Ten Interviewing Tips for All of Us

I know everyone is waiting for my Seattle entries, so I will be bursting everyone’s bubble with another corporate/ask me anything/ten tips (can you tell I’m bad at coming up with category names?) entry. I guess it must be interview season, because I’ve had a few people ask about some interviewing advice recently. I find it flattering and hilarious you’re asking me—I still don’t really know what I did right two years ago, when I got my PepsiCo internship. But if I had to take a wild guess, it came down to the following ten things. I actually wrote this for the UIUC women’s network during my senior year, but here she is in all her glory: 10 Interviewing Tips for all of us! Enjoy corporate friends and remember you’re worth so much more than a single interview😊

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The summer of my sophomore year, as I was picking out classes for fall, my parents encouraged me to sign up for a class about business interviewing (CMN 215). It goes without saying that it was at that point that a number of feelings went through me: the reluctance of filling my schedule with a class about “how to interview”, the fear of never finding an internship, the confusion of what I would even talk about during interviews(because as I’ve learned, we all sort of see ourselves as boring), and the anxiety of spending an entire semester hearing from students who were probably 100x better at interviewing than me.

It was only after I took that class this past semester that I came to the realization that these were feelings every student was encountering too. As one of the many female students studying business as a minor with hopes to pursue management(a very male-dominated occupation), interviewing was an area I wasn’t confident in at first. As college students, we’re expected to sell ourselves to others without knowing exactly who we are yet. And that’s sort of a recipe for disaster. I’ve gone through the process, cried many tears because of it, and got my first business internship. And while I’m not an expert by any means, here’s what I’ve learned along the way.

1. You're not boring, I PROMISE

Remember right above, when I mentioned how everyone thinks they’re boring right before they interview with companies? Not only is this not true, but it’s a terrible mindset to be in before you interview. My CMN 215 professor described interviews as opportunities to sell yourself, and if you think of yourself as boring, you can’t make yourself stand out. Think of all your biggest achievements, greatest adventures, and best memories. When asked the terrifying question “tell me about yourself”, draw off these-- and remember we are our own worst critic. Each of us has our own story to tell and if you’re reading this right now, that includes you.

2. There is no one right answer, but there ARE wrong answers

What I mean by this is there is no perfect script one should memorize before they interview with a company. However, there are things you definitely shouldn’t say when you’re applying somewhere. One thing you should never say, for example, is that you have no weaknesses or that your only weakness is being “too perfect”. As someone who was planning on going into HR, interviewers are told to weed out applicants that answer like this, because it comes off robotic and unrealistic. We ALL have flaws and you should embrace them rather than ignore them. Another major ‘interviewing don’t’ is not coming with questions. We’ll go into this later, but you should have meaningful inquiries about the company you are thinking about. Finally, a big thing to remember is to be specific. A common mistake when interviewing(and I know, because I’ve made it myself) is being vague and nonspecific when asked about career goals or why you want to work for a specific company. Anyone can use blanket statements, but to truly stand out, you should avoid them at all costs.

3. Know the company

Is the organization large or small? What responsibilities does the position you’re applying for require? Will you have to relocate for the position? What does the company value?

If you can’t answer any or all of these questions, you’re definitely not ready to interview. One of the questions you’re pretty much guaranteed to get asked is “why do you want to work here?”. If asked this, it’s not enough to say something vague about liking teamwork or wanting a job in engineering, for example; you need to know why you want to work for that specific company. What specific qualities or characteristics of that organization make it a good fit for you? So rather than saying “I want to work here because I like engineering” say: “As someone in Materials Science and Engineering, I am looking for a company that values innovation and its consumers. I know I can find that in a company like Eli Lilly.” That’s a lot better.

4. Know yourself

One of my favorite tips. It’s not enough to know the company. If you don’t know yourself, no company is going to want to hire you. What does it mean to know yourself? Take a minute and write down five short term and long term goals you have. Then narrow your goals and create several career objectives. Once you do this, you’ll be a lot more prepared to answer the question “where do you see yourself in ten years?”. That’s only the beginning, though. What do YOU want from this potential job/opportunity? As much as the company is sorting through applicants, you are also looking for the right organization, and the only way to know you’re a good fit is to know yourself. This tip kind of goes hand-in-hand with tip #1, because knowing yourself will help you answer “tell me about yourself” since you’ll know the critical moments that make you YOU, rather than babbling your entire life story to your interviewers.

