Practice job interviews - it's a skill like any other

It was eight years ago and I had just moved to Silicon Valley. My employer was Skype. However, just after one week of moving in to Northern California, we were bought by Microsoft. My team was part of the newly formed Skype Business division and Microsoft has had their own business tools for communication. The situation was not looking good for us.

I didn't want to move back to Europe so I started looking for a new job in Silicon Valley. I was confident a company would see the benefit of my skills and experience. After all, I was a fairly experienced developer with a proven track record building some excellent products. In addition, I knew how to do my job to help my company succeed.

However, I clearly lost my edge in interviewing. I actually sucked at it. I had not interviewed for years. I came to interviews unprepared. I blew technical rounds because the formats were completely new to me (see my article on research in rocking a job interview). I struggled in presenting and selling my strong skills and experience. And, to make things worse, my first applications were to the very companies I wanted to work for the most. So, I blew my best opportunities right out of the box.

I got the proverbial “thank you for your interest in our company” letter if any response at all.

What I learned in that experience is that when you come to a job interview, come prepared. First research the company. Second, know how to present yourself and realize -- you are ON STAGE!

Think of software engineering, an area I know the most about. Showing only your hard skills is no longer enough. Most of the companies require even the most talented technical people to be able to effectively work in a team environment and interact with different roles.

All the world’s a stage -- and this is one of your most important performances. And you rarely get second chances, so you better maximize your chances for the first time.

So, how do you prepare? The fact is most of us are not public speakers. So here are a few tips…

1. Record yourself. Ask yourself typical interview questions and record your answers on a phone. It may be awkward at first, but after a couple of attempts, you’ll get comfortable and will improve rapidly. Plus, it is a chance for you to “hear yourself.” We rarely listen to how we sound and communicate. It will help you to filter out any potentially annoying sounds you make while speaking or thinking you may not be even aware about.

2. Practice hard skills to gain confidence. Learn about the hiring process of companies you’re applying to and practice your hard skills. If you are a software engineer, most of the companies are moving away from algorithmical tasks and white-board coding towards pair-programming tools like Codility or Hacker Rank. If you’re nervous about that - get familiar with their environments and types of tasks and do as many training tasks as you can. 

3. Update your professional profile, and look at it through the eyes of a stranger. By doing so, you will put yourself into other people's shoes. And by efficiently describing yourself in a small format, you will realize what is important to emphasize during an interview.

4. Do real interviews. As with any public speaking, there’s no better training than practicing the real thing. The best is to practice during good times when you’re relaxed and are not actively looking for a job. You will be less nervous and more natural. Alternatively, if you are actively interviewing already, practice with companies you’re less interested in first. Ask the recruiter for a real feedback if you get rejected. Many of the recruiters will give you a general response first, but will give you more hints if you ask further.

5. Interview the interviewer. This is perhaps my most important tip. If you come prepared and research the company, the interview will be an information session. It will be where a potential employer looks at you as a possible team member. In turn, you will look at the employer and ask yourself, “Can I be a part of this team?” This is critical. And a fruitful conversation will set a stage of information exchange rather than back-and-forth questioning. It will transform an interview into a conversation. Some of my favourite questions are: “What are the biggest challenges your team is currently facing?” or “How will my first week/month look like?”.

If you live in Prague, you are in luck -- you have a chance to practice at the next HackerX event on September 17, 2019 starting at 7pm in HUBHUB Ara. Get your invite on hackerx.org. It will be a fun 5-minute long fast interview with our team and some other companies joining the event.

And if you don’t live in Prague -- don’t worry. You can get other tips and hints on the web, like this from Balance Careers https://www.thebalancecareers.com/practice-interview-tips-and-techniques-2062805

Practicing a job interview may not be perfect -- but it will improve your act for the next interview -- so you take command of center stage.