Tips for Successful Early-Career Interviews Based on What Employers Really Want

While unemployment is low and uncertainty is high, there is still plenty of opportunity in growing fields like hospitality, professional services, healthcare/social services, and many more. With the right mindset, you can position yourself for success, especially if you are willing to become proficient in career research, networking, and interviewing.

This blog focuses on the latter– specifically, helping young professionals develop their interviewing skills based on what employers really want today. The goal is to help you reverse-engineer the interviewing process and start with what your prospective employer must see in you to hire you with confidence.

You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s worth repeating that most employers generally value behavior skills more than technical skills in new hires because they can train people in technical skills easier than they can change people’s behaviors.

Some of these in-demand behavioral (also known as “soft”) skills include the following:

• Being proactive, responsible, and taking initiative
• Adaptability, resilience, and willingness/ability to learn new skills
• Communication (don’t forget the listening part!)
• Time and task management
• Critical thinking (ability to analyze information to make good decisions)
• Problem solving (understanding a problem to find good solutions)
• Teamwork
• Kindness

Given this emphasis on behavioral/soft skills, employers spend more time asking behavioral questions than technical questions, so go ahead and Google “sample behavioral interview questions” and have some fun!

Remember you will never be able to prepare for every possible question, and that is OK! In fact, employers want to see that you can hold your own and be cool in stressful situations– just as real life requires.

Consider that the main purpose of your first interview is to land a second interview. And since you do not get a second chance to make a first impression, I will leave you with the following 9 tips to empower you in your next interview:

1. Be authentically you - Value yourself and be comfortable in your own skin.

2. Build connection and rapport with your interviewers with a hello, a smile, eye contact.

3. Focus on the questions they ask and keep your responses concise and relevant.

4. Pause throughout to connect with your interviewer(s); speak with them, not at them.

5. Share examples and short stories as part of your responses (when it makes sense) so they will better remember you and be able to more accurately assess “fit.”

6. Prepare responses to 5-10 questions your interviewers(s) will likely ask you and practice answering out loud, ideally role-playing with someone who can play the role of the interviewer. Some common questions include:

• “Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?” (this is a longer blog for another day!)
• “Why do you want to work/intern here?”
• “Can you describe a challenging work situation and how you handled it?”

7. Prepare 3-5 questions you could ask your interviewer(s)-- usually when they ask if you have any questions toward the end– and practice your responses out loud. Also, know the difference between what you ask during a first interview vs. a second interview! (Hint: In a first interview, never ask about what you need, i.e. “How many vacation days would I get?”; rather, ask them something about them, i.e. “How does your company/department measure success?”)

8. Never ask an interviewer any version of the question, “What does your organization do?” This demonstrates laziness and a sense of entitlement on your part as the candidate, like you didn’t bother to prepare whatsoever for the interview. You need to be willing and able to put yourself in your prospective employer’s shoes.

9. Get comfortable “closing the deal”! If you don’t know why you’re a great candidate, why should they? If you don’t believe in yourself, why should they? Learn to be committed to the opportunity (if you believe it to be a good fit) without being overly attached to the outcome. In short, be the person people want more of, not less of, if you know what I mean! Recall people tend to hire people ‘they like or they are like,’ so… prepare, be likable, and leave the rest up to the universe!

Please keep me posted on your interview progress and mention if any of these tips were particularly helpful.

To Your Success!
Amy

P.S. If you or someone you know is looking for a career boost and the skills and support to succeed, feel free to drop me an email [email protected] and let's set up a time to connect!