Mon Jan 6

5 tips to ace a job interview – including how to prepare for the question they’ll definitely ask

Written by Kerry Brown, Professor of Employment and Industry, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University

If you’re back in the job market, or looking for your first position after graduating, you’ll need to think about how to ace a job interview.

Getting shortlisted for interview is a significant achievement on its own, given managers routinely consider hundreds of other applicants for each position. But to interview well, you need to be prepared, confident (but not arrogant) and stand out from other applicants.

A good job interview means assuring a prospective employer ^[1] you can fit into their company, have the skills to do or adapt to the job, and can work well with others.

So, how can you put your best foot forward in a job interview? Here are five tips.

1. Talk about your cultural and organisational fit

Explain how you would be a great fit in the new job.

Establishing your fit doesn’t mean talking up your skills, but convincing the panel you are the right person to join the company.

Make it clear you know what the company does well (more on that later), offer examples of where you’ve worked well in teams before, and explain how you could contribute to the organisation’s mission, goals and achievements.

2. Prepare answers for important questions

They will almost certainly ask: “why should we hire you?”

Variations of this question include: “why are you the best person for this job?” and “why do you want this job?”

You may be asked these kinds of questions right at the start of your interview.

It’s not an invitation to brag about what you have done or exaggerate your claims. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate how you would fit into the company with your skills, track record and personal values.

This is your chance to outline your skills and position yourself as the best person for the job.

But these questions also allow you to give an early indication about whether your working style and personal values align with the organisation’s values ^[2].

3. Show your enthusiasm and commitment

It is important to show you are enthusiastic and excited to be part of their organisation.

You are looking to give your employer a sense of your personality and your interest in not just the job but the company.

What is it about this company’s work that interests you? Can you name examples of things they’ve done well in the past? If you got the job, why would you be proud to work there?

Make it clear you’ve put some thought into why you want to work at this company. Photo by Christina Morillo/Pexels ^[3]

4. Do your homework

Demonstrate you have read up on the company and people and be specific about what you can offer as a future employee.

Research the company and the person who is interviewing you. Make it clear you understand the business and its recent output, as well as the person and their preferences.

Don’t simply regurgitate information about the company from their website. Instead, come up with some interesting questions such as how they’ve managed a big change in the industry, or how they are adapting to a new technology.

The company will probably research or “cybervet ^[4]” you. Ensure your public profile and other accessible information is professional and shows you at your best. Lose the wild party pics.

5. Give ‘I’ answers

“I” answers show how your skills would benefit the company and suit the position. You could talk, for example, about how you’re passionate about helping people, so you did an internship in aged care administration during your business studies and also volunteered at your local aged care home.

Or that you won an award in recognition of your contribution to your industry, and explain what you did that won you this award.

The story of you as a talented and committed job seeker should not only be compelling but have an internal narrative logic. For example:

In my university degree, I undertook training in project management software. As part of my internship, I was responsible for project scheduling, so I developed a very good working knowledge of this software. My experience supports me to effectively use project management software in this new role.

A woman shakes hand with a man at the beginning of a job interview.

Don’t just list your courses and achievements; build a narrative about your work contributions and career. Photo by Mikhail Nilov/Pexels ^[5]

Research ^[6] has also shown doing an internship gives you a better chance of winning a job.

If you’ve got gaps in your resume, fold them into your narrative about how you have built your experiences, education, skills and capacities. For example,

To gain experience in learning other languages and working in different countries, I travelled extensively for my gap year. I then started my full-time university studies in marketing while working part-time in the retail industry.

A job interview is not just about how well you did in your studies or your previous job but how you can build your skills and capabilities into a sustainable career in your new role. The interviewer is looking for how you can add value to the organisation.