Improve Your Interview Skills and Beat the Job Competition

by Lewis Lin, Seattle Interview Coach, special for WWDS

Are you frustrated with interviewing? Your resume looks great, and you’re having no trouble getting interviews. If hiring managers like your skills and experiences, then why aren’t they giving you the job offer? Don’t waste time and opportunities. Here are tips on how you can better communicate your qualifications during the interview:
• Do those mock interviews. This is the most valuable tip for any job seeker. Interviewing is not something we do every day, so feedback can help refine and improve your interview answers. The practice also gets any nervous jitters out of your system. It’s common to see colleges offer mock interviews for their students. If you’re no longer in college, you can hire an interview coach. Alternatively, you can find friends and family to provide feedback on your interview responses.
• Put in the extra effort and be creative, if appropriate. These days, every job candidate is incredibly talented and prepared. So how do you standout? Put in that extra effort and be creative, if appropriate. For instance, I interviewed marketing candidates at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business a few years ago. One student discussed an idea to improve our flagship product. She presented her idea via a full-color brochure, which she created the night before. Her tactic worked. Discussing her idea showcased her product design, marketing, and analytical skills. I loved her creativity (both the tactic and product idea). Lastly, I look for candidates that distinguish themselves by working hard. I strongly recommended her for the next interview round.
• Practice those behavioral questions. Interview candidates can say the right things, but will they do the right things? Hiring managers are quickly realizing that past behavior (not words) is the best way to predict future performance. And behavioral questions is an effective way of understanding past behavior.

lewis_lin_photoEd. Note: Lewis Lin is an interview coach at Seattle Interview Coach. Lewis is passionate about helping job seekers with difficult interview questions and crafting responses that will help them succeed in their interviews. As a hiring manager for Google and Microsoft, he’s interviewed over 150 candidates for marketing, product management, and product planning roles. He received his Masters of Business Administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and his Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Stanford University. You can follow Lewis on Twitter.