Acing Your Interview

Reflect upon your past interview opportunities.

When were they challenging or unsuccessful?

When were they easiest and most successful?

What worked and what didn't?

Why bother interviewing candidates at all? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could apply for a position, be recognized for our talent, and be given a competitive offer in the span of a few weeks? Unfortunately, that does not represent reality. Nor should it.

Interviews are a valuable tool for organizations and for candidates. No one wins by making a wrong hiring decision. Interviews are a great way for an organization and a candidate to identify three core things:

1. Do you want to do this job? Not your supervisor's job or a job in a different department within the organization, but this exact job that needs filling?

2. Do you have the skills and experience to do this job?

3. Do they want to work with you, and do you want to work with them?

Most people think of interviews as one-sided, with a hiring manager holding all the cards. But as a candidate, you have a lot of power. You are the one who decides whether you accept or reject an offer. Taking a step back, you are also the one who determines how well you perform in an interview. That's where this training comes in.

The more you practice, the better you become at interviewing. The better you are, the higher your confidence, the more relaxed you are, and the more your personality shines through.

This training will help you further develop your interview skills in all settings, from a phone screen to a virtual interview to a good ol' fashioned in person interview. Believe it or not, interviewing can be a lot of fun. The exercises in this module will help you get started.

Look back at the answers you wrote down in the opening reflection.

Identify the areas where you shine as a candidate.

• What were the scenarios that allowed you to do your best? Do you understand how to mimic those in the future?

• If so, write down your action plan. Remind yourself of the things you do well.

Next, identify those areas where you didn't feel very successful.

• What happened? What were the feelings that arose in you during the interview? Write it down, and name those emotions.

• Then, generate some ideas for how you can workaround or improve upon those situations in the future.

Don't be hard on yourself or dwell too long on experiences that didn't work out. As I said, interviews are two-sided. It has to be a fit for the candidate and for the organization. If it's not a fit on both sides, then it's not a position that suits who you are, what you value and what you bring to the table. Instead, focus on moving forward and identifying great opportunities for the future.

A phone screen is pretty self-explanatory, right? It's usually the first opportunity that you have as a candidate to speak with a member of the hiring team. It's usually performed by a recruiter.

If you remember from the opening video, the three core purposes of conducting an interview, the phone screen addresses the first two things: do you want to do this job? and do you have the skills and experience to do this job?

The good news for you as a candidate is, that if you've been invited to phone screen, then it means that your application materials already check off both of those boxes. The phone screen is intended as a tool to ensure that the person behind the application is just as qualified as the resume says they are.

It's also a great way for organizations to ensure that a candidate understands the requirements of the role that they have applied for, and still wants to do that role. They might also confirm salary and location for the position.

Be prepared to communicate your qualifications and interest in the role. Be honest with yourself about your salary and location requirements.

No one wants to waste anyone else's time. By performing a phone screen, organizations and candidates can have a productive conversation about the opportunity at hand and decide whether it's worth the effort to move along in the interview process.

Do you talk on the phone much? Or do you prefer text and email?

Whether you're regularly on the phone or only do it once in a while, I want you to think about the last phone conversation that was easy and fun.

• Who were you talking to?

• What were you talking about?

• What was the purpose of the call?

• What was your attitude?

• Were you sitting or standing?

• Did you mostly speak or listen, or was it an even balance?

• What made the call easy and fun?

Now I want you to think about that phone call in the context of a phone screen.

• What can you do to help recreate the environment and attitude that will allow your phone screen to feel easy and fun? (OK, easIER and MORE fun than a typical phone screen?)

Look at the Interview Skill Check-Up that you performed in the last section.

• What good habits can you incorporate into your preparation?

• What new habits or strategies do you want to try out?

The more comfortable and prepared that you can be, the easier the flow of conversation and the better the phone screen.

Virtual interviews are here to stay, and for good reason. They are easy to schedule, quick to run, and offer the potential for a faster interview process. I say potential, because some organizations still take a very long time. Still, there are a lot of benefits to virtual interviews.

In this section, I'm going to offer a very high-level overview of what you should consider when preparing for a virtual interview.

While a virtual interview may feel very similar to an in-person interview, the technology creates some new considerations for how you can stand out as a candidate. The way that you use the technology can make or break whether you move to the next round.

Take the time to practice and test different types of virtual interview technology. Similar to a phone screen, the more comfortable that you can be behind the video camera, the more your personality will shine and the better you'll come across in the interview.

When preparing for a virtual interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

1. Professional Presence: What kind of first impression do you want to make?

• Attire:

  • What can you wear that will make a nice, polished impression without being distracting? Practice wearing it in the room or with the background that you will use for the interview. Does it offer a nice contrast to the background, or does it blend in?

