How to position your Agile experience at your next interview

When it comes to joining a new team, although many organizational cultures can be vastly different, few things are quite common.

Some of these commonalities are centered around how we acclimate & adjust to people, processes and change.

Therefore, as we think about joining a new Agile organization, (or any organization for this matter), what is known for sure is there will always be an aspect of relationship-building (people), products/services (what we do), and processes (how we do it).

Since this will (always) be the case, we can become immediately more successful in how we demonstrate our lived experiences by being more intentional around explaining our handling of these common occurrences.

In other words, if we thought critically and proactively (before the interview), by positioning our past experiences around these common pillars, i.e. how we related to people and built trust quickly, how we responded to change in a new environment, and how we seamlessly acclimated and got up to speed in our past similar roles, we'd be able to effectively demonstrate our lived experiences in a more authentic and meaningful way.

I am however aware, there is a myth and mis-belief which exists, that we have to dig-deep for the most complex and elaborate use-cases during an interview, when in fact these common occurrences can say a lot about our professional texture and bring forward practical examples of our skills.

Remember education, certifications and skills are all great, yet beyond these, many leaders hiring in Agile roles are also looking & listening for how you can self-start, lead & support people amidst change, and think critically through unknowns.

Therefore I offer a few tips below, on how to position your Agile experience at your next interview.

Related to people and built trust quickly - Share and demonstrate (with examples), how you related to your new Agile team. How did you build trust quickly? What was your approach to getting to know members of your team? What questions did you ask? What key things were most important to you in the 1st 30 days? Did you proactively seek guidance and mentorship from similarly modeled roles?

Responded to change in a new environment- Share and demonstrate (with examples), what you did to understand the new environment around you. What was your approach to learning which artifacts/team norms already exists vs. what's missing? What questions did you ask? What key things were most important to you in the 1st 30 days? Did you proactively observe and seek to understand, before seeking to be understood?

Seamlessly acclimated- Share and demonstrate (with examples), what you did to bring yourself up to speed quickly. What was your approach to learning, what training was readily available? What questions did you ask? What key things were most important to you in the 1st 30 days? Did you ask to know everything you could about the products and its purpose? Who are the customers, why is what your team builds/delivers critical? Who are the key stakeholders? Were there any watch-outs to be aware of before you arrived?

Remember, in 2022, people do want to know "how the sausage was made", (that's why reality TV and behind the scenes documentaries are so popular), so have your recipe for success, ready to share.

Show that you are hyper-curious about the role at hand.

Show alignment over not aggressiveness - don't seek to change everything so quickly, instead understand what already exists & how it can be leveraged.

Be a continuous life long learner and be willing to receive and contribute.

And, this is How to position your Agile experience at your next interview.

To learn more about this and get the skills and knowledge to get hired as a Certified Agile Transformation Professional, go to https://agileeducate.com/