5. Be able to answer “why should we hire you?”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked the question “why hire you over the other candidates” during an interview. It's the worst because us college students honestly don’t know. We’re scared to advocate for ourselves, but in interview situations, we need to (because who else is going to advocate for us?). One thing I’ve found that works as an answer is to talk about dedication. You can have all the technical skills in the world, but talking about your willingness to put in the hard work needed is a sentiment which can’t be overstated. Another great response is to touch on how your own values align with the goals and values of the organization.

6. Business professional isn't a recommendation, it’s a requirement

For all the business students reading this one, you probably saw it coming. But here’s the twist: when I say business professional, I’m not just saying to put on a suit and call it a day. Don’t get me wrong, you should dress nicely to an interview, especially one that’s in-person(always better to overdress than underdress!). But there’s more to it. Business professionalism means starting the interview with a handshake, coming to the interview on time, and sending a thank you note once the interview is over. It means setting up the background to be polished if the interview’s virtual: keeping it clean, leveling the camera for eye contact purposes, and not having outside distractions. Nothing can derail an interview faster than a cluttered background or late entrance, so send a message of professionalism no matter what the situation.

7. Confidence is key

I know, easier said than done. It can be scary to be interviewed, especially if it’s for a position you really want. This is especially true if you feel there’s a power imbalance, like when women are interviewed by a man who is an executive at the company. However, to quote my CMN 215 professor again, an interview is just a conversation. You shouldn’t try to veer too far from the truth when being interviewed, one for integrity reasons, but mainly because you want to seem confident when talking about your experiences. This is your story, so own it and own yourself. Remember, life goes on after an interview, and the worst case scenario isn’t that bad. So during the thirty minutes that interview is going on, give yourself that extra confidence boost.

8. Be yourself

This goes hand-in-hand with the last one, but you want the interview to feel natural. If you leave an interview feeling like a fake version of yourself, chances are the interviewer felt that too-- and that’s not a good sign. The best advice I can give here is treat an interview like a conversation and really let your personality shine through. If the organization wanted a robot, they would go out and hire one. They want a person, and they understand that you’ll come with weaknesses as well as strengths; they’re trying to hire a package deal.

9. Come prepared

Last semester, I applied for a position and was given a “case study” interview. Being the clueless college student I am, I assumed this would be a regular interview and treated it as normal. Halfway through the interview, just as I was on a roll, the interviewer asked if I was ready to begin the ‘math section’. I had to look away from the camera so he wouldn’t register the look of dismay on my face, as it's safe to say math wasn’t my strong suit. Even worse, I didn’t have a calculator or pencil with me, so that ended up being a mess.

You can’t avoid every embarrassing situation, but you can prevent many of them by being prepared. Read up about how the interview will go and where it will be in advance, reach out if you have any initial questions, and bring the essentials: anything you may need(so a calculator if you’re hopeless at math like me) as well as some water. Along with that, come prepared with questions. You ALWAYS want to have meaningful questions, because every good interviewer will ask if you do. The best questions are those that surface naturally during the conversation, but you can also prepare questions in advance. Feel free to take notes; this demonstrates to the interviewer that you care!

10. Take a deep breath

And finally… the tip that’s most important. RELAX. Like I’ve mentioned, an interview is a conversation and one chance to shine. There will be many more, and beating yourself up over the outcome of an interview only serves to stress you out. As someone who has personal experience beating herself up over getting rejected, the best thing you can do after a bad interview is learn from it, reset, and try again. You can do this, and I know, because I have.

So...there’s my ten tips for interview success. But the main thing I’m here to say is this: I know the struggle of rejection, as every college student does or will at one point in their academic career. Everyone’s going through it too, so take it easy, and just keep trying: it only takes one good interview to make it all worth it!

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That’s all for now, hopefully you enjoyed! We will be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week, and I’ll be sure to make it a long entry for our first official week in Seattle! Now I’m putting my phone on airplane mode (obviously because I totally remember to do this on every flight)…. to go take off✈️

P.S.: The cover photo has nothing to do with interviewing...my amazing friends and I went to Fat Rosie's for my going away/VERRY early birthday party and that picture is post me accidentally singing "happy birthday" to myself hehe.