Use Glassdoor
The next major thing that I would suggest is going and looking at Glassdoor, because you can get a lot of good information about what to expect in the interviewing process.
So, if you head over to Glassdoor, search for the company that you are interviewing for, and in particular, try to search for the job type that you are interviewing for. A lot of times, people indicate what interview questions they were asked.
And while few companies may mix those questions up, at least it gives you an idea of the types of questions that you may be asked and then how to prepare for them.
Because, it boils down to the preparation you make before you walk in the door. This is the most important part of showing confidence in your interview.
Improve your skills
To that end, if you notice something on job descriptions in your industry that you tend to be weak on, it is time to start scaling up.
What I mean by that is, if you have a gap on your resume, that you tend to be asked about in an interview, maybe it is a technology. Or maybe it is an industry standard software that you haven't been exposed to, see if you can figure out how to fill that gap.
At the very minimum, read up on it so that you can talk intelligently in an interview. Because most major industries and job types, the industries are very fluid.
And if you are somebody that has spent particularly long amount of time in one company or one industry, in one job type, and haven't really experienced where the market is heading, you can find yourself on the outside looking in pretty quickly as far as current skillset.
And if you are looking at all these job postings and reading through these job descriptions carefully, you can get a pretty good understanding of what the industry is looking for, in those roles.
So, take note and restack up, and maybe some areas that you can improve on and work on reskilling yourself if necessary. Because if you have the right skills, you are going to feel more confident in the interview.
Inversely, if you don't have the skills, you are going to be very defensive as a job seeker because you are going to feel the imposter syndrome. You are going to hope that they don't ask you a specific question that is going to expose your lack of knowledge. And that does not board well for a confidence in an interview.
Before we continue: Get the Art of Job Interviews to ace your next job interview!
Study the Job Description
And while you are at it, before you head into the interview, you should certainly be studying the job description very carefully, so that you have a good understanding of what it is that we are looking for in this position.
And you should be doing base level research before you walk in the door. But, you will be surprised at the number of people who don't even read the job description carefully.
And a lot of the questions that we ask are directly related to the job description.
So, if you read the job description, and you have an understanding of what it is that we are going to be asking you ahead of time, then you are probably going to have a better chance of being confident in the interview because you have studied up on it.
So please, study the job description very carefully before you walk in the door. You will have a better chance at impressing the interviewer, and aligning yourself as the best possible fit.
Recruiter Follow-up
Another sign to look out for is if a recruiter follows up with you very shortly after the interview on some other things.
Now, typically after an interview, that goes particularly well. The hiring manager usually goes back to the recruiter and say "Hey, can you follow up with them just to see how things went."
The recruiter would pick up the phone and just call you to ask "Is this something you can see yourself doing?"
Now, if you are asked those questions, you are being probed to gauge your interest level.
Because the recruiter is going to go back to the hiring manager and say "Yeah. It seems like they are pretty interested in the role."
I as a recruiter, might also need some additional information. Maybe the interview team forgot to ask something critical in the decision making process and I am trying to follow up with you to bridge that gap.
Maybe I am calling to dig if you have any other opportunities pending that we need to be in front of.
But again, if I follow up with you, and I ask you the very specific question of "How did it go and do you see yourself as part of this team?" Consider that to be a very solid sign.
Rooting for you!
Karl
P.S. Get the Art of Job Interviews to ace your next job interview!
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