Prepare to Interview with These 3 Focus Areas

MARY OLSON-MENZEL is the author of What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career (Wiley, October 2024) where she explores how to prepare yourself for the next step in your career.

In a recent collaboration, Olsen-Menzel shared three preparation steps to create the foundations for a memorable interview.

/ Prepare Your Knowledge  

Before an interview, it’s important to prepare a broad knowledge base to better understand how you and your responses meet company expectations. Research:

• Industry: Explore industry trends the company may face. This type of preparation can help you gauge the future of the organization and allow you to address any trends you may have experience in.
• People: Gain valuable insights about the people you will be interviewing with by conducting a quick Google search or by checking out their LinkedIn profiles. Make sure you know who they are in the organization, what they’ve done in their career, and if you have any mutual connections.
• You: What are the distinguishing traits and qualifications you possess that will benefit the recruiter, hiring manager, and company if they hire you?

/ Prepare Your Answers

Once you’ve conducted your initial research, it’s time to highlight your experience in relation to the company you are interviewing for.

Be prepared for behavioral based interview questions. These questions ask you to illustrate a situation using real-life examples that show your true capabilities. Practice delivering your strengths with “quiet confidence” and let your light and passion shine in an authentic way, leaving a lasting impression.

Potential questions include:

• Give an example of a goal you reached and how you achieved it.
• Give an example of a goal you didn’t meet and how you handled it.
• Describe a stressful situation at work and how you handled it.
• Share an example of how you motivated employees or co-workers in a difficult time.

At the end of the day, preparation should not invalidate the need to think on your feet.

/ Prepare Your Questions

To close the interview, prepare a list of thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer. Use your research to ensure your questions are relevant and appropriate. These questions should invoke answers that cannot be found with a quick Google search. Here are a few you can use if you’re your prepared questions have been answered.

• How long have you been with the company?
• What’s your favorite thing about working here?
• How would you describe the culture? What kind of personality thrives here?
• Why is this position open?
• What are your expectations for this position?
• What are the growth and learning opportunities for this position?
• What are the biggest strengths and challenges you see in this role, and on this team?
• What is expected in the first 30/60/90 days in this job, and by what KPIs (key performance indicators) will I be measured?
• What is the collaboration style of the team and the organization in general?
• What is the company’s vision for the future, in one, three, and five years and beyond?
• Is there anything else you need from me at this point?
• What are the next steps in the process?

As you wrap up the interview, explain to them why you think you’ll be a good fit for them in an honest and relevant way—and let your light shine from the inside out!

Always be appreciative and thank them for their time. Send a thoughtful thank you note or email immediately after the meeting, reiterating your thoughts and appreciation.

Good Luck!

Excerpt: What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career.

For many people, the interview process can be daunting. We have a few tips to help you along the way.

Talking about yourself is not always easy, so “selling” yourself in an interview can be challenging. Sometimes, it’s hard to let your true light shine because you may be worried about how you sound and don’t want to feel like you’re bragging. You’ve been taught to downplay your strengths and be humble. This is an important first impression, and you want to make sure you are “wowing” them from the moment you walk in the door or log onto Zoom.

So, how do you go about doing that?

As you begin the interview phase, it’s important to remember that recruiters and hiring managers are busy. So, try to be clear, concise, honest and make the most of your time with them.

Initial phone screens may be only 10–20 minutes, and, in that time, if you aren’t able to effectively communicate your personal narrative and shine your unique light in a way that convinces the recruiter you’re a potential fit for a role, you likely won’t be considered further. This is an essential first step to make it past the first screening. On the flip side, it’s also important to remember that during the first screening, you can also begin to assess whether this company and role are a good fit for you, which is also super-important!  During this process, you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you!

This is serious stuff if you want the job. This could be the next step in your career, taking you in the direction that you want to go. You must prepare, do your research, and then prepare some more! Practice your interviewing skills in a way that you feel most comfortable: with your friends, in front of a mirror, or even talking to your dog.

Most people get nervous, but that’s okay!  You are human, and if you want this job, the stakes can be high for you.  Try not to ramble on.  Take deep breaths as you tell the story of your career trajectory in a compelling and relatable way.  Pause in between anecdotes and explanations. There is so much power in the pause. Sometimes, less is more. Taking a breath in between your relevant points is quite. . .(pause). . . powerful. This allows the interviewer to fully digest your words and ask questions before moving on to the next topic. Let the interviewer lead the conversation and give them enough information with each answer to stay intrigued and to want to ask you more questions.

When in an interview, follow the interviewer’s lead, answer the question to the best of your ability, and then pause again. Don’t overshare or keep talking just because you’re nervous. We all get anxious at times, and that is where the deep breaths and the intentional pause are most important. Deep breaths also help to regulate your nervous system and help you to articulate your thoughts more concisely and clearly. Allow them to keep asking the questions and directing the interview. You can only focus on presenting your best self and telling your story with clear and concise answers; you will most likely leave the interviewer wanting to know more and keep it relevant to the role and the audience.

People are busy, but if your light and the essence of who you are shines bright enough in the conversation, it can potentially wake up even the most stressed-out recruiter and might even illuminate them in the process, too! You want to leave them wanting to get to know you better and learn more about who you are and how you would fit into their organization.

You can adopt the idea of quiet confidence. This means being sure of who you are and what you bring to the interview. When practiced and developed correctly, quiet confidence makes your unique skills feel more authentic and effortless for you and others to embrace without feeling like you are bragging or selling yourself too much. It takes practice, but quiet confidence in yourself and your abilities can be very powerful. And it’s with this inner confidence and inner knowing that you can give yourself permission to shine in an authentic way.

Quiet confidence is a deep inner strength you exude when you speak. It also includes being vulnerable as needed. It requires admitting what you know and don’t know and being truthful about who you are and what you can bring to this role and the company you are talking with.

ABOUT MARY OLSON-MENZEL

Mary Olson-Menzel has over 30 years of leadership across global media, tech, healthcare, and many other industries. She is the Founder and CEO of MVP Executive Development, a national leadership, coaching, and organizational management consultancy. She is author of What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career (Wiley, October 2024).

Connect with Mary Olson-Menzel:

Official site: www.mvpexec.com

Book site: www.maryolsonmenzel.com

Facebook @MVPExecutiveCoaching

Instagram @maryolsonmenzel

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-olson-menzel-mvpexec/