Going into the second half of the semester, many students are starting to look ahead. Jobs, internships and graduate studies are all on our minds now, and are probably causing some anxiety. One of the most important parts of getting any job is the interview. I caught up with Christopher Perrello, director of career services at the iSchool, to get some advice on how to ace any interview.
How should students prepare for an interview?
CP: I think the first thing that students forget is that you have to be yourself, you have to be authentic. You cannot go into an interview trying to be a pre-scripted robot. One of the biggest flaws students make is that they think they have to really try to over professionalize themselves and try to put on this front that they know everything, that they鈥檙e perfect, that they never make mistakes and that they never fail anything.
What鈥檚 important is making sure that you鈥檙e going into an interview being human, having a sense of humor and showing your personality, because that鈥檚 who they鈥檙e looking to hire, they don鈥檛 want to hire someone who鈥檚 faking it.
It鈥檚 super important that students practice and rehearse, not to be super scripted, but to be comfortable in allowing your interview to be a conversation.
General advice is to be yourself and to rehearse those questions that you know they鈥檙e going to be asking.
What are some things to not do in an interview?
CP: If you don鈥檛 know the answer to something, don鈥檛 try to BS your way through it. Own up to it, let the interviewing committee that you are stumped by the question or ask if they can rephrase it. Interviewers want you to be successful. They genuinely want you to succeed, and they want to help you out even if you鈥檙e not the ideal fit for the position.
Don鈥檛 wing it. You know they鈥檙e going to ask you certain questions no matter what, so make sure you have prepared answers and that you鈥檝e embodied that message in a way that you鈥檙e answering it very fluidly and articulately, and it looks like you have a lot of confidence.
Don鈥檛 play it informal. Since the pandemic, we鈥檝e all become less formal. The pandemic has almost put us in this frame of mind that we think we don鈥檛 need to dress up. What that鈥檚 doing is removing a piece of confidence from yourself. If you dress up, you feel good and you鈥檙e more likely to play the part. Plus, you may just look sharper and that may benefit you if it鈥檚 between you and the other candidates.
What are some virtual interviewing tips? What鈥檚 different between a traditional interview and a virtual one?
CP: The biggest thing is energy. You have to bring the energy to an interview, people don鈥檛 want to hire someone who has no personality. When we鈥檙e virtual, we鈥檝e now put a barrier in front of us. We have to try to pump up the energy level even more now because we don鈥檛 enjoy the benefit of being in the same room as someone.
When we鈥檙e on camera, use eye contact through your camera lens to build rapport and trust with the interviewers. Also use your facial expressions, hand gestures and arm movements to look like you鈥檙e trying your best to engage with your audience.
The other thing is the technology. If you鈥檙e tech doesn鈥檛 work: good luck in that interview. Make sure that you have updated your computer before you sign on, that you shut out those programs that are sucking up bandwidth from your wifi.听 Also have an alternative means of communications with your interviewers in case something goes wrong. It鈥檚 good to have their phone numbers or have your phone available just in case you need to switch to a mobile device.
Also, using Zoom backgrounds is a way for you to show your personality and stand out. The trick is not to make it so distracting that you鈥檙e taking away from the original message. The are great for showing orange pride, especially if you鈥檙e interviewing with SU alumni.
What are interviewers looking for in a candidate?
CP: They want detail, they want depth. One of the biggest mistakes students make is that they鈥檙e not detailed enough in their answers. If you鈥檙e interviewer has to keep on asking follow up questions, you鈥檙e making them do a lot of work. They鈥檙e going to get kind of annoyed and take you less seriously. Make sure your interview answers are clear, provide evidence and detail and follow a template where you鈥檙e not making the interviewer ask more.
They also want to know that you can be a team player. You鈥檙e most likely going to be on their team working with them, so if you don鈥檛 come across as likeable or having an engaging personality, that interviewer may not want to work with you in the future.
What to do after the interview, what questions to ask?
CP: You definitely want to ask questions, you are now continuing to show your interest in the role, and this is a great chance for you to show your listening skills. If you congratulate yourself too early and you walk out of that interview without asking questions, you鈥檝e now lost that position. Try your best to ask some questions.
There are questions that I definitely do not want students to ask, like salary questions, vacation questions and questions about benefits. Those are sensitive questions that you want to wait until HR reaches out with a job offer.
Typically, I have students ask easy softball questions, like, 鈥淲hat do you like most about working here in this organization?鈥 Now you鈥檙e giving them the ability to talk legitimately about what they think about that place. And if they aren鈥檛 talking about things that are appealing to you, you may want to reconsider your place in that organization. You may want to talk about mentorship and performance reviews too that鈥檚 an opportunity for you to look at growth within the role.
I think asking some whimsical questions is great as well. 鈥淲ho’s your favorite superhero?鈥 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your favorite movie?鈥 Those are some questions that show personality and take some anxiety and edge off of that interviewer. If you have only 30 minutes, then you鈥檙e better off asking those more serious questions.
Also ask about the timeline for hiring. Students often forget to ask when they can expect to hear back from the company. If you ask them in the interview, that鈥檚 now giving you the power to reach out to them if that time is lapsed. If they tell you they hope to have a decision in five business days, and those 5 days have passed, now you have the opportunity to respectfully follow up with that interviewer about their decision. That usually helps quell some anxiety from students.
Definitely ask questions, know those questions before you go into the interview.
After it ends, what鈥檚 next?
CP: You definitely want to send a thank you email out, I say within 12 hours of your interview, you don鈥檛 wanna wait too long. Keep it short, sweet and simple. Say, 鈥淭hank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to interview me today, I found x, y and z super interesting. I鈥檓 really looking forward to hearing about how I can proceed in the process.鈥 That鈥檚 all you鈥檝e gotta do.
What are some resources available to students for interview preparation?
CP: It is an amazing platform that every SU student, faculty and staff member has access to. It鈥檚 a very robust platform that allows students to engage in video mock interviews. You can pick out your own question sets, like technical questions or questions based on the industry. You can record yourself as many times as you want and watch those recordings so you can learn from your mistakes. Shameless plug, you can also enroll in my CRS 345 interviewing class.
Also, talk to a . Every school on campus has an amazing group of that are willing to help you out with not just preparing for an interview, and we can also set you up with alumni that can actually do mock interviews with you. There are really no limitations when it comes to interview preparation on campus. In this day and age, with all of the technology we have to practice our video interviews or practice mock interviews, there鈥檚 really no excuse for students not taking advantage of those opportunities.
Editors Note:聽 For more information on career resources across campus, visit .听
Written by Noah Lowy 鈥21, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications