Business and Careers Editor Vanshika Dhyani talks about interviewing and how to go from zero to hero and never find another interview daunting.
Interviewing is a game, and the only way to win is to stand out. A lot of us go into an interview sheepishly, a ball of nerves, hoping the earth will swallow us whole. But here is the thing, the people on the other side of the table or screen are not waiting for you to fumble and fail, quite the opposite really
Companies have a lot at stake, in fact, they’d rather hire you than interview another candidate. Interviewing is a cumbersome process; interviewers have to undergo several training sessions - it is a skill that has to be learned, developed and polished before it can be put to use. It requires time and resources to select candidates, screen them, and conduct multiple rounds of interviews. It is necessary to realise that the people asking you questions are there to hire you, they want you to work with them, they just want to see if you would be right for the team and company culture.
Dont worry too much about the job description; if you meet all of the criteria on the job description, you're more than likely overqualified. It will usually be a mix of things you know, things you can learn quickly for the interview, and things you can demonstrate potential to learn.
The best advice I have been given was to search the web far and wide for people who work for the company, and to learn about the role in depth. Use LinkedIn as your armour, sit down and learn about the company and the jargon they like to use, this will help you stand out and craft a CV with keywords that will get your foot in the door. Start prepping for your interview here, reverse engineer your skills to match the company culture and job description.
Your real task is to convince them that not only are you a teamplayer but you also like to learn things. The only way of doing the latter is to incorporate it into your everyday life. Put yourself out there, write an article, apply to be the auditor, organise events, run for class rep - employers love these things and eat it all up.
If during an interview,you are asked a question you don't know, don't fold. Redirect them to an answer you do know. Let's say the interviewers ask you: What year was the Second World War?
You say: World War Two is endlessly fascinating, I'm not sure of the exact years but I did write an interesting article about the First World War which was fought from 1914-1918, and made Eastern Europe vulnerable during the Second World War.
This way you were honest about not knowing the information off the back of your hand, and you did not start your answer with a negative sentence. You gave them what they were looking for: your ability to remember dates.
Not every interview will yield a positive result. But it is up to you to convert an unsuccessful interview to a future networking opportunity that can be used at a later stage. A few simple things can go a long way, such as a thank you email to the hiring manager after the interview, a thank you email to the recruiter after the final decision even if you don’t get hired, a LinkedIn connection request to anyone involved in the hiring process.
You must go into these opportunities with a long term networking mindset. Even if this interview doesn't work out, you have to be the first person the manager and the recruiter will think about when something more fitting opens up. And that is how you master the game.