• Punctuality:

  • Arrive 2-5 minutes early for your interview. Make sure that you download their interview software and practice connecting far in advance so that you can troubleshoot any problems.

• Background:

  • Locate a neutral or well-curated background. When in doubt, sit in front of a blank wall.

• Lighting:

  • Arrange your computer in a position with light coming from in front of you, lighting your face. You do not want to have your back to a window or have a light behind you. Some overhead lights will work, too. The key is to practice and see what lighting works best for you. Consider buying a ring light to ensure that you have good light wherever you are!

• Connection:

  • Test your internet connection in the place where you intend to conduct the interview. Some spaces receive a clearer signal than others. Consider using a hotspot to ensure that your connection remains strong throughout the interview.

• Microphone:

  • Test the microphone that you will use during the interview. Make sure that it picks up your voice clearly and loudly enough for the person on the other side of the screen to hear you.

• Camera:

  • Test the camera to make sure that you appear clear. It is also helpful to see how much of the background shows up in your camera shot. Some have a wider camera angle than others. Adjust your background based on how your camera situates you in the frame.

• Notifications:

  • Turn off or silence all of the notifications on your computer, phone or device. If they go off during an interview, it's likely that the interviewer won't mind, but there's a good chance that you will become distracted.

• Distractions:

  • What time of day is your interview? Try your best to minimize distractions that might take your focus away from the interview. Do you have a landline in the room that is prone to right? A pet that might need attention? A child who will be getting home from school? A delivery that might arrive? The more that you can prepare in advance, the lesser the chance of being distracted during the interview.

When preparing for a virtual interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

2. Body language & Eye contact

1. • Body language:

     • Sit up straight or arrange your device so that you can stand. Standing can help you feel more alert and energized during the interview. If you choose to sit, then sit in a chair at a table, not on a couch. You want to do your best to mimic the type of experience that you might have during an in-person interview. Leaning forward shows engagement. Leaning backward shows disinterest.

   • Eye Contact:

     • Practice receiving questions while looking at the person on the screen. Answer questions looking at the camera. It's not perfect, but it strives to offer a reasonable balance of simulating eye contact (looking at the camera) and looking at the actual person.

When preparing for a virtual interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

3. Energy & Personality

1. • Smile!

     • Our brains are preconditioned to notice and smile back when someone smiles at us. As social creatures, it's our way of building bonds with others. It can be hard to build rapport and feel an emotional connection on a virtual interview. Smiling is the best way to begin to do this in a very natural way.

When preparing for a virtual interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

4. Preparation: (Spoiler! The preparation that you do for an in-person interview is the same that you'd do for a virtual interview!)

• Research your interview panel

  • It's appropriate these days to acknowledge that you've done research in advance. LinkedIn makes it easy to learn about someone's background, so you should avail yourself of the resource.

• Research the industry, company, function

  • This is your time to shine and show off everything that you've learned throughout the course of your job search. You've done a lot of work to get to the interview stage. Do the extra research to show that you're a candidate who goes the extra mile.

• Practice!

  • It's critical that you clearly and succinctly connect the dots between your past experience and the job requirements. (Stay tuned, we'll explore this more in the Common Interview Questions.)

  • Prepare thoughtful, prepared questions for each interviewer.

In-person interviews, or traditional interviews, are one of the best ways for you as the candidate to get a feel for an organization and its people. If you are working in a role that is hybrid or fully in-person, then I hope that an in-person interview is part of your hiring process.

In this section, I offer a high-level overview of how you can prepare to make a great impression during your next in-person interview.

Remember! Interviews are a two-way process. While you're focused on having a great interview conversation, it's also important that you pay attention to what is happening around you. What is the space like? Can you get a tour? Where would you work? What are the people like? Do they seem happy and engaged? Does the environment suit your particular needs and interests?

All of these factors are critical for you to consider as a candidate. If you have the benefit to interview in-person, then you want to come prepared to look out for the key things that allow you to thrive in your next position. The exercise below will help.

When preparing for an in-person interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

1. Professional Presence: What kind of first impression do you want to make?

1. • First impression: Know that your candidacy is being evaluated the minute that you enter into the area near your interview location. As you're parking your car, getting out of a taxi or walking from a subway, you interact with someone who is consulted as part of your hiring process. I don't need to say this, but treat everyone with respect and friendliness. Parking attendants and security guards are often consulted to ask about how they were treated by interview candidates. Make sure that their reviews are glowing!

     • Prepare: Where are you going and how are you going to get there?

