54. Is your interview prep all wrong?

Interviews can be very stressful.

You want to put your best foot forward and make a good impression! 

Are you approaching interviews in the wrong way?

A lot of people either:

- don’t prepare at all

- leave their preparation to the last minute

Or, they get so wrapped up in trying to put on a good front that they often overlook what they would like interviewer to know about them. 

Companies want to get to know you. They want to feel confident that you can do the job. They want to know that you are self aware. They want to know that you are going to be able to take on feedback.

Instead of starting by trying to answer a bunch of mock  interview questions. 

How about you start with:

- What do you know about the company?

- How would you like to turn up on the day?

- What you would like the interviewees to know about you when you leave the interview?

What do you want them to remember?

Step 2. How would you like to turn up on the day?

Start by brainstorming what this looks like for you:

- Prepared

- Well put together 

- Organised

- Punctual

- Relaxed

- Confident

Start to visualise this for yourself. Start to see yourself in the interview looking happy and confident. And well prepared. 

I like to use post it notes for this section. 

Step 3. Selling you in the Interview. What have you done?

This is your experience. When you leave the interview what should they know about you. 

This is what you are good at. 

This is what you have done. 

It could be that you have done this job before overseas. 

It could be that you have 3 years experience in leadership. 

You built a new team from the ground up. 

This is all the reasons why YOU would be great for the role. 

Write it all down - again use post it notes or perhaps even a miro board. 

Step 4. What does the role require. 

Next pull apart the job description and document what are they looking for in the job. 

Break this down. 

It could be good communication, leadership skills, some technical skills etc. 

You should at this stage have a few piles of post it notes. 

Step 5. Match it up

What I want you to do now is match up what you are good and what you want them to know to what the role requires. 

You should be able to match up your skills to what they want in the job. (Matching Step 3 to Step 4) 

These are then the areas that you are going to focus on in the interview. This will form the basis of the stories that you can tell. 

Then you can see as well that you may not have covered something that they may be looking for and you can address that. 

Step 6.  Answer 2 important questions.

I think it is important to be able to answer 2 questions. 

Firstly - tell us a bit about yourself. Check out the article - Selling and Telling your Career story.  This will help you craft this. Plus tell us what interests you about us. 

Work out your answer to both these questions and practice your answer! 

Once you have done those steps then I would practice a bunch of mock interview questions. 

All the best with your interview prep.  

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This Week’s Action Step

Even if you don't have an interview coming up - make a list of your experience. 

You may actually be surprised by what you have achieved in your career. 

See you next week. xx