Top Five Interview Tips With Team JAVA.

Ryan Walker

Thumbnail Template 2 (8)

 

During an interview, employers are trying to get a better picture of who you are and what you can bring to their organisation. 💻

But to do that, you need to show them that you’re thinking and visualising the job! 🤔

You probably think you’ve heard them all before- but it’s always good to hear them again!

Join two of our recruiters Luke Driscoll and Alicia Ryalls-Payne as they chat about ways to help you prepare and plan for an interview.

Hopefully, their top tips can be the secret formula you’ve been missing up to now. 💡

Transcript:

Alicia: We are doing five fabulous interview tips with Team Java.

Some of these are obvious, others are less so, but it is just some fun things that are always worth going over ahead of your interview.

And a couple of things you might not know.

Luke: Yes, these sorts of tips are, as Alicia said, you know them.

So, with this video, it is not for us to teach anyone how to suck eggs.

It is us just going over the tips that we have learned through our years of recruitment.

And it might be something that you miss during an interview that could save and give you a huge opportunity to get a job, which we are trying to do.

Alicia: So, tip number one is researching your company.

Now, that sounds obvious, but when I say that, I mean, do not just look at the about page and see what they do.

See who is interviewing you.

Stalk them on LinkedIn, and send them a connection request because it shows you are interested in who is interviewing you.

It is also good for you to view the pathways that they have taken and take some inspiration from that.

Is that something or a way that you want to move up in five years?

And that can all accumulate to questions that you ask in the interview.

So, researching even more than the about page, going beyond, looking at their different social networks, looking at what they do in terms of projects, looking at what they invest time in.

So, if they are supporting a charity or if they are working with a certain partnership that interests you, particularly read up on those things, because the more you read up on it, the more it will come through in an interview.

And that shows a natural ability to do your research.

But be that you are interested in the company that you are interviewing with because I think sometimes, we get quite common feedback, I would say, is that they did not show much interest.

So, find that interest. Find the bit that inspires you to go into that interview and feel passionate about what you’re interviewing, and that will.

Help and shine through. Number two

Luke: Point 2 would be questioning.

So, when going into an interview, after doing your research on the organisation, the people you are going to be speaking to, line yourself up with several good questions regarding look, where will I be in five years?

I can see from your profile on LinkedIn that you have gone from being a software developer to a CTO.

Ask questions about how they got there.

Ask questions about how a software developer or senior software developer like yourself would get to that next level.

Asking questions like that during an interview process just shows that you are actually keen and you’ve taken an interest regarding, firstly, your career path and how your career path could affect them in the long term.

It is questions like that that we sometimes find during interviews that cost people jobs because they do not go in with a good group of questions regarding your growth, the growth of the company, and what is going to change in the next five years?

What is going to change software wise?

Because look, as you are all aware, software changes from day to day.

But asking these questions just gives you that one up.

I have a candidate that has not taken the time to investigate an organisation and do their research.

Alicia: Do you know what, how weird is this?

That was next on our list.

Luke: I told you, I have known this word for word. I know this stuff.

Alicia: Number three.

Luke: So, point three is something that we find minimalist.

You’ve both found dealing with candidates in interview processes where customers have asked questions regarding your CV, your experience and candidates not being able to answer that in good detail.

So, I have a bit of advice for one of these points is to know your CV.

I would like to hope you do like you should do.

Really.

This is the CV you have created. It has points about you, but take the time before an interview to go through your Stevie, make sure there are points about the key projects you have worked on and points about the frameworks you have used on a day-to-day basis to display how you have done it.

And make sure you can answer these questions in detail. Because look, nobody wants a one-word answer.

Trust me, at least you hate you when I give her a one-word answer.

But being honest, being able to answer in-depth and give a potential boss a detailed answer will look so much better than going, yes, I have used Java.

Great.

Perfect breakdown of how you have used that framework.

Give them exposure to the project. I know. Sometimes legally you are not allowed to give too much detail.

Alicia: Layman’s terms, say it simplistically.

Luke: Yes.

Give them as much detail as you can.

Because at the end of the day, these guys are looking to hire you.

So, the more info, the better you are going to look, and the more likely you are to get a job.

Alicia: Number four. Number four is smiling because so many people get in an interview and kind of are like, oh my God, like a rabbit in the headlights.

Completely normal.

To have nerves is completely normal.

