3 Ways to Make an Interview Feel Like a Conversation
Hi friend,
There are a lot of interview tips and tricks out there, but today I am going to talk about the underlying thing you need to understand and execute on in order to succeed in your interviews. Ready for it?
Great interviews feel like conversations.
It’s probably not a surprise to you if you’ve ever had an interview that went very well. If only every interview felt that way! And maybe, they can:
Have your own interview agenda
Over and over I have seen candidates who carefully practice, do their research, and show up to the interview prepared for a test. For them, it is all about providing the right answer. They are like still surfaces, reflecting back whatever you bounce at them, but not providing anything of their own to engage with.
It can be hard to avoid this, especially if you are a perfectionist or chronic-over-prepper. So I recommend setting your own interview agenda. What are you trying to assess about the organization, team, and manager you could be joining? What are you interested in learning more about? This should inform your own questions as well as what you listen for and follow up on during the interview.
Guide the flow of the interview
You can prevent the interview from being a one-sided Q&A. Do it! Here are some ways to work your own questions in so it feels like a comfortable back and forth:
When asked a question that relates to your interview agenda: “That’s actually something I wanted to learn more about! Do project managers usually guide proposal development, or do they only get involved at the implementation phase?”
When answering a question that involves examples: “I dealt with a very challenging situation when a major client deadline got moved up by 6 months, and also had to manage a customer service crisis at my previous job when a key feature in our product stopped working for 2 weeks. I can go into either; which example do you think is more relevant to the team?”
When answering a question that is too vague or poorly worded: “Well, before I talk about building a culture on my team, I want to share my definition of culture… How do you define culture?”
Put your interviewer at ease
Guess what? A lot of interviewers don’t know what they are doing and feel awkward during interviews! At the end of the day, an interview is a social situation with a stranger that has something important riding on it. Reframe your role in the interview to think of the other person; put them at ease with small talk before the interview gets started, ask them questions about themselves, and show encouraging and responsive body language and comments when they talk.
Conversations are two way streets, so you can’t guarantee that every interview becomes one, but if you do these things, you will find your interviews feel like conversations more often than not.
See you next week,
Karissa
