• Look up the company website, and get a feel for their mission and company values!

• Understand what you like about the company, the industry they are in, and why you would be interested in joining the organization

• Check out their “Press” page, and see what recent news articles have been written about them!

• If they don’t have a “Press” page, give them a Google and see what they’ve been up to recently - maybe they just closed a round of funding, or added to their executive leadership team!

• Get familiar with leaders in the company, and how they impact the organization

• Some leaders also have large followings on social media that you can look up, like LinkedIn, Twitter, or maybe they have a podcast where they share relevant industry information or talk about their organization

Ex: If interviewing for a Product Design role with a focus on Design Systems, reference the specific projects you have worked on where you created and implemented a design system.

Ex: If interviewing for a Copywriter role, look to the job description and see what the focus of the role is and what kinds of copy they are looking for you to write. Give specific examples from your portfolio (long form, short form, social media or ad copy, etc.)

https://www.themuse.com/advice/star-interview-method

The STAR Method is a way of structuring your answers to tell a story about your experience.

S: Situation

Lay out the situation or scene for the interview concisely by including relevant details and leaving out unnecessary ones.

T: Task

What was your involvement in the situation? What was the role you played, and what were your responsibilities?

A: Answer

Time to explain what you did! What were the steps you took to reach a goal, or address the task at hand?

R: Result

Finally, discuss the results and the impact of your efforts. Quantify the results as much as you can - numbers matter! Ideally, the result is positive - otherwise, make note of how you addressed the challenges and what the final result was.

• Choose a couple of relevant stories you can share about projects you’ve completed.

• Create a cheat sheet with some notes + key details you might want to remember to highlight.

• Practice! Practice telling your story and how you will structure hitting the important details.

Some of these questions may be answered during the conversation, and some questions may arise naturally as you progress through the interview!

Some examples of hiring manager questions to ask are:

• What will success look like in the role during the length of the contract?

• What is the team dynamic like, and who are the key stakeholders you’ll interact with on a day-to-day basis?

• What projects will you focus on in the first 30-60-90 days?

• What is the reason this role is open, and how will filling it impact the team?

• What is the most challenging part/favorite part of the hiring manager’s job?

• What interests you about this role/company?

• What applicable attributes/experience do you have?

• What do you already know about this company and what do you want to know?

• Why would you want to work here?

• What challenges are you looking for in a position?

• What can you contribute to this company or team?

• What was a challenge that you faced and how did you overcome it?

• Information that can be found on the company website or from a Google search, like “what is the product or service offering?” or “what do you do at X company?”

• Anything related to pay or raises - if you’re working with a recruiter, ideally they can help navigate any conversation around compensation so that you end up with a number you are satisfied with. If you’re not working with a recruiter, the first interview should hopefully be more informational and the compensation piece can be addressed with an internal recruiter or HR representative.

• Gossip or rumors about the company’s financial standing - unfortunately, we are seeing layoffs in the market from companies that have been impacted by the current economy, and it’s okay to want to know what the future may hold when weighing a job offer. It’s best to reframe that question, and instead ask, “what does the company’s runway look like for the next 18 months?” or “how well is the company positioned for the future?”

• Negative talk about your previous employer - this is another chance to reframe your previous experience, especially if you left under not-so-great circumstances. Find a positive way to spin the experience or highlight your takeaways and what you’d like to implement in your next role.

• Make sure you are prepared for a Zoom interview and take the call in a well-lit room, with good acoustics and double check your internet connection!

• Build rapport with your interviewer when you hop on the call! Open up the conversation with questions or statements like, “where are you calling from?”, or “where are you based?” or “I saw you went to X school, I went there too” and find a commonality you can start off with.

• Bring the excitement and enthusiasm! Referencing your knowledge of the company and some of the research you’ve done will show you’re prepared and happy to be there, and that is something that interviewers take notice of.

• Highlight any fun extracurriculars or personal interests outside of work that keep you up to date in industry trends.

• Be prepared to show case study materials, portfolio samples or any relevant documents if that happens to come up in conversation during the first round.

• Close the call with asking for next steps or if they need any additional information from you, and thank the interviewer for their time.

• Follow up with your recruiter after the interview, every time! It seems like a small step, but your feedback will likely make its way back to the manager and will help them gauge your interest in the role.

• A thank you note for the interviewer is not required, but it never hurts!