Luke: It is usually a good sign, right?

Alicia: Yes.

Both: Because it shows you care.

Alicia: Great minds think alike, do they not?

But you have got to show your personality.

Half of what companies hire for is you and your personality.

Let that shine through. Be yourself in kind of video interviews, especially because there is a little bit it is more difficult to show your personality across in a video interview.

Luke: You have that slight buffer, that slight buffer from the video call.

You have that slight delay.

So, you need to make sure that you are showing everything you can.

Alicia: Yes. So show your personality, make sure you’re getting that across in an interview, and don’t be afraid to kind of smile and do your hand gestures.

I am one for hand gestures.

It helps show you as a person in natural light or a natural environment.

So, they can then envision you in what team you would work best or what environment you would work best.

That helps the other person envision you in their business.

On top of that, I think when things have happened with COVID, we have become a little bit lazier by accident.

It is completely natural because we have all been at home.

But now we are coming out of that.

Just be aware that when you are going on a team’s call interview, present yourself as though you are going to a normal interview.

What would you wear to a normal interview?

And it is a bit like putting on your attire to get you in that mind frame.

So, if you pop your shoes on as though you are going into the office, you will sit and kind of picture yourself a little bit more.

You will sit up a little bit straighter.

You will make sure that there is no clutter around you to make sure you are presenting yourself in the best lights and in a professional way as well.

Luke: Yes, that is a key point there, because you want to be.

Again, like we have said several times in this video, you want to be presenting yourself in the best manner, turning up in sliders or flip flops, a pair of shorts and a baggy T-shirt, much like I wear now for an interview, is not the best thing to do.

But going in, obviously getting an understanding of the culture.

First, come if it is a relaxed environment where everyone is in a T-shirt, maybe put on a Polo.

If it is a smart business-like organisation, go with a shirt, not a tire.

Look, I do not see many people wearing tires anymore, but in that instance, make sure you have a shirt on, a nice jacket, a nice pair of jeans or chinos.

Just to kind of face it,

Alicia: If you do not know, ask.

If you are not sure, ask. There is so much stress surrounding the beforehand interviews and what I wear, and I did not know what to wear.

Ask the question.

They appreciate that you are taking the time to think about it and make sure that you look presentable.

That is a question you can ask either your recruiter or the company that you are going forward with ahead of your interview.

Luke: Yes, massively agreed on that. It is good.

Alicia: Point 5.

Luke: Point 5 is a bit of a difficult one, but it is a good opportunity for you to get an understanding of how you performed during the interview.

It is as simple as this. It is asking the interviewer how you performed.

If you are not as confident as most people and you do not feel comfortable asking that, just say, can you please explain to me what the next steps would look like that way it would give you an insight into what you can expect?

But asking that question is such a crucial tool for you to be speaking to the hiring manager and get an understanding because they could say to you, look, you’ve done an exceptional job.

We think you are a great match for the team and that is in the first stage.

So, you already know.

It is not a guarantee, obviously, but it gives you a step in the right direction of how you perform them, and what could be upcoming.

It is as simple as that.

You do not have to go into too much detail.

My best bit of advice when asking this question is to ask a question and be quiet.

Let the interviewer speak.

Let them give you as much feedback as possible because, at the end of the day, these sorts of hints and tips can give you more tools to use when going forward because if, for example, it’s not the best of interviews, they’ll probably tell you and they’ll explain what you’ve gone wrong or what you’ve missed and then you can then take that towards the next interview that we would look to arrange for you.

Alicia: Something to bear in mind off the back of that is every interview practises.

So, by asking that question, you are setting yourself up to always do better so you are consistently improving.

So it might be that interview has not gone that well.

At least you have that feedback and then going into the next one you can think right.

I am going to hit that feedback head-on.

I am going to make sure that I take on board everything that they say.

It might not be always easy to hear, but that is how we move on and go forward.

Luke: Yes, that is all from us.

That is as many tips as we can give you regarding an interview look, you have your preparation and ideas of how to plan what you do, but obviously, we guys are here.

Whenever you have any questions regarding these tips, if you have got something you would like to add, we know what we’re doing, but we’re no experts.

We are open to hearing your feedback on what you think makes it.

Alicia: No! We are experts.

But if you have any helpful tips and tricks that you think we might have missed out there, pop them below because we want to hear more and your feedback can make us better too.

Luke: There you go. Thanks, guys.