Are you preparing for a Job Interview? Or getting ready for an interview? But doubts surrounding your mind about how to appear in an interview and how can you give a good interview. Let’s try to find out interview tips and best practices to follow, whether it is your virtual job interview, face-to-face interview, personal interview or even a general discussion.

The job interview or any other interview is a pivotal step towards our employment search and our desired career growth with right career path. It sets our path towards our career goal and future career growth. During my career journey, I have seen both sides of the table. Being as a job seeker and now mostly as an interviewer.

I have tried and adopted many interview tips, tricks and techniques during this journey. Some went successful and some went horribly wrong (well, we will discuss that!)

Job interview process is an interaction which we earn to present our abilities, skills, nature, background and personality to may be a potential employer (Many times, it doesn’t succeed). Some people stays confident during this process and some find it a nerve-wracking experience, that may cause anxiety and below par performance.

In this article, I will share my experiences of being a candidate and as an interviewer. Along with this, we will look at a variety of interview tips & tricks, techniques, strategies and challenges that candidates and interviewers face during the interview process.

It also provide, useful tips for interviewing someone as a hiring manager or interviewer. Hopefully, I can provide you with some valuable insights to help you feel much better and confident in your next interview!

Table of Contents

My Journey as a Job Seeker

Let’s start with my journey as a candidate. The challenges I faced and how I overcame them. After completing my Post Graduation in Computers, I appeared for my first interview with a big shot MNC (Multinational Company).

Failures and Lessons I Learned

I was a bit reckless at that time and being overconfident, especially about technical skills. So, I walked into an interview unprepared. I knew little about the company or the role, thinking I could “wing it.”

My turn came and I went into the interview room confidently. I greeted the interviewers confidently and then they started asking me generic questions like “Tell us about yourself” and others. Which i answered confidently.

Then one of the interviewer asked, “Why do you want to work with us?” This time I stumbled and got stuck. Whatever best came to my mind, I answered and gave a generic answer: “This company is best for freshers for future growth as it works with big logos! This will give me best opportunity to learn and grow.”

Interviewer asked me: “So, you want to join this company because we work with big logos?”

Suddenly, realization stuck that I had screwed it! It was clear that I hadn’t done my homework. This experience taught me a valuable lesson: the importance of interview preparation and research.

Finally got the Interview Success

After some time, I appeared for my second interview, but I was well prepared this time. The interviewer asked, “Can you describe a time you faced a challenge and overcame it?”

By that time, I had read about the STAR method at that time, so, I instinctively followed its structure:

• Situation: I described a situation of how in my college, my team has to perform a task of completing a project within a tight deadline. And, we did it well.
• Task: I told interviewer my role in detail, what we as a team prioritized and achieved it by defining the tasks clearly among us.
• Action: How I coordinated with the team and worked as a team by creating hierarchy, prioritizing tasks, and worked extra hours.
• Result: Finally, we delivered the project on time, and our teachers and mentors were really proud of us. We also ranked in top 3 for which i showed interviewer the proof.

Using right interview strategy, answering approach and being honest, the interviewer appreciated how I clearly articulated my contribution. After clearing further interview rounds, I finally secured my first job.

Interview Tips and Techniques

Using right approach to an interview, we can all do well. Let me take you through some interview tips, tricks and strategies with interview advice that might help you in preparing and clearing an interview and land your first dream job or upgrading to next job position.

1. Research the Company

Before entering the interview room, you should be aware of company profile, like

• What it does? It’s industry and segment.
• What is company’s work profile?
• Is it a product based or service based company?
• What is it’s target audience or customers?
• Which geographic locations it serves?
• What are their business goals?
• Their policies, any current or future events, related news,
• And more, related to your job profile.

This will reflect that you are truly interested in the position and that you have taken the time to become familiar with the organization.

Preparation Tip:

Gather information through the company’s website, current news releases, and company’s social media profiles.

2. Understand the Job Description

Before applying for any job, carefully match the job description with your work profile. Only apply to it, if it matches. Else, it would only be a waste of time for both company and you.

Consider how your skills, abilities and experiences compare to the mentioned job needs and requirements. If you receives a call, explain clearly why your background makes you the best person for the job.

Preparation Tip:

Prepare a list of work, situations or instances from your prior employment or school or college background that show you are eligible and qualified for the position. To answer your responses, use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) interview technique.

