to ace any interview.<\/p>\n
CP:<\/strong> I think the first thing that students forget is that you have to be yourself, you have to be authentic. You cannot go into an interview trying to be a pre-scripted robot. One of the biggest flaws students make is that they think they have to really try to over professionalize themselves and try to put on this front that they know everything, that they\u2019re perfect, that they never make mistakes and that they never fail anything.<\/p>\n What\u2019s important is making sure that you\u2019re going into an interview being human, having a sense of humor and showing your personality, because that\u2019s who they\u2019re looking to hire, they don\u2019t want to hire someone who\u2019s faking it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s super important that students practice and rehearse, not to be super scripted, but to be comfortable in allowing your interview to be a conversation.<\/p>\n General advice is to be yourself and to rehearse those questions that you know they\u2019re going to be asking.<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> If you don\u2019t know the answer to something, don\u2019t try to BS your way through it. Own up to it, let the interviewing committee that you are stumped by the question or ask if they can rephrase it. Interviewers want you to be successful. They genuinely want you to succeed, and they want to help you out even if you\u2019re not the ideal fit for the position.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t wing it. You know they\u2019re going to ask you certain questions no matter what, so make sure you have prepared answers and that you\u2019ve embodied that message in a way that you\u2019re answering it very fluidly and articulately, and it looks like you have a lot of confidence.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t play it informal. Since the pandemic, we\u2019ve all become less formal. The pandemic has almost put us in this frame of mind that we think we don\u2019t need to dress up. What that\u2019s doing is removing a piece of confidence from yourself. If you dress up, you feel good and you\u2019re more likely to play the part. Plus, you may just look sharper and that may benefit you if it\u2019s between you and the other candidates.<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> The biggest thing is energy. You have to bring the energy to an interview, people don\u2019t want to hire someone who has no personality. When we\u2019re virtual, we\u2019ve now put a barrier in front of us. We have to try to pump up the energy level even more now because we don\u2019t enjoy the benefit of being in the same room as someone.<\/p>\n When we\u2019re on camera, use eye contact through your camera lens to build rapport and trust with the interviewers. Also use your facial expressions, hand gestures and arm movements to look like you\u2019re trying your best to engage with your audience.<\/p>\n The other thing is the technology. If you\u2019re tech doesn\u2019t work: good luck in that interview. Make sure that you have updated your computer before you sign on, that you shut out those programs that are sucking up bandwidth from your wifi.\u00a0 Also have an alternative means of communications with your interviewers in case something goes wrong. It\u2019s good to have their phone numbers or have your phone available just in case you need to switch to a mobile device.<\/p>\n Also, using Zoom backgrounds is a way for you to show your personality and stand out. The trick is not to make it so distracting that you\u2019re taking away from the original message. The SU backgrounds<\/a> are great for showing orange pride, especially if you\u2019re interviewing with SU alumni.<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> They want detail, they want depth. One of the biggest mistakes students make is that they\u2019re not detailed enough in their answers. If you\u2019re interviewer has to keep on asking follow up questions, you\u2019re making them do a lot of work. They\u2019re going to get kind of annoyed and take you less seriously. Make sure your interview answers are clear, provide evidence and detail and follow a template where you\u2019re not making the interviewer ask more.<\/p>\n They also want to know that you can be a team player. You\u2019re most likely going to be on their team working with them, so if you don\u2019t come across as likeable or having an engaging personality, that interviewer may not want to work with you in the future.<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> You definitely want to ask questions, you are now continuing to show your interest in the role, and this is a great chance for you to show your listening skills. If you congratulate yourself too early and you walk out of that interview without asking questions, you\u2019ve now lost that position. Try your best to ask some questions.<\/p>\n There are questions that I definitely do not want students to ask, like salary questions, vacation questions and questions about benefits. Those are sensitive questions that you want to wait until HR reaches out with a job offer.<\/p>\n Typically, I have students ask easy softball questions, like, \u201cWhat do you like most about working here in this organization?\u201d Now you\u2019re giving them the ability to talk legitimately about what they think about that place. And if they aren\u2019t talking about things that are appealing to you, you may want to reconsider your place in that organization. You may want to talk about mentorship and performance reviews too that\u2019s an opportunity for you to look at growth within the role.<\/p>\n I think asking some whimsical questions is great as well. \u201cWho’s your favorite superhero?\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite movie?\u201d Those are some questions that show personality and take some anxiety and edge off of that interviewer. If you have only 30 minutes, then you\u2019re better off asking those more serious questions.<\/p>\n Also ask about the timeline for hiring. Students often forget to ask when they can expect to hear back from the company. If you ask them in the interview, that\u2019s now giving you the power to reach out to them if that time is lapsed. If they tell you they hope to have a decision in five business days, and those 5 days have passed, now you have the opportunity to respectfully follow up with that interviewer about their decision. That usually helps quell some anxiety from students.<\/p>\n Definitely ask questions, know those questions before you go into the interview.<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> You definitely want to send a thank you email out, I say within 12 hours of your interview, you don\u2019t wanna wait too long. Keep it short, sweet and simple. Say, \u201cThank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to interview me today, I found x, y and z super interesting. I\u2019m really looking forward to hearing about how I can proceed in the process.\u201d That\u2019s all you\u2019ve gotta do.<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Big interview.<\/a> It is an amazing platform that every SU student, faculty and staff member has access to. It\u2019s a very robust platform that allows students to engage in video mock interviews. You can pick out your own question sets, like technical questions or questions based on the industry. You can record yourself as many times as you want and watch those recordings so you can learn from your mistakes. Shameless plug, you can also enroll in my CRS 345 interviewing class.<\/p>\n Also, talk to a career counselor<\/a>. Every school on campus has an amazing group of career counseling professionals<\/a> that are willing to help you out with not just preparing for an interview, and we can also set you up with alumni that can actually do mock interviews with you. There are really no limitations when it comes to interview preparation on campus. In this day and age, with all of the technology we have to practice our video interviews or practice mock interviews, there\u2019s really no excuse for students not taking advantage of those opportunities.<\/p>\nWhat are some things to not do in an interview?<\/h2>\n
What are some virtual interviewing tips? What\u2019s different between a traditional interview and a virtual one?<\/h2>\n
What are interviewers looking for in a candidate?<\/h2>\n
What to do after the interview, what questions to ask?<\/h2>\n
After it ends, what\u2019s next?<\/h2>\n
What are some resources available to students for interview preparation?<\/h2>\n