Pre-Interview Checklist
If you’ve been following me on @mcfamwork, you know that I have a fundamental belief that the person who is most prepared for the interview is usually the one who gets the job.
Nowadays, even jobs with the exact same title are so different from company to company that it is becoming less important for someone to have the exact experience that a role is asking for and more important for someone to demonstrate that they have had success in past roles and have transferrable skills that would apply to the new role. Along those same lines, if it is obvious to the Hiring Manager that someone has gone above and beyond to prepare for an interview, it is a great indicator that the person will take the job seriously and contribute as a team player. What I am hoping to do with this post (and the other blogs I will post in this series) is help you be the most prepared person that the company will interview for the role, so you look like a rockstar and show up as your best self.
Purpose of Interviews
The purpose of interviews is for the Interviewer (whether it be the HR Recruiter or Senior Executive) to get to know you and for you to get to know the team, the company, and the role. This is your opportunity to evaluate the company as much as it’s their opportunity to evaluate you. If you show up and you don’t ask any questions, they’re not going to see you as an engaged candidate and you will put yourself at a disadvantage by not doing your homework on the company. In another blog post, I’ll break down Questions for the Interviewer (I’ll link it here once I have it completed) to help you ask smart questions.
Your Goal
Your goal is to show up professionally and to show the Interviewer, no matter who they are, that you are qualified, excited for the opportunity to work for *their company* specifically, and that you’re a good cultural fit. By the way, when I say ‘good cultural fit,’ I don’t mean culture like where you are from, I mean your personality, working style, professionalism, approach to collaboration, and ways of communication. I am going to put on my mom/older sister hat for a sec to tell you this: showing a company that you’re a great fit for the role starts with how you present yourself professionally with your grooming and attire. The first thing they will notice about you is how you appear physically so do not give them any opportunities to make negative assumptions about you. Dress professionally, style your hair, smell good, and don’t use too much perfume or cologne. One spritz is good ;)
Storytime
John once interviewed at a company that put him and another person interviewing for the same role into the waiting room at the same time. Very odd - John was texting me freaking out. His industry is small and he quickly realized who this other guy was and started to panic because he knew this guy had a much longer career in this industry. John knew that he was at a disadvantage in terms of years/depth of experience. On the plus side, John really wanted the job and did a ton of prep ahead of this interview (including standing in our living room practicing responses to questions - lol) and he prepared some work sample documents to bring with him that he could reference during the interview to show his qualifications for the role.
The company was very laid back and told John to wear what he was ‘comfortable’ in for the interview. John wore khakis and a polo with nice shoes but didn’t wear the typical suit and tie that you would wear to an interview. The guy across from John wore basically a t-shirt and pants with white sunglasses on his head - he was definitely comfortable. The guy went into the interview first and when he walked out, John noticed that he was still wearing the white sunglasses on top of his head. Maybe he forgot to take them off? Maybe it was an intentional decision? But I am here to tell you today - no matter how many times the company tells you that their interview style is relaxed and no matter how much you think you’re a total shoo-in for the role, how you show up is everything. Being professional shows that you respect the job and the interviewer. John was the most professional and (likely) the most prepared candidate at the interview, even though he didn’t have the most experience. He got the job.
Pre-Interview Checklist
Use this section as a checklist to make sure you are fully prepared for the interview and understand your objective. In my next blog post, Preparing for Your Interview (I’ll link it here once I have it completed).
5-10 resumes: If you know the exact number of interviewers, print 3 more than that so you have extras just in case.
Resume paper I like. Also, you can print resumes at Office Depot.
Printed list of references: A reference is someone who is intimately familiar with your work. You can have a mix of personal and professional resumes. No one related to you should be a reference. Instead, ask old Managers or Coworkers to be references for you. Typically I print this list on the same resume paper. They probably won’t ask for this but just in case I always have a copy on hand.
Printed cover letter: Just for you to reference if needed. No need to hand it out to anyone. Again, use the resume paper.
Folder with work samples: This may not be applicable to your role but the more samples of your work you are able to give, the better.
Here’s a portfolio you can bring to keep everything together professionally.
Notepad: Always take notes! It is so odd to me when people ask me questions in an interview and never take notes.
Professional outfit: Maybe I’ll do another blog post on this but the highlights are - pant suit (my favorite), modest dress or blouse and skirt that hits at or below the knees, closed toe shoes. “Modest” shouldn’t be open to interpretation. Nothing tight and no cleavage.
Resume walkthrough: You need to show up to the interview with the ability to verbally explain your resume in under 3 minutes. In this explanation, you should talk about roles you’ve held, your main activities and achievements in the role, and why you transitioned to a new role.
List of questions for interview(ers): I keep a master doc of like 50 questions for various interviewers that I will share in a later blog post. I always print the full document and circle/highlight the questions I want to ask ahead of the interview. You can just print this on regular printer paper because it’s for your eyes only.
Interview Prep Packet: I put one of these together before every interview and I print it and bring it with me in case shit goes south and my mind completely blanks out. In this document, you should have: 1) a list of reasons why you want to work at that company, 2) list of specific skills/experience that align with the role and examples. 3) list of frameworks/models/certifications that you have/use that they may ask about in the interview, 4) list of questions for interviewers with priority questions highlighted. Again, this is for you to reference but not for you to hand out to the interviewers.
As you’re reading this I KNOW you’re sitting there thinking ‘this is too much.’ Yeah, it is a lot. But this prepares you for every scenario. Once, I was told that I would have a 1:1 interview with someone and when I showed up, I was in a room with 5 people; I got the job. No problem, I had extra copies of my resume to hand out. Once, I was told that I didn’t need to show work samples but brought them anyways and the Interviewer was blown away; I got the job. Once I totally blanked when they asked if I had questions for them and so I opened my pre-planned list of questions and although I had a brain fart in the moment, my preparation saved me; I got the job. You get the point. When you put in the work to be the most prepared person interviewing, it is likely that you are going to be the one to get the job.
In our next blog post Preparing for Your Interview (I’ll link it here once I have it completed), we’ll discuss all of the things you should do before the interview to be the most prepared candidate.
See you then!
