Ask questions of your contact
This is a great way to understand expectations, get organized, reduce potential anxiety, and make a good impression. Here’s a Medium article from DJ Chung, Duke undergrad alum who is current a Product Manager at Atalassian. He shares 4 questions to ask if you want you calm your nerves and prepare in a more effective way.
- Who will you be interviewing with?
- What type of interview you can expect?
- What will the interview will focus on?
- What are additional things you should prepare for?
One last note from DJ Chung’s article. Notice he begins by calling the recruiter/employer “your ally.” They want to see you succeed and it’s in their best interest. Ask “your ally” the questions that will give you the confidence to prepare in a way that positively impacts your performance.
Review your research
This is a chance to review research you’ve done and identify existing gaps. Use the information “your ally” (see above) has given to see those gaps more clearly. Here are three areas we anticipated you’ll conduct research on in prep.
- the role, organization, field
- salary range for role – anticipate the interviewer asking for your salary expectations as early as the first conversation. Here is an Indeed article about ways to approach prep for this question.
- role specific questions that may be asked
Review how you align with the role, organization, & field
Each interview is for a unique combination of role, organization and field. Your task during the interview is to help the interviewer see your alignment with unique combination. As your organizing for each interview, review your profile (experiences, skills, attributes, talents, etc.) with an investigative eye to find the best highlights. Past students have used different methods in reviewing their profile including:
- mindmap profile to create a visual representation
- converting job/internship description requirements into questions & matching to best-fit experiences
- using this clarifying alignment grid
Test Your Tech
A really short point here but one worth sharing often. Test your tech, and test it 24 hours in advance to troubleshoot. You don’t want to waste time you could spend connecting with the interviewer troubleshooting your technology.
