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In my 30 years in the technology industry, including 13 years at Google, I have interviewed hundreds of candidates and filled dozens of positions. I’ve seen many mistakes and awkward moments. Now, as a technology-industry interview coach, I help prospective candidates to avoid those mistakes so they can stand out and get an offer.
These days, most technology-industry interviews are conducted by video call. They typically include an initial screening with a recruiter before moving on to a series of interviews — mostly one-on-one — with project leads, hiring managers and other individuals.
Careers advice from scientists in industry
Although every company, job and candidate is unique, I’ve identified a few techniques that apply across the industry. They’re also useful for PhD students in science and engineering and might even help in climbing the academic ladder. Here are my key tips.
Understand the process
The interview procedure can vary between companies. Ask the recruiter to share whatever they can about what will happen, such as what the series of interviews will look like, which tools you will be using — such as video conferencing, presentation or coding software — and who you will be talking to. Larger companies often provide this information as part of their initial meetings with candidates, but don’t be afraid to ask.
Be intentional
In formal interviews, many questions are open-ended, not multiple choice or yes/no. That means there are no right or wrong answers, and you must choose how to focus your response.
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Before answering, take a moment to think and jot down some notes. Consider the larger topic of the question, and ask for clarification or propose some context or constraints in which you will respond.
For example, you could say, ‘Leading a team is a pretty broad topic. Can you elaborate a bit on what you’re after?’
This approach has three benefits: it gives you time to consider and structure your response; it forces you to focus in terms of time and content; and it signals that you recognize the complexity of the subject. Use this opportunity to demonstrate thoughtfulness and purpose in your answer.
Stick to the question
Interviewers usually have a prepared set of questions and some idea of how you might answer. There is some intentional flexibility to provide them with signals beyond the content of your response: what you focus on, your balance of breadth and depth, your structure and your time management.
Even so, there are some boundaries that you should understand and respect. Interviewers typically ask three types of question — those that ask you to relay a story or example, those that probe your skillset and those that explore hypothetical scenarios.
Match your response to what was asked. If you feel strongly that you need to diverge, get the OK from the interviewer first.
Get your story straight
Story questions typically take the form ‘Give me an example of …’ or ‘Tell me about a time when …’. For example, an interviewer could ask you to ‘Tell me about a time when you made a mistake.’
Stories are powerful and revealing, and you are likely to get several questions of this type. Interviewers are looking for your most interesting work experiences. The stories you tell about these experiences are often messy, subjective and time-consuming, with imperfect but hopefully improved outcomes.
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Stories are completely yours, so you can prepare well in advance. Spend the time to outline your narrative using a method that works for you, such as STAR: the situation, or set-up and context; the task and your role; the action you took; and the result, or outcome and lessons learnt. Write the story down, highlighting the fascinating, appealing, thought-provoking or messy parts. Find a good balance of breadth and depth. Too many technical specifics, and you’ll lose the interviewer’s attention; too few details, and the story won’t seem real or engaging.
Practise your story over and over — this enables you to tell it confidently and genuinely, and ensures that the interviewer can easily remember your experience for their evaluation. Try different approaches: telling your story to yourself in the mirror, recording yourself or telling it to a trusted friend or colleague. You want to tell the story, not read it. Each story should be around three minutes long.
Show off your toolbelt
Skillset questions ask ‘How do you …’ or ‘What’s your approach to …’, for a common activity in your role. For example, ‘How do you provide direction for your trainees without doing the work for them?’
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Interviewers ask these questions to get a sense of the tools at your disposal — your principles, values, best practices, habits and so on. You want to demonstrate a breadth of abilities with enough detail to show that you apply them in your daily work, as opposed to merely having heard or read about them.
You can’t cover all your best practices in one answer, so identify three that are important to you, mention them briefly and then provide more details for each. Details could be anecdotes, but not full-blown stories.
This sets expectations about what you’re going to cover, shows that you have a range of skills and signals that you can communicate concisely — you know how to limit your response to a few highlights.
Think on your feet
Some companies like to see how you would handle a hypothetical situation, which is often challenging and open-ended. There are usually no solutions as such, and your goal should not be to solve the scenario. Think of this as a mini design question, testing your brainstorming approach.
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Scenario questions often take the form of, ‘Assume you have …’ or ‘How would you deal with …’.
For example: ‘Assume that leadership has decided to change direction on a project, but you disagree. How would you approach getting yourself and any team members beyond the disagreement and working towards the new direction?’
These questions are intentionally ambiguous, so first refine the scope as described above. Then, lay out a sequence of steps that you could try. You might have an ‘exactly this thing happened to me’ moment, but resist the urge to tell the story from experience — keep your response hypothetical.
This both demonstrates awareness of the complexity of the scenario and shows that you can plan in the face of ambiguity or a new situation.
Final thoughts
Think of these techniques as guidance or tools, not recipes or scripts. I recommend trying out a mixture of them and using the ones that help you to remain true to your communication style.
Collecting your stories is a great way to prepare, as is practising in a mock interview. That could be by recording yourself or rehearsing in front of peers. If you have the resources, an interview coach can provide well-calibrated questions and feedback.
Good luck, and good interviewing!
