This is a challenging hiring landscape.  Information is widely available about nearly any company that you’d like to join. Yet, most applicants still do not spend more than a few minutes gathering research prior to their interviews.

You need to overprepare for every single interview that you schedule. There are hundreds of applicants per job and being unprepared translates to being uninterested.  We are no longer in the candidate-driven hiring market from 2 or 3 years ago.

Preparing Questions for Every Type of Interviewer

• You must have questions prepared for every type of interviewer – HR, C-Suite, hiring manager, co-workers. Assume that you will meet with all of them even if they aren’t on the interview schedule.
• Ask HR about company culture, advancement, review scheduling, training, etc. Ask future co-workers what a typical day looks like, etc.

Preparing Answers

• If you have done your due diligence researching the company, it should be easier to prepare answers to strategic questions.
• You should be able to tell the interviewers how you understand the job, why you are a good fit for the job, and what you can bring to the table.

Research the Company

• What problem are they solving? Who are their customers? What do the last 5 or 10 years look like? You can get a high-level overview of the organization with a quick search engine inquiry, but you need to dive deeper. Your research will help you answer how you can be an effective part of their story.

Research the Interviewers

• A LinkedIn search can tell you where an interviewer went to school, shed light on their career path and even give you insight into their interests. Use this information to build your interview questions and find common ground.

Beyond the research –  your over preparation should include practicing speaking confidently and naturally about your story, knowing your key measurable accomplishments, preparing your space and tech for interviews, do a mock interview / record yourself answering questions, and preparing both mentally and physically before the interviews.  A clear, focused mind will help you think on your feet and stay composed.

Talener can prepare you as much as possible for the interview, but at the end of the day, your ability to research and understand the more intricate details will set you apart from other candidates. You must be nimble enough to have these Q&A conversations with different people across levels within the organization.  It is up to you as the applicant to find the right connections and topics that will engage your interviewers.