5 Interview Tips to Help You Nail Your Next Job Interview
1. Use Examples
When you’re asked for your experience in a certain area, such as working in agile or working with test automation, include examples of when you’ve done this in the past. Don’t just say, “Oh, yes, I’ve done this and that.”
Elaborate.
Even if you are not asked to provide an example, it can be beneficial to do so because it shows that you know what you’re talking about.
2. Practise, Practise, Practise.
There are various ways in which you can practice.
There tend to be common types of questions that you are likely to be asked in the interview. So you could get a friend to ask you these questions and then you could practice on them.
The best is to practice with someone who you know can give you helpful feedback so they can tell you what they thought of your answer.
3. Remember to Pause
When I’ve been interviewing people I’ve noticed that 99% of the time, as soon as a question is asked, they start talking.
But there really is no pressure nor no need to start talking straight away.
You can take a moment to gather your thoughts and then and then start talking.
When you take a moment to pause and think it may feel like a very long time when you’re doing it, but on the receiving end, it really isn’t that long.
And it’s not something that’s going to be held against you.
I can’t think of anyone who’ll go:
“Nicola had to spend a few seconds to think about that. We should cross her off the list. Let’s not hire her.”
I’ve noticed that people try to talk and think at the same time - but they don’t really answer the question. Or they’ve shown they don’t really know what they are talking about.
Maybe they have (in their head) a valuable answer to the question. Maybe they have relevant experience. But neither was apparent.
Give yourself time to think.
4. Feel Free to Bring Notes to an Interview.
I have found this can be quite useful for the questions I wanted to ask.
I picked up this tip from one of my fellow grads in my first job back in New Zealand.
By bringing some notes with you to an interview, you don’t forget to ask the questions you want to ask. This tip takes into consideration the fact that your ability to think clearly and remember things is somewhat constrained under what can be seen as a high-pressure situation that is a job interview.
You are helping your future self by taking notes. Maybe you bring in six questions. Chances are a few of them will be addressed through the scope of the interview, so you’re like, ah, cross that one out, cross that one out, but there should hopefully be a few remaining by the end.
5. Show Curiosity and Ask Questions
You don’t have to wait until the end to ask questions.
Unless you’re explicitly told to save any questions you have to the end, then you could try incorporating some questions into the interview.
Here are some examples of questions you could ask:
- Can you describe the typical software testing process in the company?
- What testing tools are commonly used here and who decides what they are?
- How is the testing team structured and what is the size of the team?
- What are the common challenges your team/testers face at your company when it comes to approach testing and/or quality?
- What autonomy do people/teams have in deciding their test approach?
- How do testers (at your company) know if they are doing a good job?
- How is the relationship between developers and testers at your company? What testing activities do they do together?
Hopefully with these 5 tips, your next interview will be a bit better.
If you liked this post you might want to check out my books. Both of these books are full of actionable advice and insights.