3. Master the STAR Interview Method

STAR Interview Technique or STAR Method is very useful in answering behavioral interview questions. It helps you in arranging your answers and reply in a structured approach. It is made up of four key elements:

1. Situation: A situation or context, which you solved or managed?
2. Task: What was your specific role or responsibility in that situation?
3. Action: What steps did you take to address and solve that situation?
4. Result: What was the final result of the situation, which you addressed? Tell about the positive outcomes you and your team achieved after the actions taken by you.

STAR Interview Technique Example:

Let’s understand STAR method through an interview question, asked by many interviewers.

Question: “Being an IT team lead or manager, can you describe a time or situation you handled conflict?”

• To answer these kind of behavioral questions, use STAR method to organize and reply your response. Your answer should be something like:
  • Situation: A conflict happened in two team members, one from development team and other from QA (Quality Analysis or Testing) team.
  • Task: I mediated between them to solve their conflict, so that team bonding and efficiency didn’t affect.
  • Action: Here you can tell the steps, you have taken to resolve that issue. Like, understanding their concerns and how you acted upon them.
  • Result: Finally, the positive outcome of the actions taken by you in resolving the issue, especially on team bonding and productivity.

This way of structured and well arranged answering will definitely leave good impact on the interviewer.

4. Practice Your Responses

Give some time to practice common questions before going for any interview. Answering them clearly tells your mind capability and ability to handle difficult circumstances, your experience, your style of digging problem details and your strengths and flaws, which are required for a particular job position.

You will feel more confident and assured during the interview if you have well-planned responses ready in advance, especially for common questions.

Practice Common Questions:

Always go prepared with the common interview questions, here are some sample interview questions:

• Tell us about yourself or Introduce yourself.
• Why do you want this job?
• What are your expectations from this job?
• How many hours you can work in a week or so?
• How you can handle an escalation from a client or stakeholder?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What are your salary expectations?

These questions are generally asked to weigh your experiences and your cultural fit for the role and the organization. Answers to these questions may or mayn’t directly affect your selection, but do impact your overall score during an interview.

Preparation Tip:

Make a list of common interview inquiries, and prepare your responses. Concentrate on practicing answers that are succinct but thorough, that highlight your behavior and ability to first understand then effectively handle different situations, solve problems, and contribute effectively to the organization. Always try to make a conversational tone to avoid sounding like a mugged script.

5. Be Punctual

Never show late for an interview, this is a big red signal for every employer. Being a punctual person, reflects your attitude towards your work and demonstrates your seriousness about the job interview or any other work.

Preparation Tip:

Pre-plan your journey estimated time to reach the interview site, taking traffic and potential delays into account. Try to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early.

6. Dress Appropriately

Although it depends on the job profile interview, you are appearing on. Your appearance is crucial in creating a good first impression. It does matter. The sense of professionalism and respect for the job position and workplace’s culture can be enhanced by dressing appropriately for the interview.

Especially for marketing and sales job roles, it is preferable to be somewhat overdressed than under-dressed if you are unclear about the dress code.

Here is the list of job roles where appropriate dress code matters a lot:

• Banking and Finance Professionals
• Lawyers and Legal Professionals
• Financial Advisors
• Consultants
• Human Resource Professionals
• Sales and Marketing Professionals
• Hospitality Staff
• Retail Professionals like Store Managers, Luxury Brand Sales Executives)
• Flight Attendants
• Event Planners
• Doctors and Surgeons
• Nurses and Medical Technicians
• Journalists and News Anchors
• Public Relations Specialists (PR Specialists)
• Fashion Designers
• Teachers and Professors
• School Heads or Administrators like Principals, Academic Deans
• Military Personnel
• Police Officers and Security Personnel
• Actors and Performers

Preparation Tip:

Find out the company’s dress code in advance, and when in doubt, wear formal, conservative clothing.

7. Practice Good Body Language

A positive impression can be made, and rapport can be developed with the interviewer through effective body language. Positive attitude and body language say a lot about your confidence and personality through nonverbal cues.

Preparation Tip:

Start with a solid handshake, sit up straight, make eye contact and refrain from fidgeting throughout the interview. Answer with smile and focus on essential points while answering. Don’t indulge extra in proving your point right. Express genuine interest in the questions asked and the job role.

