5 job interview tips from me... an HR

Here are the five biggest job interview tips that helped me land an offer:

Never count your chickens before they hatch.

I say never stop applying for new openings, even if you entered the final rounds of interviews with some companies.

My thinking? “Never count your chickens before they hatch,” I say. “Sometimes you think you have it in the bag, and you don’t.”

I also recommend casting a wide net to find a new job. I leaned heavily on referrals and tapped my professional network for introductions to hiring companies. But i didn’t totally ignore cold applying to jobs, though i know it’s typically less successful, especially so in today’s market.

Over-prepare

Early on, I kept track of my many applications and interviews using a spreadsheet to document each company, the role, who was in contact with, and what interview stage I was in. I recommend jobseekers find their own method to stay organized.

I built out a dossier for every company interviewed to understand their leadership team, key achievements, where their money comes from (or for startups, what round of funding they were in), and so on.

Not only did it help me understand each team better, but it also helped me stand out in interviews by asking thoughtful questions based on extensive research.

Be honest about what I didn’t know.

I was honest and transparent in interviews about how I felt about each opportunity, including what was exciting to me and what challenges I might have to address.

“People go into interviews and oversell themselves,”, but, “I think something that resonated with me in interviews is being honest about the things i don’t know.”

Make your thank-you note stand out

Made sure to get the email address of my interviewer and follow up with a brief but sincere thank-you message.

People will appreciate the positive feedback on what you enjoyed about the discussion.

Nail the final interview.

Acing the final round of interviews could be key to locking in your final salary —as a candidate.

I found that if your conversation is with someone up the corporate chain of command (like the hiring manager’s boss), chances are good the job is yours — but the discussion could dictate how much money you have been offered.

Senior leaders could be trying to assess, “Can this person really command what they’re asking for?”

“That’s why I think final conversations are more nerve-wracking to me,”

What is your experience ??