You sabi dis work well well, and Thursday na your chance to talk am to people wey never know. You no dey court. Di people wey sidon opposite you dey try fill one role, and dem dey quietly hope say na you go be di answer, because di alternative na six more weeks of interview.
Di wahala dey start di moment wey you decide say you go be another person for one hour. To dey perform dey cost attention, and attention na di resource wey your thinking need. Answer wey version of you wey no exist dey deliver dey chop di part of your brain wey suppose dey listen to di question.
Research dey behind dis one, no be just encouragement. One study for Journal of Applied Psychology follow real candidates through real hiring, and among di strongest applicants, di ones wey wan present demselves accurately far more likely to get hired: for one group di chance of placement rise from 51% go 73%.
How I go answer well without sounding like say I rehearse am?
Answer from real example instead of script, and let di specifics carry di weight. Story wey get number and name inside no fit sound canned, because nobody else for dis world get dat story.
Di rehearsed sound dey come from generality, no be from preparation. "I be real team player wey dey thrive under pressure" dey sound fake because hundred people don talk am dis month. "We get eleven days to move di payments system, I split am into three chunks so we fit ship di risky one first, and we finish with two days spare" dey sound like human being, because na human being. Prepare hard, but prepare material, no be wording. Sabi your six stories inside out and let di sentences come out differently every time.
Take di pause. Two seconds of visible thinking before you answer hard question dey read as care, no be as hesitation. Most people dey fill dat gap with noise because silence dey feel expensive wen you want di job. E no expensive. Na di cheapest signal of composure wey you fit send.
Wetin I go talk wen I no know di answer?
Talk say you no know, then talk how you go find out. Dat answer strong pass guess, because di job full of problems wey nobody don solve yet, and na for exactly dat situation dem dey hire based on how you behave.
Di full shape na three parts and e dey take about fifteen seconds. Name di limit of wetin you sabi. Talk wetin you go do first. Talk who or wetin you go check against. "I neva run migration for dat size before. I go start by measuring where di current load really dey instead of trusting di docs, and I go ask whoever run di last one wetin surprise dem." Nobody for dat room go mistake dat for weakness. Every interviewer don sidon opposite person wey bluff, and dem dey remember di bluff long after dem don forget di correct answer.
Di bluff also expensive for way wey people dey underrate. Once you don guess, you must defend di guess, and to defend guess dey chop di rest of di interview.
How many stories I suppose prepare, and wetin dey make one good?
Six dey cover almost every question wey dem go ask you. Good one short, true, get number or consequence inside, and e dey end with wetin change, no be with wetin you plan.
Pick six wey spread across different shapes: something wey you ship, something wey scatter and wetin you do next, one time wey you disagree with senior person, one time wey you change your mind, one time wey you teach person, and di thing wey dey make you proudest. Almost every behavioral question na one of dose six wey wear different cap. Na why interviewers dey ask about past behavior for di first place. Research on structured behavioral interviewing rest on one simple premise, wey one study of resident selection state plainly: past behavior dey predict future behavior.
Write dem out. No be script, just four lines each: di situation, wetin you do, wetin change, wetin you for do differently. Di last line na wetin dey separate real candidate from person wey dey recite highlight reel, and interviewers dey ask for am directly pass wetin anybody expect.
Wetin I go ask dem, and wetin time?
Ask two questions wey you genuinely want answer for, and ask at least one for di middle instead of saving di two for di end. Real question dey change di temperature of di room, because e dey turn audition into two people wey dey decide something together.
Good ones dey specific to dis job and dem no fit answer am from careers page. Wetin person wey dey do well for dis role suppose get to show after six months? Which part of dis job people dey find hardest? Which decision di team dey argue about right now? You dey also gather di information wey you go need if two offers land di same time. Among people wey quit job for 2021, Pew Research Center find say low pay and no opportunity for advancement tie as di most common reasons, both for 63%, so ask now wetin di path here dey look like.
Ask about money wen di process reach di point wey money na di subject. To ask early no be rudeness, but e dey spend one question, and na small questions you get.
How I go steady myself for di morning?
Move your body before you enter, and chop something. Person wey don already work dat morning dey stop to dey audition, because di nervous system get somewhere to put di energy instead of putting am inside your voice.
Twenty minutes plenty. Small run, hard set, or waka wey carry you reach di building on foot. KEEP CALM founder handle di pressure of building career partly through training, and dis na di smallest, most reliable version of dat: physical work for morning dey turn interview adrenaline into ordinary alertness. Then, for di last five minutes, do di boring things. Reach early enough make you even dey bored for di lobby. Read your six stories once, then keep di paper, because to read dem again inside elevator na wetin dey make dem sound recited.
If your hand still dey shake, e go shake. Slow di breath wey you dey release, put di two feet flat, and start to talk. Nerves no be di problem. Nerves plus pretending na di problem, and interviewers don see enough of both to tell dem apart. Steadiness dey read as competence faster than polish.
Di room wey like di real you na di room wey you fit work inside
One kind interview advice dey wey dey treat you like raw material wey dem suppose smooth down, and e dey produce candidates wey nobody fit tell apart. Di people wey dey get hired out of strong field na di ones wey di interviewers fit still describe one hour later, and wetin dem dey describe dey specific: di person wey sabi dem numbers, di person wey admit di gap and talk how dem go close am, di person wey ask di question wey make di hiring manager think.
None of dat require make you want di job less, or make you pretend say you relaxed about decision wey go shape three years of your life. Want am plainly. Prepare hard. Then waka in as di person wey do all dat preparation, no be as character wey you invent for Tuesday.
You go interview better, and you go find out something more useful too. Room wey like di real version na room wey you fit really work inside.
Sources
- UCL News, Authenticity key to landing a new job
- Journal of Education in Perioperative Medicine, The Behavioral Interview, a Method to Evaluate ACGME Competencies in Resident Selection: A Pilot Project
- Pew Research Center, Majority of workers who quit a job in 2021 cite low pay, no opportunities for advancement, feeling disrespected