Interview Skills
This week was all about interviews. Interviews are something that are very daunting to me and a lot of people. Therefore, I was ready to hear some tips to hopefully improve my confidence.
We started the class with a lecture about interview skills. We were told that there are 5 core values that make you stand out and be desirable to an employer. These are:
- Never done: This means showing that you are willing to learn.
- Challenge convention: This means pushing the boundaries and thinking outside the box.
- Impact together: This means you can work well in a team.
- Bring you: This means being yourself and bringing your personality to the team.
- Be an advocate: This means knowing the importance and having a user-centered approach.
The overall advice was to tie back your answers to one of these because it is what they want to know and hear.
Interview Practice
In class, we were given the task of getting into pairs and interviewing each other. We were each given a list of different questions to ask. The interviewer had a sheet where they would rate the person in different areas.
Overall, I found this task beneficial, especially since I don’t have much prior experience with interviews. This showed me how fast I can think on the spot, what questions I am good at answering, and areas I need to improve at.
I think I did well at explaining my design process as I am very familiar with it and it is the same for most projects. This is an important question as employers need to see your thinking process to see if you would work well in their team.
One question I struggled with was explaining why I wanted to work for that company. Since it was a mock interview, I didn’t have a lot to say without a real company. However, in a real interview, I would research the company beforehand to be prepared for a question like this.
Thoughts on my interviews
Since this lecture, I have had multiple interviews for placement opportunities. At first, I was very nervous as I didn’t know how I would react in these situations. Overall, I think they went well, some better than others, but all of them were a big learning experience. The more interviews I did, the more confident I became. I did lots of practice beforehand with practice questions. If there were questions, I didn’t know how to answer, I made sure to prepare more in case it came up again.
I have managed to secure a placement for my 3rd year, and I think a big part of that was from the interview tips I learned and the practice I did. This has also increased my confidence for interviews I may have in the future.