Interviewing can be HARD, but here’s my non-STAR focused interviewing tactic that wins my interviewers over every. single. time.
I use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method when answering behavioral questions but it isn’t the ⭐ of my interview prep.
My intensive research is.
One of the most important goals in my interview strategy is to show how MUCH research I’ve done coupled with my relevant experience.
💻 Here are key things I research when preparing for interviews (and why):
🔍 Important facts about the company
Is the company in my desired field? What’s their mission? What department is my desired role in? What are their key values and do they align with mine? These are a few questions I keep in mind when doing my research.
🔍Company reviews
Glassdoor is my go-to resource to find out what people are REALLY saying about life at the company.
How’s the diversity? What’s the work-life balance? Is the pay comparable to the market? What questions are commonly asked in the interviews? I can even filter to see reviews from people in the role I’m going after!
🔍 The role I’m interviewing for
Most job descriptions give a breakdown of what your roles and responsibilities are but I feel like some are either too broad or too “fluffy”.
When the JD (job description) isn’t detailed enough for me, I look up the role on Linkedin to find employees with it and see how they describe the role in their “experience” section. TikTok, Glassdoor, Google, and Reddit helps me out too.
Looking at the job description, I can also see which of my experiences I need to speak about and which ones I don’t need to bring up.
🔍 The person interviewing me
You should ALWAYS interview your interviewer back. I love to look them up on Linkedin to read about their time at the company, what role they’re in (and if there’s any they’ve transitioned to within the company), is there any common work experience that we share that I can bring up on our interview? This also helps me with brainstorming my post-interview questions list for the questions about them.
🔍 The company’s employees*
(I don’t do this one all the time, but…)
I love that LinkedIn tells when you have network connections with someone who works at a company you’re interested in. Whether it was someone who previously worked at the company in the role I’m going after or currently working a similar role, I reach out and ask about their time there (cus i need to know what’s tea!) and any tips for the interview (questions they were asked, things to know/mention).
👀 What are some “extra” things you do to leave a lasting impression in your interviews? Comment below!
