FAQ: What I do day of & during job interviews
So you’ve landed an interview, but how do you prepare? The process I follow, and what I advise to the people that I coach is:
Day of and during the actual interview
Read on for part four - what I do during the actual interview.
Step One: The night before
The night before (or sometimes the day of) the interview, I review.
Re-read the job description. If you’re interviewing for multiple roles, they can start to blend together, so you want to make sure this role is fresh in your mind.
Look at the responsibilities of the role and think about which projects/experience I have that is most relevant.
Look up everyone I’m meeting with on LinkedIn. It’s helpful to at least understand who is technical and who is not.
If it’s a technical interview:
Review my “interview cheat sheet.” This is where I have definitions for various stats and ML terms that are relevant to the types of roles I’m interested in.
Do some more practice coding problems OR review business/industry info if it’s a technical or business sense interview.
Step Two: The interview
A few minutes before the interview starts, I get my computer ready.
Open up my document with the summaries of my major projects. Think about which ones are more relevant to this role.
Open up a new Word or Google Doc (I have a template that I copy for each company I interview with). I use this document to take notes throughout each round of the interview process with that company.
Yes, you can take notes during interviews! This is much easier now that video interviews are common, but I took notes via pen & paper when I was doing in-person interviews pre-2020. I would even write up my list of questions in advance and bring that to the interview.
I format my document as follows:
Paste in the important parts of the job description at the top.
Write down the most important questions that I have.
Note the relevant projects/experiences that I want to make sure to highlight during the conversation.
Before each round, create a new section with the date as well as the name and title of each person you’re meeting, and take notes during and after the interview.
Step Three: Ask questions
You should ask questions to everyone you meet with. For one thing, you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. For another, this indicates that you are genuinely interested in this job. It also shows that you are curious, which is an important trait for a Data Analyst or Data Scientist.
What questions should you ask? I always think about “What information do I need to decide if I want to move forward with this role?” And also “What does this person know?”
A recruiter knows about the company, the hiring process, and high-level details about the team and role, but probably can’t answer specifics about the tech stack and projects—those questions are better for the hiring manager.
Not sure what questions to ask? Here are over 100 to choose from, depending on who is interviewing you.
Got questions that you always ask during an interview? Drop a comment and share!
This brings me to the end of my four-part series of how I prepare for interviews. What did you think? Was this helpful? Drop a comment and let me know!
Need more help? I’m thinking of putting together a job search cohort course - join the waitlist to find out when (if?) it launches!
You can read my answers to past FAQs. Have a question of your own? Reply to this email!
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