Hello reader! The weekend is coming to an end, and unfortunately the pile of work I have left to do is not doing the same…but I thought this would be a good time to consolidate my thoughts about last week’s company interview.
In general, I really enjoyed the interview even though I think my composure said otherwise (insert nervous laughter)! I was extremely nervous and I felt like I was not able to portray my usual self. Maybe it was the different style of interview that threw me off, or maybe I just wasn’t as familiar in this area compared to others. Trust me when I say I felt like my person was kicked out of my body and my monkey brain had to take over. It was definitely not my finest hour. I was especially nervous during a role-playing segment, which I won’t go into too much detail about, but I will say that it was a lot more different and interactive than most interviews I’ve been for. The questions felt were a lot more dynamic and I had to try to shift my brain from A to B quite a bit (partly because I was interviewing for different positions).
But I’m sure you, lovely reader, came for more than a melodrama of an unprepared millennial so here’s my brown bag of 5 things to do in an interview, particularly for business development (BD) and/or marketing role:
- Keep calm and breathe on: As my mom would say in Filipino (Tagalog): cool lang. I think I’ve said this before in the previous interview post but I think it’s something that can be easily forgotten once you are in the midst of the interview. The first step is to realise that you are getting nervous (if you aren’t already), then you will be able to catch yourself early and try to remedy the situation before it snowballs. Next time you get nervous, maybe take note of your “nervous tell-signs”:
- How do you feel physically? (sweaty palms? cold shivers?)
- What goes on in your head? (mind blank? thoughts are everywhere?)
- How’s your speech? (stuttering? more fillers? talking incoherently?)
- Positive, negative, positive: Whenever presenting a point about yourself, you can try to apply this sandwich method. I find this method especially useful when answering questions like strengths/weaknesses or questions that would highlight your negative qualities. Start with something positive, then segway to the negative/weaknesses, but cushion these points with another positive point. I made a mistake of making my interviewer think I didn’t want to be there or this interview was not my first choice by starting off with a negative reason. Please don’t do that, I was being brutally honest.
- Get straight to the point, seal the deal: Now for more BD related tips, being direct and to the point is a real skill that can win you your deal. Despite having no experience at BD/sales, it was heartening that they let me try again with some feedback after my meltdown of a first try. Understanding the situation of the user is one thing, but if you are long-winded, he’s going to lose interest. Try to remember the goal of the task if you notice yourself talking too much.
- Ask questions: Your interviewers are likely to ask you this at the very end of the interview, “Do you have any questions for us?”, but I think that it is important that you ask some questions in between too. Firstly, it shows genuine interest on your part. Secondly, if you need clarification on a question, it is very important that you know what you are answering! You don’t want to waste your energy answering something completely different, then to embarrassingly retract your answer!
- Generate ideas: I think this is particularly important for a creative/marketing role where idea generation is part of your job description. Come to the interview having thought through a few ideas for possible campaigns or content you would execute for the company. This not only helps yourself to be more familiar with what you share during the interview (because they are bound to ask you about your ideas), but it allows you to flesh out more comprehensive ideas for your interviewers to asses you based on. I know some of you might think that I’m pretty good at thinking on the spot and my ideas are great! Sure you are, but why not give yourself the extra time to work on those brilliant ideas?
Each interview seems to get harder, but I’m really grateful for the practice. Hopefully, I can remind myself to apply these tips too! Here’s to another week of interviews to come.
JAN ANNE 