Do

• ask who is interviewing you beforehand and research them on LinkedIn
• ask what the type of interview it will be to help you prepare, will it be a technical interview, will it be competency based etc.
• if it is a technical interview, ask what the technology stack you will use or whether you will be able to choose yourself
• have a look on the website GlassDoor to see if there are interview questions that that particular company frequently ask. However, please ensure you don’t rely on this as your only preparation as there are frequently many people on the hiring team and so the questions may not be the same every time.
• ask what the technology for the call will be, if it is Microsoft Teams for example, make sure you have installed it well before the call
• check your camera and video are working before the call
• listen carefully to the question being asked and if you blank and forget the question, ask them to repeat it
• keep answers concise, you don’t need to keep talking until they stop you
• use specific examples using the STAR method where possible to back up any statements you make
• appear friendly and smile, even if you are panicking inside
• make sure you have a quiet space to take any virtual interviews in
• ask what the dress code is if you are having an interview in person
• ask some questions yourself at the end, this shows you are curious and engaged, some general examples are below, if you can ask a specific question about the company even better
  • how would someone succeed in this role in their first 90 days?
  • how do you support employees with their training and development?
  • what career paths would be available to me in this role?
• ask what would be the next steps, were you to be successful, if they haven’t already told you
• remember your interviewer is a human too, they want you to be successful and are not trying to catch you out, as most likely they want to get back to their day job rather than interviewing many more people
• keep a note of any tricky questions you are asked, so that you can be better prepared for future interviews if they come up again

Don’t

• look down or at another screen during the interview, it looks like you are not paying attention
• look at your phone during the interview
• google the answer if you don’t know it whilst stalling for time, it is better to be honest
  • Note: In technical interviews, googling may be appropriate (e.g. to look up a specific API). Make sure you say out loud what you’re not sure about, and ask if it’s ok to look it up. The interviewer may say yes (and want to see how you search), or may say no and either discuss the question with you, or give you an answer.
• read out verbatim answers you have prepared word for word, as it can sound unnatural, try and keep a conversational tone
• be afraid to be honest about your preferences, some people prefer different technologies and working environments and it is better to find that out in the interview stage than pretend you like something and then have to backtrack on that when you start a job
• beat yourself up if it doesn’t go well, everyone has bad interview experiences and it can be very subjective, a bad interview doesn’t mean you are a bad candidate, it just means it wasn’t a good fit on this occasion