How to come across well in interviews
There are so many simple things you can do during an interview process to make the other person want to work with you. This section is not going to talk about approachs to problem solving - that is about 74% of the web. But we will talk about traits that go far.
The way you handle yourself during an interview process is a big indication of how you’ll handle yourself once in the role. And this works both ways.
Candidates
- be on time
- send follow up emails
- thank people for their time
- are flexible with your schedule
- are open and honest about your situation
- are helpful when scheduling interviews
- are easy to get hold of
- are genuinely interested in the product
- research your interviewers on LinkedIn
- never reschedule
Then these are simple things, but demonstrate engagement and a high degree of professionalism.
Company
Candidates have the luxury of being picky with so many great opportunities in the tech market these days. With this in mind, think about how the following behaviours will been interrupted:
- turning up late
- rearrange interviews at the last minute
- ask "What role did you apply for?" (this has happened to me numerous times)
- clearly haven't read the candidate's CV
- take a long time to give feedback
- struggle to make decisions
- leave candidates in the dark
- over complicate your process
- throw out lowball offers in your negotiations
- ask really pedantic, irrelvant questions on some niche JavaScript session.
These are all huge red flags to candidates, and will quickly turn to other similar opportunities if they’re getting a bad vibe from the interview process.
If it’s a company that you’re interested in working for, or a candidate that you want to secure that you’re interacting with (as pretty much everyone you’re interviewing should be..) make sure you’re giving a true representation of yourself / your company, so as not to throw up unnecessary red flags 🚩