8. Ask Insightful Questions

At the end of most interviews, you will get a chance to ask questions to the interviewer. This is a good opportunity to interact in lighter way with the interviewer. Try to learn useful information about the business (learn something new) and show that you are really interested in the position.

Some questions you may ask interviewer are:

• What are the immediate priorities for this position in the first three to six months?
• What are the biggest challenges the team is currently facing?
• How does the company support and enhance employee learning, success and advancement?
• Is there anything more you would like to know, about my background or skills that can give more clarity in connection with current role?

👉 Why is it important to have a short list of questions ready to ask about your employer?

These questions are important because they shows your passion and genuine interest in the job opening and company. It reflects your research and eagerness to understand how you can contribute to company’s goals and want to make an impact.

Preparation Tip:

Make a list of well thought out questions or inquiries to ask an interviewer. Do not ask queries like, “What does your company do?” or other simple research-based inquiries. Instead, concentrate on asking questions that go deeper into the culture of the organization, chances for career growth, and what are company’s expectations for current role.

9. Having Good Soft Skills

Soft skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving are equally important as technical skills. These skills are frequently noted and evaluated by interviewers based on your interactions and reactions.

Preparation Tip:

To illustrate your soft skills, use instances from your prior experiences with good flow of language. Explain with real-world examples or real situations, when you worked well with a team or solved a difficult problem.

10. Address Resume Gaps and Weaknesses Honestly

The best quality of any candidate is honesty. It is utmost important to be honest during the interview in every sense. If your CV contains any employment gaps or inadequate information. You should inform that upfront at the time of interview call and during your interview.

Never hide those, it is better to work in confidence as false information may affect your career growth. A person credibility suffers, if he or she attempts to hide or manufacture information.

Example Doubt or Situation:

👉 For example, some candidates face this doubt?

Question doubt: I had a bad experience at a previous job, what should I do rather than speak negatively about that organization?

Answer: As said earlier, no need to hide anything but answer responsibly and ethically. If asked a related question, you should reply in these situations like:

Yes, I have faced challenges in my previous role, but I realized those were valuable lessons for me. They helped me grow both personally and professionally. I have learned to become more flexible and adaptable. “I worked on improving my communication, and problem-solving skills or include any such scenario on which you have worked”.

I am now looking forward to applying those lessons in a more positive and growth-oriented environment, where I can thrive with the company and make the biggest impact. You can include an example situation, if you want.

Preparation Tip:

If your employment history contains any gap, clearly explain why they exist at the time of interview call. Clearly telling your gaps or any other missing information shows your truthfulness and gives good impact on potential employer. You should center discussion on how you have worked to strengthen or get past them.

11. Adapt for Virtual Interviews

Increasing wfh (work from home) and hybrid work cultures brings the more need and adaptation of online or virtual interviews. Generally, almost for every job position interview, one or two initial rounds happens online. Either through Google Meet, Zoom Call or Microsoft Teams. Adapt this new culture and become used to it. Make sure before appearing for an interview:

• Test your system and required technology like camera, mic, and adequate internet connectivity.
• If possible, make a clean, professional background.
• Look towards the camera more, not the screen. Try to make good eye contact with the interviewer.

12. Follow Up After the Interview

A good gesture after the interview, that can make a long-lasting good impression on the hiring manager or interviewer is to send a thank-you email or note. Send it within the first 24 hours after your interview.

It shows a sense of connection you made with the job role or profile.

For Example: You can send them a message or a thank you email like:

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview for the [Role] position. I truly appreciate the chance given to learn more about the [Role], exciting work involved and the team at [Company Name]. I’m enthusiastic about the possibility of contributing my skills and experience to help achieve organization’s goals and learn from this opportunity. I learned the valuable insights during the interview and will surely embed into my daily routine.”

Preparation Tip:

Within 24 hours of the interview, send a thank-you email to the hiring manager or the person who interviewed you. Express your gratitude for the chance and reiterate your interest in the job. You can also add here your comments or any points that you wished you had made during the interview (although brief reply is preferred).

13. Be Yourself

Most important aspect of you as a candidate is being you. Being honest and authentic during the interview is just as important as being prepared and appearing for an interview professionally.

