Step 1 – Interview Pre-Planning

• Research the employer and their products and/or services at their web site.
• Get a basic understanding of any technologies or tools that they use which you are unfamiliar with.
• Create a list of questions that you believe the employer will ask you.   Mentally prepare answers to these questions using the formula explained under the section Step 2 - At the Interview.
• Create a list of at least 15 questions that you want to ask the interviewer.  You’ll need this many, as some questions will be answered as the employer is talking about other subjects.  As a starting point the following are good questions:
  • What are the key skills you are looking for?
  • What type of team environment do you have?
  • What will I be delivering on the project?
  • What are the skills/experiences of the other team members that I will be working with?
  • Is there a documented set of requirements/spec for the project?
  • Talk to others who you may know that have worked with the employer.  LinkedIn.com is a great tool for finding out who you know who may have worked there.
  • Bring the materials needed to the interview.
  • Bring a notepad to jot notes or your questions on, and take notes during the meeting.
  • Always bring 2 copies of your resume. 

Step 2 - At the Interview
Great interviews should feel like a conversation or dialogue, not an interrogation (question, answer, question, and answer).  By following the items below it will help you set the stage.  Remember, the interviewers are asking themselves, “How can this person help solve my problem?”  Your interview responses and questions need to focus on helping the employer solve their problems. 

• When responding or talking with the interviewer, be sure to use their first name.
• Prior to asking or answering a lot of specific questions get clarification on the position.  For example, tell me about some of the specific problems you need to solve.  Or I was reading/told that you need to solve a connection problem to a DB2 database; can you elaborate on that for me?
• Answer questions using a formula.  When answering questions, talk about your similar/related experiences, 1-2 sentence overview of what the project was about (executive summary) then describe how you used the specific technology to solve the a previous problem.  At the end, wrap up with a question back to the interviewer like… “<<Interviewer Name>>, how do you feel this experience will benefit your project?”.  By ending your response w/ a question you allow them to open up and provide us with more information as well as showing them that we can solve their problems.
• Be prepared to answer specific questions, but your responses should always be framed in the context of the employer’s need.  For instance, if you're asked about your SQL experience, answer by talking about how you would apply your SQL experience to their problem. This tells them that you can do “X” because you have already done it.
• Have your notes focus on problems, main ideas or questions that need to be answered.  You’ll need these later when you land the position.
• ASK QUESTIONS.  Use your prepared list or questions jotted down during the interview.

 
Step 3 - Follow-Up
After the interview, ask the interviewer what the next step would be, and ask them “when can I expect to hear from you?”  Let them know that if you haven’t heard from them by then you will follow up with them.
Send the interviewer(s) a hand-written thank you note afterwards.