Interview Tips for Success

by Edward Conmy, Managing Director, RattleBerry Recruitment Ltd

I want to give you some tips on how to walk out of an interview feeling confident that you performed to the best of your ability. Being in the recruiting business, I do a good amount of interview and career coaching and strategy for our clients and panel members. Since we only work with experienced and senior level professionals, there is another level of professionalism and business savvy required during interviews that is often not covered in interview preparation material you find on the internet. Here, I have pulled together some articles covering useful tips and information for experienced professionals going through the interview process.

Prepping

Things To Think About Before A Job Interview by Karsten Strauss for Forbes
Karsten’s article goes a bit further than the typical “do your research” line. He suggests looking into things such as cultural videos and press releases as well as doing some profession stalking on LinkedIn prior to even the phone interview. This information should all be easily sourced via the company’s website or LinkedIn page.

How to get back to work after a career break by Carol Fishman Cohen for TEDTalks
We occasionally work with professionals who have chosen to take a career break, and Carol’s talk outlines the same suggestions and tips we make to our panel members. [ted id=2469]

How to Get the Most Out of an Informational Interview by Rebecca Knight for Harvard Business Review
Our enterprise clients often prefer to have informal, informational interviews with our panel members before starting a formal interview process. Whether you’re going for an informal meeting such as this, or have been looking to enter a specific industry or company that is new to you; this article offers both food for thought and preparation tips.

Performing

How To Tell A Great Interview Story by Barbara Stafani for Forbes
One of the most difficult things to do in an interview is to make yourself memorable (in a good way). One of the best ways you can master this is to make sure you follow the STAR approach, which centers around telling a genuine and convincing narrative as opposed to general, vague responses. In this article, Barbara breaks down how to answer a few typical questions for professionals going into leadership or management roles by painting a memorable picture of success.

7 Tips That Will Help You Nail That Interview Presentation by The Muse for Forbes
The professional interview process today often involves a presentation at some point along the line. This proposition can be nerve-wracking, but is really an essential skill for nearly every professional role today. Performing well in this style of interview comes with it’s own nuances and criteria. This article does a good job of pointing those out and offering ways to prepare for them.

How To Succeed In A Long, Arduous Job Interview Process by Caroline Zaayer Kaufman for Fast Company
A rule of thumb we see proved time and time again is: the more senior the role, the longer the interview and vetting process. So, the higher you aim, the more hoops you’ll be jumping through to get there. This article gives examples of the elements of long interview processes and the success strategies that suit them.

Consider this.

How to Spot a Bad Boss During an Interview by Sara Stibitz for Harvard Business Review
We usually feel immense pressure to impress when we go into an interview, which can be a very beneficial thing, but you must remember that you are making a career decision. You could be spending the next 2-5 years at this company, and part of that time you may be reporting directly to your interviewer. Sara writes to encourage you to really pay attention to not only your answers to their questions, but how they ask questions and answer the ones you ask.

5 Signs You Should Walk Away Before The Interview by Mark Newman for Inc
Most people will be approached by a recruiter at some point in their career, and many of them will go on to interview at companies they weren’t either aware of or actively interested in before being recruited. In these situations, you should definitely not shirk the task of researching the company. This article lists 5 red flags that you should consider before progressing further than an initial interview.

We care very much about insuring our panel members and candidates are adequately prepared for interviews with our clients. We offer a lot of the same advice that is included in these articles, and find that it often results in positive interview experiences for them and our corporate clients. We hope they will help you prepare and perform with great success in future interview processes.