The Interview process is a very tricky process, at least before you read this article. Learning how to stand out from other candidates requires you to think strategically about how you answer the questions.
Disclaimer: this guide is going to enable your best potential, we are here to maximize your chances in the race with what you have. So, how do we stand out?
Show them your systematic thinking system
Through a project in the past
Through a business scenario interview question
Show them you are familiar with this position
Show them you are an effective communicator
Show them your systematic thinking system
Through a project in the past:
The project you choose to talk about should have an inverted pyramid structure. Imagine the most important thing you want to communicate is the finding: the holy grail of your project. The recommended structure is as followed:
This project achieves/ creates ….., using this …… analysis technique, utilizing …. (tools).
It's important that you choose a project that can illustrate a whole work process of the role you imagine would need to do. For example, if you apply for a Data Analyst position, it is important for you to showcase a combination of skills, including forming a hypothesis, choosing a suitable dataset to test, cleaning data, analyzing data, visualizing data, checking the result for conclusion.
It's convenient to select one key project that conveys a variety of skills. You can choose to emphasize different skill subsets for different positions, but knowing one thoroughly will increase your fluency and confidence in the discussion.
An example to structure a project can be found here: https://github.com/unguyen14/RFM_Analysis
Now you can start answering this question: Tell me about a complex project that you did.
Through a business scenario case
Recruiters need to hire you because you can solve a set of problems. Thus, it’s important to show them how well you can break down your investigation process.
The most common complications usually fall under the root cause analysis challenge.
If the roles tend to deal with customers and users, you can expect some typical types of analysis. They include but are not limited to: cohort analysis, RFM analysis, survival analysis, funnel analysis, time series analysis, etc.
Let’s start with a comprehensive guiding questions list here:
Process | How-to | So-what |
rephrase the questions | Use this structure: So you want to achieve <this objective> given <these circumstances>? | |
identify the root cause |
|
|
Recommendation resources: https://youtu.be/9CGYmmHZq9Q
Now you can start answering this question: The team sees a sharp drop in the number of active users and wants you to investigate the issue. How do you go about solving this?
Show them you are familiar with this position
We are all learners when it comes to a new job, but we do not want to appear like a beginner. By showing people you know the process, you will appear more ready and prepared even though you do not have experience. In order to do this, you have to get familiar. The way to get familiar can be done through
reading a lot of relevant articles or papers
watching videos of people talking about the products
following people in the industry to keep track of what is happening
talking to professionals about their responsibilities.
By doing all of those extensive digging, you will be able to find out some keys ideas for these questions:
What components are there in this position? - including processes, tools, stakeholders
Do I have a relevant project/skill/certificate/experience to demonstrate this?
What are the key KPIs to observe to evaluate this business's health?
Which projects of mine include something similar?
What are some challenges that people are trying to solve?
Can I come up with my own version of the solution?
The more specific the role and the industry you can think of, the less time you will need to get answers for those questions. I suggest you come up with a list of relevant positions, identify some people you might want to reach out in the exact roles, and figure out if you actually want to spend 40+ hours per week doing what they do.
Show them you are an effective communicator
Based on different positions, the requirements for communication can vary vastly. At the very base, you need to be capable of expressing yourself as a person, as a team player, and as a role you want to become.
As a person, there are several common interviews questions that you need to practice to the point you can do that with an enthusiastic tone of voice. It is hard to feel the excitement through a phone call, so make sure you express that extremely clearly through your voice. You should know your working styles well enough that there will not be any questions about yourself that can surprise you, which also contribute to your overall impression as a grounded candidate.
As a team player, let's imagine yourself being in a group project with 2 opposite people: a very unpleasant person and a very effective teammate. Now you can identify the key characteristics of the two people that differentiate them. You can use the traits of the effective one as your strengths, and you can use the unpleasant one to imagine how you would react to this individual. This exercise can help you answer some behavioural questions with ease.
If your position requires a specific communication skill, then you know what to do! It's so much more straightforward to just do it!
Conclusions:
As much as we prepare for any interviews, the outcomes are not always how we expect them to be. The beginning is always the most challenging one, not because you are not good enough, but because you are not familiar enough. If you want to know the details of how to prepare for the job search, including preparing for the materials in your resumes, visit my other blog posts to find out.
Good luck with the race!
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