Nailing the Face-to-Face Interview: What You Need to Know
You’ve put together an impressive résumé, curated a strong portfolio, and applied for countless opportunities. Then it happens—your dream company reaches out and wants to meet you for a face-to-face interview.
For some, this is exciting. For others, it can feel seriously daunting. Either way, being prepared is the key to walking in with confidence and walking out with a great result.
Below are some practical, easy-to-follow tips to help you make the most of your interview and give yourself the strongest chance of success.
Company Research:
Research the company, research the people you are meeting, familiarise yourself with their previous projects. This is something that can not highlighted enough, it is so simple but surprising how impactful knowing about the company you are meeting is. in an interview setting.
Role Research:
Study the role description (where possible!) and make a list of what you confident on and also where you are looking to develop yourself. Prepare some examples in your previous roles that align with the job description.
Self Preparation:
Practicing with a friend running through the obvious questions like, Why you are looking? What are you looking for? Strengths? Weaknesses? This is super-helpful for building some confidence in your interview techniques, whilst also enabling others to pick up on anything before an interviewer does!
Also running through your portfolio is a good idea, understand how long it takes you to talk through your work and also if your presentation covers all your skills and experience, again aligning with the role description..
Questions:
Taking time to research some great interview questions is really important to build an understanding of whether the role and company are right for you. It also shows a prospective employer that you are taking your job search seriously as well as your future career. Questions such as ‘what would success in the role look like?’ ‘who would be mentoring me in the role?’ ‘what is the most important skill set for the role?’ ‘is there anything that you feel I am lacking for the role?’.
Pick a good Time (where available):
Where possible get the time right. Statistically the best time to attend an interview is in the ‘sweet spot’ of 10am to 12pm. Candidates that have early mornings and late afternoon interviews tend to have less successful outcomes due to either themselves or the interviewer being fatigue, distracted or rushed.
Follow Up After the Interview:
Make sure end a short thank-you email to reaffirm your interest and reference something meaningful from the conversation. Ensure you keep it warm, brief, and professional.