Know your worth. Keep it real, but know exactly what you bring to the table as an employee and how much that’s worth. If you don’t know, figure it out.

When interviewing, pay attention to any point of conversation that implies that the role is less than your worth and ask questions. You may dodge a huge bullet.

Remember back in school there would always be that one kid who was able to get the teacher talking and going off topic so the class had to do less work?

Basically learn to do that in your interviews. If you’re lucky enough to know the name of your interviewer beforehand, stalk their LinkedIn and try and find something they’re interested in. People love talking about themselves. If you can manage to get your interviewer rambling about something they like, they will come away feeling it was a good interview, and you’ll probably learn a hell of a lot more about what the job is actually like on a day to day basis.

I’ve found that the smaller the company, the higher the success rate doing something like this. Larger companies tend to have a more rigid interview structure or have multiple interviewers at once.

Play a reverse uno card and ask the interviewer how long they are working for the company,which position they started in, what they liked and disliked about the company and what was the last thing that made them smile while at work.

Seriously. Do it.

Both interviewers do work in the same position they started in after 5 years? Looks like there is not much room for development. They are all there for less than 2 years? When the company is not a startup it’s likely staff retention is bad. If both interviewers get nervous about the “like/dislike” question and only name cliché stuff: They might be afraid that they say something the other will report to someone.

And if they refuse to answer these questions totally? Well. Fuck their company culture, obviously.

Remember that interviews go both ways. You are trying to see if this company is a place you want to spend half your waking hours. Ask the interviewer where they see themselves in 5 years. Watch their reaction closely. Do they sigh, or hesitate? You might get a telling bit of honesty out of them.

If it’s a tech interview, practice solving coding problems in a tech interview format.

Find simple “coding challenge” problems, write the answers on paper, get satisfied with them, then run them and see what happens. Definitely at least cover the basics (reverse a linked list, quicksort). Do it until you’re comfortable with it, which takes a while. You will start to ace programming tests because the calibrated response is for someone who does programming in a totally different format, and you’re comfortable and experienced with the unusual format.

Shortly before the interview, write out the details of a time you overcame a problem or did something particularly competent. What you did, how you overcame, the effect it had, the recognition you got.

Not for use in the interview, just to get yourself in a good headspace for displaying your strengths.

At the end of the interview when they ask “do you have any other questions for us”, if it went well and you decide that you want to work there, ask about what your first day looks like compared to an average day after you’re settled in.

This can be a little social engineering push to have your interviewer shift their perception of you into someone that is already hired.

Be open, honest, and sincere. You don’t want to work at a place that would not take you as you are. Unless you really need the cash but you pretty much are going to have to continue to look for work with a job like that.

It’s not an exam, it’s a discussion among professionals in the field.

Research the shit out of the company and (if possible) your interview board, ask informed questions, and approach the interview as a two way street: You are interviewing them/the company every bit as much as they are interviewing you.

Make sure you actually want to work at this place because you’ll probably be spending at least 40 hours of your life there every week.

A job interview is a conversation, not an interrogation.
Ask as many questions as your potential future employer does, and don’t put yourself below them.
You are equals negotiating whether you want to enter into a business partnership.

This achieves several things:

• First, you learn more about what working with them will be like, when you actually ask.
• Second, if they react negatively and try to establish a position of dominance over you, well then you know that they’re like that.
• Third, it’s a good way to fight feelings of insecurity. This is not a test you pass or fail. Or rather, the other party is equally likely to fail your expectations.
• Lastly, and most importantly, it communicates an air of confidence, which actually makes it much more likely you’ll land the job if you want it.

Being timid and submissive makes you look desperate, which is not a good look, and will likely lead to a lower salary as well.

My best interviews were the two where I was calm, relaxed, and myself. And I was offered the job each time.

Granted these interviews were for a better job than the one I had, but, at the time, I had a pretty good job and didn’t technically need the one I was interviewing for. That allowed me to be more relaxed, I made a few well-placed jokes, and was just myself, which is ultimately who you want them to hire anyway - the person you really are, not some stuffed shirt, stiff version of you.

When they ask if you can/want to do a type of work and the simple answer is ‘No’, never directly say no but instead talk around your limitations in as positive a way you can.

Don’t be afraid to ask why the position is open. Similar to the “where the interviewer will be in 5 years”, it can be revealing. Are they expanding, was the person promoted, did they leave and under what circumstances?

I’ve been interviewing folks for an internship position lately. These have been remote interviews. Six things that have made candidates stand out to me.

• Get your camera angle straight. Don’t slouch in the corner. I need professionals so I need you to look like one.
• Hide the weird shit in your backgrounds, unless it’s something you want to talk about
• Have presence / wow factor. I’m interviewing for a position that will sometimes talk to customers. I’m your customer at the moment and I really do want to buy what you’re selling, and will absolutely do so if you wow me.
• Read the job description, I put a lot of effort into that thing (I know, not every company does). Get to know the JD and company website. I had a marketing guy apply and he got through the resume review because he had an lot experience in my industry. Turns out he didn’t and I read right through it. Don’t waste my and your time, neither of us have enough of it on this planet as is.
• Have hobbies, extracurriculars. I get tired of asking the same boring questions to everyone so I may ask you about them. I’m in no way religious but surprisingly, I’ve now had two candidates talk to me about how they’re a leader in their church and that they’re leading groups or projects there. It got them both to the next round. I want to hire a colleague not a robot.
• Have writing and presentation samples prepared. I want to see how you document things I want to see the work you’re proud of. I need dynamism and a diverse team, not all of us need to be customer facing rockstars. A beautiful presentation absolutely can and has won me over on candidates that did not have the interview presence.