My Top Tips for Interviewing

As a campus recruiter at Microsoft, interviewing candidates is one of my favourite parts of the job. In this article, I would like to share with you my top tips that could help in your next interview.

Before the interview:

Be a detective: Read through the Job Description thoroughly to understand the nature/scope of the role. This should provide you with a holistic view of the key priorities, measures of success, markets/customers you'll be working with and the essential skills/experience required. Apart from the role itself, I highly recommend doing your research on the company (eg latest trends) as well as the hiring manager via Linkedin, Glassdoor or networks who can provide you with the insider scoop.

Leverage on your recruiter: Of course, the best source of information is your recruiter. Here are some good questions to ask the recruiter to best prepare you for the interview:

1. The Role: What is the day to day tasks look like? Whats the biggest challenge of this role? Who are the main customers? Whats the team structure? When is the start date?
2. The Hiring Manager: What is their managing style? How do they work? What essential skills are they hiring for? Check out their linkedin
3. The Interview: What is the focus of each interview? Who are the interviewers?

Do a personal SWOT Analysis: The best candidates are the ones who come prepared and can express very clearly how this role fits with their motivation. This will also help you to assess if the job fits your aspirations and being authentic to who you are.

Once you have done your homework, you would be able to be have a much clearer picture of the essential Knowledge, Skills and Attitude required for the role. This will then help you to prepare specific examples which can showcase why you are the best fit for the role. In addition, I've even seen candidates go the extra mile to prepare decks focused on the market opportunities, competitor analysis and a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan related to the role. You can find more useful tips here.

Kicking off the interview:

• Be sure you arrive to the venue at least 10-15mins before the scheduled time. Take into account traffic, getting through the office security and waiting for the lift. Being punctual is a MUST.
• Make yourself feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible. As nerve wrecking as it is, believe and tell yourself that you deserve to be here! Use this opportunity to showcase to the interviewers that you are the best fit for the role. Practice body language techniques from Amy Cuddy, love her advise when she says Fake it Till you make it!
• The first question usually involves providing an overview of your professional experience, which is like your personal elevator pitch. Prepare a strong engaging pitch which showcases your accomplishments and personality. This will set a good tone for the interview.
• Behaviorial interview questions are often used in interviews, as this is a strong way to predict performance based on past experience. At times, scenario based questions can also be used to find out how one will approach a situation.

When the question is asked:

• Listen very carefully to what is asked. If you are unsure, its important to clarify with the interviewer. (Very important! I've interviewed candidates where they totally answered off topic)
• Do not cut the interviewer off even if you know what the question is. Its very important to let the interviewer finish asking the question.

Framing your answer and mindset (take up to 6 seconds):

• Put yourself into the shoes of the interviewer and ask yourself: What is the intent of this question? What skills/attitude/knowledge are they looking out for in me?
• Pick out the strongest examples/stories/situation which best answer the question.

Answering the question:

• The S.T.A.R.R.S format is a popular interview framework, which ensures that answers are thorough and comprehensive. Use the table below to help craft out your answer, based on a specific competency.

• From my experience, majority of candidates tend to miss out on the Reflection and Strengthen piece. A great candidate for me is able to look back at a situation and articulate clearly what they have learnt and how they took these insights forward. This demonstrates that this individual is highly self aware, willing to learn and humble.
• Its important to also not rush in answering the question, be considered and pace yourself well to ensure that the interviewer fully understands you. Relax :) The interviewer wants to hear your story.
• Use the right tenses when framing your answers. Check out these important speech patterns.

• The most important part is your body language. The tone, facial expressions and hand gestures creates a strong impression when being interviewed. Thus, be mindful of how you are building an emotional connection with interviewer. You want them to be able to see your passion and motivation towards the role.

Towards the end of the interview:

• Its important to have a list of questions for the interviewers. This shows that as a candidate you have done your homework and are keen to find out more about the role/team/manager/organization. Here are some really good questions you can ask at the end of the interview:

• After the interview, follow up with a Thank you note which also includes your refreshed understanding of the role and how it fits with your career path. If you dont have their email, you can either send it via linkedin or get the recruiter to forward the message along.

To Sum up, Its Important to have a Learn it All Mindset: Approach the interview with a Learning/Growth mindset aka your ability to be curious, take up challenges and learning from mistakes. This is a great quality I look out for especially in a disruptive industry like Technology.

A simple practice I recommend is to spend time for reflection on a weekly basis or after a project by asking yourself these 2 questions:

1. Looking back, what contribution did you make and what was the resulting impact? What strength did I showcase?
2. What would you have done differently? How would you do it better in the future?

I hope you find these tips useful for your next interview and feel free to share your comments below on your thoughts and ideas as well. Thanks.