   • Attire: Know your audience, what they expect and how you want to show up as a candidate. Different industries have different norms and expectations. Do your research to find out what your industry expects and dress accordingly. I wouldn't wear a suit to interview at a start-up, and I wouldn't wear a t-shirt to interview at a bank.

     • Prepare: What is the cultural norm for your industry and preferred organization?

When preparing for an in-person interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

2. Body language & Eye contact: How engaged and interested do you seem as a candidate?

1. • Body language: There are some basics for you to practice and be aware of in an interview.

     • Practice:

     • You want to sit up straight and forward on your chair. Leaning forward shows interest. Leaning back shows disinterest.

     • Crossing your arms gives off the air of being closed off to ideas, while resting your arms by your sides gives the impression of confidence and openness.

     • Are you a hand talker? Be careful not to overdo it. If you're prone to big exaggerations, then consider practicing in front of a mirror. You don't want the interviewer focused on your hand movements instead of your story.

   • Eye contact:

     • Practice looking in a mirror or with a partner:

     • You want to maintain the right amount of eye contact. Too much, and the interviewer will feel like they are being interrogated. To little and the interviewer will think that you lack confidence.

     • Tip! If you ever received the advice to look at someone's forehead instead of looking them in the eye, then it's bad advice. I've had candidates do this to me and I found it very distracting.

When preparing for an in-person interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

3. Energy & Personality

1. • The preparation that you put into the other 3 items in this section will allow your energy and personality to shine through. It's important that you find an environment that lets your wonderful personality shine. We all need to make some concessions as we adapt to different environments, and different people will be willing to make more than others.

   • Ask yourself and reflect:

     • In what environments do I feel like myself? Do I feel energized?

     • How long does it typically take for my personality to shine through at work? What can I do to help this happen sooner?

When preparing for an in-person interview, there are 4 main categories that you should consider. Take note of the areas that you need to practice or refine.

4. Preparation: (Spoiler! The preparation that you do for an in-person interview is the same that you'd do for a virtual interview!)

• Research your interview panel

  • It's appropriate these days to acknowledge that you've done research in advance. LinkedIn makes it easy to learn about someone's background, so you should avail yourself of the resource.

• Research the industry, company, function

  • This is your time to shine and show off everything that you've learned throughout the course of your job search. You've done a lot of work to get to the interview stage. Do the extra research to show that you're a candidate who goes the extra mile.

• Practice!

  • It's critical that you clearly and succinctly connect the dots between your past experience and the job requirements. (Stay tuned, we'll explore this more in the next section.)

  • Prepare thoughtful, prepared questions for each interviewer.

As you can imagine, it's impossible to know exactly what someone is going to ask you in an interview. But, depending on your experience level and the responsibilities of the position you're applying for, you can do a pretty good job anticipating the types of questions that you might be asked in an interview.

In this section, I outline the three common types of interview questions that show-up during the course of an interview. I encourage you to practice answering them out loud. You might be prophetic when writing out answers to questions, but find that you stumble when it comes time to speak them. The more that you can practice out loud, the easier it will be for your to deliver clear, compelling answers in an interview.

Grab a partner, or I guess a mirror could do, and start practicing!

When I think of traditional interviews, I typically see three different types of interview questions.

(Notice that I specifically mention traditional interviews. This section does not go into detail about Case Interviews or any other type of specialized interview. Those require a strategy all of their own! If you have questions about a non-traditional type of interview, then please reach out at alumnicareers@holycross.edu and we will help you.)

3 Common Types of Interview Questions

1. Culture Questions: These questions aim to understand who you are as a person and how you might fit into the organizational and team culture.

   • Sample Questions:

     • Tell me about yourself.

     • Tell me something about yourself that isn't on your resume.

     • What is your work style? Management styles? Leadership style?

   • Answer Strategy:

     • Share who you are in a professional context. Know your audience. Traditional environments will want more traditional answers. Informal, flexible environments will likely appreciate broader answers that allow them to understand what you enjoy and who you are outside of work.

     • Either way, make sure that your answer is succinct and work appropriate. Hiring teams will sometimes ask these questions as a test to see how much candidates will reveal about themselves, if they become too informal, or if they tend to talk too much about themselves. Remember that you're on an interview, not making a new friend (...yet!).

2. Basic Questions: Can you do the job? These questions aim to understand if you have the specific skills, experiences and training to do the job.

   • Sample Questions:

     • Do you have experience working with XYZ software or system?

     • Have you ever managed a team before? What is your management/leadership experience?

     • What experience do you have working remotely?

