10 ways to prepare for a job interview
I’m often asked by security leaders how they should prepare for a job interview. What questions should they plan for? How can they get the edge over other candidates? While I will tailor my response depending on their circumstances, below are 10 universal tips for preparing for an interview:
1. Consider why you are applying for this role? Currently in the cyber security industry there are many roles to choose from. Why are you choosing this particular role? When applying for cyber roles, seek an industry, company and role you are passionate about.
2. Why now? What is it about your current situation that makes now the right time to move?
3. How are you going to demonstrate value to this role/team/organisation? Business leaders are always wanting to see a return on their time, money or resource investment. Given your work experience to date, what is the best way you have found to demonstrate your value?
4. Why do you want to work for this particular organisation or industry and what do you know about it? The number of candidates who have done little to no homework on the business or industry they are hoping to join is shocking.
5. What questions do you want to ask in the interview? Try not to ask questions that google could have answered for you. Try things like: What are the biggest challenges of the role (write down the answers they give you so you can address these at the next interview) or what is the organisation hoping to achieve in the next couple of years?
6. Treat every phone conversation, coffee meeting, lift discussion, text message and email as part of the interview process. These are all touch points with your potential employer and provide opportunities to uphold your professionalism.
7. When thinking about examples/stories from your career, make sure you can articulate what you did – not just what was achieved by a team you led. What was your role in the success or failure of an event, incident, project or program and how did you achieve a positive outcome or lesson learned?
8. While all your answers should be told as stories, have a story up your sleeve that really makes you shine. It could be about leadership, teamwork, going above and beyond, creativity, innovation. Whatever story you chose, make sure it matches the skills/traits that the interviewer is hoping to see in a successful candidate.
9. Be yourself (the best version of yourself). Culture fit is a key component of interviews and plays a big part in the selection of a preferred candidate. Being yourself is the best way to see if you fit in. You can still be professional while letting your uniqueness shine through.
10. Many leaders I speak to say a lot of how you are perceived is judged within the first few minutes of the interview. How can you use these first few minutes to your advantage?
This list is by no means exhaustive. What other tips do you have to help others prepare for their upcoming interview?
Claire Pales is an Interim Chief Information Security Officer known for helping organisations find and retain permanent, appropriate security leaders through The Secure CIO Framework. Watch, read and sign up for information here.