In addition to evaluating your skills (soft or technical) or qualifications, interviewers most interestingly determine and judge whether you would fit in the workplace culture. Whether the interview candidate brings honesty in the team and helps in building a positive workplace culture.

Preparation Tip:

Be confident and truthful in expressing your personality, interests and excitement for the position. Be yourself, and it’s more likely to work out for both parties.

My Perspective as an Interviewer

Let’s now talk about my perspective and views after moving to the different side of table. As someone who now interviews candidates, I approach the process with a focus on five key areas:

1. Communication and Honest answers

I look for candidates who can put their thoughts clearly and concisely while staying genuine in their responses. Honest answers, even when addressing challenges or mistakes, this is only possible after self-realization, awareness, accountability and integrity.

2. Handling Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions give best insights into how candidates have dealt and will deal with real-life business problems and team challenges. These questions are strong predictor of candidate’s future behavior and performance in difficult situations. I look for structured, step-wise specific responses, candidate use like the STAR method or other related response technique. This helps in understanding their thought process, approach to solve a problem and decision-making skills.

3. Problem-solving ability

Candidates who approach a problem thoughtfully, logically and creatively while demonstrating their ability to break down complex challenges into small manageable solutions with correct reasoning step-by-step.

That, not only shows their approach to a solution but also the trade-offs they considered during the problem solving process. The reason is to understand candidate’s thought process behind their answer. Many a times, right approach or though process often matters more than the solution itself.

4. Fitment into company’s culture

What I feel, if a candidate’s values, personality, and work style align with the company’s culture and team dynamics. Candidate would be a great for the organization. We, in our company prefer individuals who are not just a good fit but can also enrich and contribute to the team’s diversity and bring positivity in the team’s culture.

5. Passion for the Role

A candidate’s or job seeker interest towards the job opening and the company is a key indicator of their motivation and commitment. This can be judged by how well they have researched the organization and job description. Curiosity of knowing more about the related details during the interview, and their excitement when discussing how they can contribute is a key indicator for judging candidate’s passion for the role.

A good candidate is the one, who connects their personal goals with the company’s mission and progress. This shows whether they are just looking for a job or they are looking to make an impact.

Red Flags I Watch For:

There are some flags and missing dots, which I use to judge a candidate’s suitability for a job and company:

• Giving random answers without understanding the context of given problem,
• Being overconfident without actual knowledge or substance,
• Lack of preparation or knowledge about the role and company,
• Poor body language or way of interaction, like over talkative or under talkative, avoiding eye contact or slouching. Not following a balanced approach.

These are some of the interview tips and pointers, which my conscience points out whether to send candidate for further interview round or not.

Useful Interviews Tips and Tricks

These are some useful interview tips and tricks depending on your experience level:

For Students and Freshers:

• Focus on transferable skills:
  • Example: A student or fresher with no work experience can share how they led a group project, or participated in a team project. Demonstrate teamwork and effective leadership. Explain your role in sync with team’s goals and what was the positive final outcome.
• Be Honest and share real experience:
  • Don’t give false experiences or examples, use real world examples done by you. Don’t exaggerate your confidence and achievements. Authentic information is what always expected.

For Experienced Professionals:

• Highlight measurable achievements.
  • Example: Instead of saying, “I led a team,” say, “I managed a team of 10 and increased productivity by 20% in six months or reduce costs by [15%] in first year or up-sell, cross-sell example.”
• Be clear with your career gaps or job changes.

For Everyone:

• Avoid Common Mistakes, learn from the peers, friends or mentors:
  • Never speak negatively about a previous employer or any of your team member or manager or HR department,
  • Don’t overload your answers with excessive and unnecessary details. Answer clearly and to-the-point, use examples if required.
  • Don’t only be an active speaker instead practice active listening. Be patient and respond to questions calmly.

Conclusion

Remember, every interview is a learning opportunity. Whether it gets cleared or not, regardless of the results, keep in mind that every interview is a chance to advance your knowledge and skills. With the right interview approach and techniques, like the STAR technique, honest and actual answers with a commitment to growth, you can crack the interview and pave the way for a successful career.

By preparing properly and using the right interview tips, best practices and good strategies, you can greatly improve your chances of tasting success in an interview or acing an interview.

Go out there, be confident, and own your journey!

Wishing you good luck 👍