Interview tips

Created time: July 4, 2024 2:28 PM Last edited time: August 21, 2024 9:07 PM

I started this when I was asked to record a bit about my experience with interviews. When I was recording the video my neighbours decided to drill some holes into walls. The sound of drilling does not provide for a great background, so I decided to expand my notes into this text.

Eventually, when they decided it was enough home restoration for the day, I had most of this text, and then also managed to do that recording, anyways this is turning into one of those autobiographical essays on top of recipes.

For a great interview, you need the following ingredients:

• 10g of headphones
• this is how far I managed to take the joke.

Anyways

Why me? I worked at a bunch of companies big and small, and interviewed at a few more. I also conducted interviews a few times.

So this is how I go about interviewing:

When booking interviews

Ask your recruiter, hiring manager, people who work there (even random people on LinkedIn), about what you can expect from the interview, what kind of questions and how can you best prepare.

Some companies have very specific rubrics, so even asking what they are looking for can be useful.

When preparing for interviews

Speak things out

I try to practice speaking things out (or at least mentally answering questions), explaining your thinking process, what I am hoping to do... Asking questions when I am stuck or at the beginning are a good way to buy time and to make sure I understand the challenge correctly.

Record yourself

Recording myself (while answering questions or completing challenges) taught me quite a few things, like how I “hmmm” a lot and how when I am stuck there is a much longer silence than what I thought. It’s the most low barrier way to create the space and time format similar to that of actually interviewing.

Practice pt1: Mock interviews

I found mock interviews super useful. It’s especially effective when one makes them as close to the real thing, both in duration, types of questions and conversation (and stress ! 😂 ).

If you have friends or friends of friends working at the company you are interviewing for ask them if they’d be keen. Communities might also be a source of relevant mock interviewers, otherwise, anyone willing to listen is good enough. Of course, if they know what you are talking actually talking about that’s better, but anything will do.

Practice pt2: Actual Interviews

I’ve heard that applying for jobs and doing interviews at companies one is not interested in can be a good way to get some practice, to work away some of the nerves.

Maybe this will work for you, but:

• it’s hard to sound excited about something I am not,
• will you be ready to say no to a job offer, when it’s not perfectly aligned with your career goals, but there is a real job, with real money, and how strong is one’s conviction,
• I also feel there can be some ethical consideration around here, but recruiters and the job search in general is not known for its moral values, so I’ve hear people say it’s fair game (like for example, how is it that in so many places candidates don’t get rejection letters?)

On the other hand, it’s better to fail and learn in situations when the learning does not hurt that much 😢

The rubric

Some companies actually have them, a bunch of boxes they want you to tick, and if you get insights in what those boxes are, then one can prepare these categories and answers to address those. In any case, there is probably a list of things that could be useful to convey to the employers. If one has a couple stories, with xyz to share, the same story/anecdote/knowledge, can be used for different questions.

Be on the other side

One of the most interesting/useful ways for me to gain perspective on my interviewing, both what happens once we submit a resume or during the decision phase about hiring one candidate or not, is to be on the other side, the one interviewing.

Even if you do not currently work/are somewhere where interviewing is possible, you can become a miniemployer anyway.

By posting a job on one of the freelancing platforms, you get to experience of what people go through when interviewing. I found Upwork’s “Post a Job” the most straightforward to use and the talent pool interesting too. (Plus the work was solid too).

Come up with something you need help with, maybe a list of companies that fit the characteristics of those you’d like to work with that have a relevant open job (inclusive of other info, like website, size, or any other info, job page link), or a logo for your website.

You can get a pretty nice chunk of applications, by budgeting 10-20 dollars for it and with a clear description of the job.

Then you have to go through the process of selecting who you want to work with. I find it fascinating to see what resonates with me, what doesn’t, what kind of portfolios are relevant, who inspires confidence, what kind of communication reinforces the deal and what makes me excited to work with someone.

Although the interviewing process should not be biased, I believe it very much is (in the sense that getting rejected tells more about them than you, and at the end of the day, it’s maybe because you just look like an annoying schoolmate from primary school).

So, by seeing what works and doesn’t work on you when you are the interviewer, you can take the learnings and apply them to your interactions on the other side, when you are the interviewee.

And then, if you had a nice run with your freelancer, you might end up with a list of a few more companies to look into!

During the interviews

Have fun 💃

One thing I always try is to have fun during interviews, I feel like one just shines through more. I imagine I am talking to a friend, explaining my project or the code to someone I am comfortable with.

Of course, nerves can get in the way, but I feel that it's actually on the interviewer’s side too to try to create a positive and encouraging interviewing environment.

You are also interviewing them

The company is not just interviewing you, you are also interviewing them, to see if you’d like to join them, if the role is actually what you thought it was, and to see if they seem like a good group of people to work with.

Maybe future post: questions that I ask to see if a team is nice-humans

Good luck.