For many, job interviews are a nerve-racking experience. It can feel like a vulnerable spot to be in, to be sitting in front of one or more interviewers who are trying to assess whether you’d be a good fit for their team. Good preparation is key to feeling more comfortable and confident in this situation. Read ahead to get our tips for how to prepare for a job interview as an IT Consultant!

To backtrack a bit: the meetings that we have with potential consultants are very chill and relaxed. Our objective in the meeting is to get to know you as a person and to understand your skills, experience, and what interests you in your working life. If you want more information about our process, read our blog post here.

However, if you’re anticipating a more technical interview or a customer interview for a potential customer’s project, preparation for the interview becomes more important. We want to help you go into your interview feeling confident, which is why we’re sharing our tips for how to prepare for a job interview as an IT professional. These same tips apply if you’re getting ready for a customer interview as an IT consultant! This is the first blog post in our series called Ace Your Interview, where we aim to help you do just that: ace your interview. In this first part, we’ll share what you can do to prepare for the big interview, well in advance. 

How to prepare for a job interview: First, know what you’re in for

When there is an interview set up, you usually know the organization and the job description. Review the information you have and reflect on what experience you have that matches the requirements. It can be useful to write down some keywords, like technologies or skills.

If you know somebody who works at the organization, reach out to them! You can ask for their experiences, both in the interview process and working for the organization.

A simple internet search on the organization can also be beneficial. Scrolling through their social media or website can offer you insight into their culture and values. In the interview, you can highlight some of these aspects of their organization, to show your interest in being a part of specifically their team.

Get ready to be technical

Depending on the role, the job interview might entail technical questions. The difficulty and type of these questions may vary, but it’s good to prepare for tricky questions! Go back to the job description: what technologies are mentioned? Refresh your expertise on them and look back on your career, so you can present examples of how you have used them before. If you don’t have experience with something mentioned in the job description, think of something else that might be relevant to them. Transferable skills can also be important.

The technical questions you face might be very straightforward or scenario-based, which would require you to showcase your problem-solving skills and how well you can think on your feet. It is difficult to prepare for this because you can never predict the specifics of the question. However, you can prepare by practicing to showcase your thought process clearly. Explain your initial thoughts, how you would start tackling the problem, and what you would do in the situation. You can also talk about a relevant experience you have had in your past, using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answer: explain the situation, your role in it, what action you took to resolve the situation, and finally, what the result of your action was. 

Don’t overlook the standard interview questions

If you search for examples of interview questions, you might find questions such as these:

• What are your strengths?

• What are your weaknesses?

• Can you tell me more about yourself?

• Why do you want this job?

These questions might seem like clichés; you might have encountered them before in many other interviews, but you should not overlook them. These questions can give the interviewer insight into what you would bring to their organization and are often used for a reason. Even though you might have answered the standard interview questions many times, it’s still good to prepare for them. Even though the question might be a cliché, try not to give the cliché answer or be too rehearsed! Be truthful but professional.

Preparing a short pitch about yourself can also help when being asked to introduce yourself. Tell about your key skills and expertise relating to the project, and who you are in a nutshell. It can be surprisingly difficult to tell someone about yourself on the spot, so it’s good to have some points prepared ahead of time. 

Prepare, don’t recite 

To conclude: preparing in advance can help you feel ready to tackle the process and ace your interview. But remember, preparing doesn’t mean learning specific sentences and reciting them word-for-word in the interview. You can still let your personality shine through! 

In the upcoming second part of this series, we’ll share some more tips to help make your interview successful the day of your interview.