   • Answer Strategy:

     • Reflect upon and make a list of the skills, experiences and trainings that you've gained throughout your career. This will help jog your memory and allow you to respond faster to the questions that might be posed in an interview.

     • Deliver a direct answer, supported by an example.

       • If you have experience, then this is easy to do. For example: "Yes, I have used XYZ software before. I use it in my current job to do XYZ and am also familiar with its ABC functionality. I enjoy learning new features and would be very interested to learn how you use the system."

       • If you don't have the direct experience that they are asking about, then this is still easy to answer effectively. As you'll see, the answer is fairly similar to the one above. For example: "No, I haven't used XYZ software before. However, I have used ABC, which is similar. We use it to... I have successfully learned new software systems in every past position that I've had. I enjoy learning new systems and would feel confident in my ability to learn XYZ without trouble."

3. Experiential Questions: These questions use the theory that past behavior predicts future behavior. They are looking for you to tell stories about past experiences so that they can better understand your manner of thinking and how go about solving problems.

   • Sample Questions:

     • Tell me about a time when you had to pivot unexpectedly and what you did about it.

     • Tell me about a time when you had to show creativity when solving a problem.

     • Tell me about a time when you had to collaborate across departments in order to get something done.

     • Tell me about a time when you were disrupted during a virtual meeting and what you did about it.

   • Answer Strategy:

     • You want to tell a short story that illustrates how you have handled this type of situation in the past. The STAR Method offers a great outline to help you structure your answer.

       • Situation: Set the scene

       • Task: What were you asked to do?

       • Action: What did you do?

       • Result: What happened?

     • Tip! I find that people most often forget to include the result at the end of their example. This is a critical piece of information! It tells the hiring team that you can follow-through and produce a positive outcome. When you practice, make sure that you include a result at the end of your answer!

The best thing that you can do is to practice your answers OUT LOUD.

First, make a list of interview questions that you think you might see in your interview.

• • Research common interview questions for your type of position, organization and/or industry. Glassdoor is a great resource for this.

  • Review the position description and highlight key verbs, skills or experiences that seem prominent or repeated many times. Create questions that inquire into whether you have these attributes, skills or experiences.

Then, practice!

• If your interview is a phone screen, then ask a friend or family member to help you practice by asking you questions over the phone.

• If your interview is a virtual interview, then practice delivering answers to a camera. LinkedIn offers a great Interview Prep resource to help you practice. You can also create a free Zoom account.

• If your interview is in person, then practice delivering answers to a friend or family member. You can also practice in front of a mirror.

Alumni Career & Professional Development is happy to schedule a mock interview with any alum who would like to practice their interview skills with a neutral party. Email alumnicareers@holycross.edu to set up a mock interview.

This concludes the training module on Acing Your Interview. I hope that you feel prepared to knock the socks off of anyone that you meet in an interview.

Interviews are notoriously stressful situations. Do whatever preparation you can to help yourself feel relaxed, energized and excited to enter into an interview conversation and show the hiring team what a great addition you would be to their team.

Good luck practicing and good luck in your next interview. I know that you'll do great!

Keep yourself moving forward toward accomplishing what you desire in work and life.

• What is the smallest first step that you can take toward accomplishing your goals?

• Identify 3 things that you will do in the next 2 weeks to work toward your professional goal.

8 Tips for Conducting an Excellent Remote Interview (Harvard Business Review)

Holy Cross Alumni Career Webinar: Setting the Stage for Virtual Meetings with Julie Campbell '87

Hopefully this training has sparked new ideas and gotten the wheels turning on your career search. What new questions are on your mind?

Please email alumnicareers@holycross.edu and include "Interview Q&A Forum" in the subject line. A reply will be emailed back to you, and the Q&A will be featured anonymously in this forum to benefit future learners.

Maura Sweeney is a career development professional with 14+ years of experience connecting people with meaningful opportunities. As the Director of Alumni Career & Professional Development at the College of the Holy Cross, Maura’s mission is to create space to help alumni discover meaningful lives. She provides direct career advising to alumni, and employs in-person and virtual programs to engage alumni at scale. She creates opportunities for alumni to advance their careers by connecting with the Holy Cross Network through professional groups, events and networking resources. Prior to joining the Alumni Relations Office, Maura spent 10 years working in roles that spanned student advising, employer engagement and recruiting. She earned her bachelor’s degree in French from the College of the Holy Cross in 2007, and her Master of Education degree in Adult and Organizational Learning from Northeastern University in 2010. She became a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach in 2021. She is on the board of the Alumni Career Services Network, an active member of the Career Counselors Consortium NE, and a volunteer for her town's PTO. She lives in the Boston Metro West area with her family.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurahsweeney/