Extensive preparation is one of the most important things to focus on while pursuing the ideal job. Some candidates realize this while others think that by just going through the motions of the interview process they have a chance. Lack of preparation significantly decreases your odds of getting the job. Let’s look at it this way, simply said, you can’t be over prepared for an interview.
Mapping out the entire interview process for the candidate is of utmost importance. There should be nothing unexpected from the beginning. A good recruiter will use all of the information accrued after debriefing previous candidates to the current candidates advantage without just giving you the answers to questions you may be asked-that won't help. By preparing the candidate every step of the way, odds of success go way up. The candidate and the recruiter together should cover all aspects of the process. Candidates should be told about every person they will interview with in as much detail as possible. If that person has a specific style of interviewing a candidate should be aware of what they are up against.
Following are 5 main preparation areas to focus on in no particular order:
Commitment to the Recruiter/Agency
To fully utilize what a recruiter is doing for you, you as the candidate must make a commitment to them. If they are giving you advice and information about the company and their process then there must be a good reason for it. Making a commitment to work with that recruiter and being receptive to their direction, advice and guidance will increase your chances of getting that job.
Complete Research on the Company
To thoroughly understand what you are up against while interviewing for a specific company you as the candidate must research all aspects of the company itself. Do research about the company’s services and products. Find out what they do. Find out why the company was founded. Look into the history of the company. What major changes have come about throughout that history and why those changes were important to the current success of the company? Find out what the culture is like at the company. Why is the culture that way? Why do people want to work there? Also, find out about the people themselves. Find out as much as you can about each and every person you interview with, both before and during the actual interview. By learning about the interviewer during the interview you build rapport with them. This will obviously help you in the long run. There are several ways to find people on the internet today. You know how to use Google to find someone's name. We also recommend searching groups to learn about what technical topics a given interviewer is active in discussing. There are also some really valuable networking sites out there like LinkedIn. Use them to find out what your interviewers are all about.
Skills Review
First it is your job to find out what skills are expected for the job, which ones are most important and which ones will be focused on the most during the interview process. If C++ is the top requirement because the software shop that you are interviewing at has maintained a culture and a mission of nurturing an environment where they claim they have the “best C++ shop in the world” then you better believe they will be asking you some extremely difficult questions about more advanced features of C++ such as STL, templates, and exception handling. If you find out that the company is a shop that makes extensive use of Design Patterns, buy the Gang of Four Book. Be prepared. Be ready for the most difficult questions you can find on the web regarding these topics. A good recruiter will have their own examples to offer.
Rockstar programmers sometimes botch an interview because they come across as arrogant. Knowing the information to come up with a good answer is one thing. Knowing how to deliver that answer is another. The delivery is all in the attitude. Having an attitude such that "this guy is asking me for some nitpicky trivia and I need to just regurgitate what I memorized" is the wrong attitude to have. Assume the question was posed to you in order to start a conversation about that topic. Practice starting a dialogue with the interviewer about how the company uses the technology, what the opinion of the technology is, what you have done with it in your other jobs, etc.
Practice Interviewing
When you were learning how to tie your shoes and later on your multiplication tables, how many times did your Grandma tell you “Practice makes perfect”? There certainly is some wisdom in this simple phrase. I said it and I will say it again. You can’t be over prepared for an interview. A good recruiter will set up some calls with you to conduct mock interviews that will contain questions similar to the ones that the prospective interviewers will ask. He/she may not be able to critique you on the content of the answer. However, they will definitely be able to help you on the delivery. You can also spend time doing the same thing with your family or friends.
Soft Skills
In interviewing it is important to have a consistent story about everything. Why are you leaving your current company? Are you AND your family sold on relocation to that city? Why? Salary discussions are a potential minefield. Learn from your recruiter how to talk about compensation issues and cost of living differences if that is relevant. Why do you want to work for this company? This is very important. If you can’t convey in detail why you are attracted to that company, they won't see a reason to hire you. Prepare for this. It will come up.
It is very important to build a relationship with every person you speak with on the phone and in-person. Find out not only what they do, but why they enjoy working for that company. What do they like best about the company? Most companies are making a group decision so you need to get as many of the group voting in your favor as possible.
Finally, “don’t ask, don’t tell”. This is a very simple phrase with a lot of meaning. Don’t volunteer personal information. Nobody wants to know if you are going through a divorce or what your other personal struggles are. Focus on your qualifications for the job and avoid saying too much about your personal life. Being able to do this in the interview shows you'll be able to do it on the job.
Here's a story about one individual who did everything right.
When we met Ryan, everyone here at Core Search Group was extremely surprised to hear that he had connected with several recruiters in the US and was unsuccessful in finding a single one that would work with him. "Call us when you land", they said. You see, Ryan, a citizen of the UK, and his family were in the beginning stages of making a move to the US. He already had a final working day scheduled with his company in the UK. No visa sponsorship was required as he is married to a US Citizen. It was exactly the same as if he had been a US Citizen currently living in the US.
Here is an anomaly, an extremely talented, intelligent, qualified... all the adjectives you would use to characterize "an ideal candidate" but no recruiters would work with him. We were honored to have the opportunity to work with such a candidate as Ryan. Ryan contacted us on April 28th. He had already purchased plane tickets to land in the US on June 21st and was available to start with within a week of that date. By early to mid June, not much more than a month later, I received an email from the hiring manager: “we want Ryan to work for Bloomberg”. It is a simple statement but a very commanding one. That is when we first realized that all of ours and his hard work had paid off. We had an offer for Ryan and then a start date.
Ryan was by far the most prepared candidate that we have every worked with. He would even take on study sessions on his own that we didn't assign to him. "Deep in design patterns now, I think that was the weakest part of the last interview. We need to discuss what to expect from the next interview though, that will help me focus on what to revise." He was prodding us for more prep help. This is the kind of attitude that will bring a candidate closer to the end goal.
With Ryan, his hard work and perseverance really paid off. In the end we received an offer from the client, his current company, that was 10% higher than anyone expected, including Ryan.
In the end we helped a really talented individual find a great job that he loves. “I work 12 hours per day not because I have to, but because I love what I do.”
Oh, yeah, BTW – upon initial submission, the hiring manager rejected Ryan’s resume. He is glad he listened to me when I explained he was in fact the type of person the company was looking for. Plus we have gained some heavy trust from the client because of this. However, it would have never happened if Ryan went into this with the wrong attitude.
Thank you Ryan!
Watch this space for another posting on our custom PREP methodology in the future.
Mapping out the entire interview process for the candidate is of utmost importance. There should be nothing unexpected from the beginning. A good recruiter will use all of the information accrued after debriefing previous candidates to the current candidates advantage without just giving you the answers to questions you may be asked-that won't help. By preparing the candidate every step of the way, odds of success go way up. The candidate and the recruiter together should cover all aspects of the process. Candidates should be told about every person they will interview with in as much detail as possible. If that person has a specific style of interviewing a candidate should be aware of what they are up against.
Following are 5 main preparation areas to focus on in no particular order:
Commitment to the Recruiter/Agency
To fully utilize what a recruiter is doing for you, you as the candidate must make a commitment to them. If they are giving you advice and information about the company and their process then there must be a good reason for it. Making a commitment to work with that recruiter and being receptive to their direction, advice and guidance will increase your chances of getting that job.
Complete Research on the Company
To thoroughly understand what you are up against while interviewing for a specific company you as the candidate must research all aspects of the company itself. Do research about the company’s services and products. Find out what they do. Find out why the company was founded. Look into the history of the company. What major changes have come about throughout that history and why those changes were important to the current success of the company? Find out what the culture is like at the company. Why is the culture that way? Why do people want to work there? Also, find out about the people themselves. Find out as much as you can about each and every person you interview with, both before and during the actual interview. By learning about the interviewer during the interview you build rapport with them. This will obviously help you in the long run. There are several ways to find people on the internet today. You know how to use Google to find someone's name. We also recommend searching groups to learn about what technical topics a given interviewer is active in discussing. There are also some really valuable networking sites out there like LinkedIn. Use them to find out what your interviewers are all about.
Skills Review
First it is your job to find out what skills are expected for the job, which ones are most important and which ones will be focused on the most during the interview process. If C++ is the top requirement because the software shop that you are interviewing at has maintained a culture and a mission of nurturing an environment where they claim they have the “best C++ shop in the world” then you better believe they will be asking you some extremely difficult questions about more advanced features of C++ such as STL, templates, and exception handling. If you find out that the company is a shop that makes extensive use of Design Patterns, buy the Gang of Four Book. Be prepared. Be ready for the most difficult questions you can find on the web regarding these topics. A good recruiter will have their own examples to offer.
Rockstar programmers sometimes botch an interview because they come across as arrogant. Knowing the information to come up with a good answer is one thing. Knowing how to deliver that answer is another. The delivery is all in the attitude. Having an attitude such that "this guy is asking me for some nitpicky trivia and I need to just regurgitate what I memorized" is the wrong attitude to have. Assume the question was posed to you in order to start a conversation about that topic. Practice starting a dialogue with the interviewer about how the company uses the technology, what the opinion of the technology is, what you have done with it in your other jobs, etc.
Practice Interviewing
When you were learning how to tie your shoes and later on your multiplication tables, how many times did your Grandma tell you “Practice makes perfect”? There certainly is some wisdom in this simple phrase. I said it and I will say it again. You can’t be over prepared for an interview. A good recruiter will set up some calls with you to conduct mock interviews that will contain questions similar to the ones that the prospective interviewers will ask. He/she may not be able to critique you on the content of the answer. However, they will definitely be able to help you on the delivery. You can also spend time doing the same thing with your family or friends.
Soft Skills
In interviewing it is important to have a consistent story about everything. Why are you leaving your current company? Are you AND your family sold on relocation to that city? Why? Salary discussions are a potential minefield. Learn from your recruiter how to talk about compensation issues and cost of living differences if that is relevant. Why do you want to work for this company? This is very important. If you can’t convey in detail why you are attracted to that company, they won't see a reason to hire you. Prepare for this. It will come up.
It is very important to build a relationship with every person you speak with on the phone and in-person. Find out not only what they do, but why they enjoy working for that company. What do they like best about the company? Most companies are making a group decision so you need to get as many of the group voting in your favor as possible.
Finally, “don’t ask, don’t tell”. This is a very simple phrase with a lot of meaning. Don’t volunteer personal information. Nobody wants to know if you are going through a divorce or what your other personal struggles are. Focus on your qualifications for the job and avoid saying too much about your personal life. Being able to do this in the interview shows you'll be able to do it on the job.
Here's a story about one individual who did everything right.
When we met Ryan, everyone here at Core Search Group was extremely surprised to hear that he had connected with several recruiters in the US and was unsuccessful in finding a single one that would work with him. "Call us when you land", they said. You see, Ryan, a citizen of the UK, and his family were in the beginning stages of making a move to the US. He already had a final working day scheduled with his company in the UK. No visa sponsorship was required as he is married to a US Citizen. It was exactly the same as if he had been a US Citizen currently living in the US.
Here is an anomaly, an extremely talented, intelligent, qualified... all the adjectives you would use to characterize "an ideal candidate" but no recruiters would work with him. We were honored to have the opportunity to work with such a candidate as Ryan. Ryan contacted us on April 28th. He had already purchased plane tickets to land in the US on June 21st and was available to start with within a week of that date. By early to mid June, not much more than a month later, I received an email from the hiring manager: “we want Ryan to work for Bloomberg”. It is a simple statement but a very commanding one. That is when we first realized that all of ours and his hard work had paid off. We had an offer for Ryan and then a start date.
Ryan was by far the most prepared candidate that we have every worked with. He would even take on study sessions on his own that we didn't assign to him. "Deep in design patterns now, I think that was the weakest part of the last interview. We need to discuss what to expect from the next interview though, that will help me focus on what to revise." He was prodding us for more prep help. This is the kind of attitude that will bring a candidate closer to the end goal.
With Ryan, his hard work and perseverance really paid off. In the end we received an offer from the client, his current company, that was 10% higher than anyone expected, including Ryan.
In the end we helped a really talented individual find a great job that he loves. “I work 12 hours per day not because I have to, but because I love what I do.”
Oh, yeah, BTW – upon initial submission, the hiring manager rejected Ryan’s resume. He is glad he listened to me when I explained he was in fact the type of person the company was looking for. Plus we have gained some heavy trust from the client because of this. However, it would have never happened if Ryan went into this with the wrong attitude.
Thank you Ryan!
Watch this space for another posting on our custom PREP methodology in the future.
1 comment:
As the candidate in question. I can say it was more than just my preparation but also the support that I got during the process. I was more than ready for any of the interviews, not because I knew the questions but because I felt confident with all the preparation I knew most of the answers and I knew where I was weak. (Never be afraid to say I am not sure, but this is how I would find out!). After each interview, I knew the chance of a question I answered badly or weakly in a previous interview would come up in the next so thats where I focussed, I had more notes after the end of the interview process than I had after some classes at university!
I will say though, the company and the support from Gil made it a fun process. After all if the company and the people weren't fun I wouldn't have fitted so well.
I'm proud to say that I have a job I enjoy and I'm proud to say Core Search helped me get it.
Ryan.
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