You Got the Interview, Now What?
- Admin
- 17 hours ago
- 12 min read
For many job seekers, the interview is the most stressful part of the hiring process.
Submitting an application and creating a resume can feel manageable because you have time to carefully choose your words. An interview is different. You are expected to communicate your experience, personality, and qualifications in real time while also making a positive impression.
Often they will ask similar questions, so preparing can be helpful. However, employers are looking for natural answers, not just reciting a script. They are looking for someone who can communicate clearly, demonstrate interest in the position, and show that they have the qualities needed to succeed in the workplace.
A successful interview is not about pretending to be someone you are not. It is about presenting the best and most professional version of yourself.
Understand What an Interview Actually Is
An interview is not simply a test of whether you can perform the job. Employers already have information about your qualifications from your resume and application. The interview gives them an opportunity to learn information they cannot see on paper.
During an interview, employers are often evaluating:
How you present yourself (hygiene, attire, mannerisms).
How you communicate.
How you approach problems.
How you interact with others.
Whether you understand the position.
Whether you appear reliable and prepared.
Whether your expectations align with the role.
For many positions, especially entry-level roles, employers understand that candidates may need training. They are not always looking for someone who already knows everything. In fact, many entry-level positions prefer a person who is teachable to their way of employment.
Even if you do have experience, your knowledge is only half of the battle. Often they are looking for someone who demonstrates the ability and willingness to learn new systems, while relying on past information.
Preparing for the Interview
One of the easiest ways to show preparation is to understand who you are interviewing with. Many applicants focus only on getting hired and forget that employers want to know why they should hire you specifically. They want to see your interest in the company is more than just for a paycheck. Even if your only goal is the paycheck, showing knowledge about the company you are applying for can help you get to that first pay day quicker.
Before your interview, review:
The company's website.
The job description.
Their products or services.
Their mission or values.
Recent company news or updates.
The responsibilities listed in the posting.
Learn about the company's mission, about why they started, or what goal they are trying to achieve. If you're applying for a Customer Service role, look into what their expectations are, or how their customer service representatives (CSR) benefits the company. For example, CSRs might be the main team to handle retention - keeping people with the company - this is something you can highlight in your interview, with your ability to retain customers or deescalate situations.
Bringing some level of interest into the interview will usually make a stronger impression than someone who appears to be applying randomly.
Study the Job Description
The job description is basically your interview cheat sheet. It tells you exactly what the company is looking for and what is important to them. Chances are, the questions they plan to ask, also revolve around the job responsibilities listed in the description.
Take this job description example from Teleperformance:
Teleperformance | Customer Service Representative - Onsite Only Full job description Category : Customer Service/Support This position will be located on-site in Generic City, Florida. As a Customer Support Specialist, you will serve as a primary point of contact for our clients, managing inbound and outbound communications with professional excellence. Utilizing a suite of web-based tools, you will efficiently resolve inquiries to ensure a seamless and positive customer experience. This role is ideal for individuals passionate about service delivery in a high-velocity environment. Your Responsibilities
We’re looking for fearless people – people who are inspired to deliver only the best in all that we do. Qualifications: Must reside within a 30-mile radius of Generic City, FL. This position will be based onsite at our Generic City, FL site. High School Diploma or equivalent. Minimum of 1 year of customer service experience. Must be 18 years of age or older. Ability to type at least 25 words per minute. Comfortable with desktop computer systems and have general knowledge of Windows-based systems. Customer service and/or sales experience preferred. College degree preferred but not required. Key Competencies: Process Excellence: Demonstrate commitment to following established procedures and be customer service driven. Collaboration: Proven ability to collaborate effectively with team members, supervisors, and support departments to resolve customer issues and achieve performance goals. Communication: Outstanding communication, listening, and analytical skills. Organizational Skills: Strong organizational and problem-solving skills. Emotional Intelligence: Ability to prioritize tasks and work well under pressure while remaining focused. Open-Mindedness: Open-minded approach to feedback, evolving policies, and working within a structured schedule that includes a variety of shifts. Critical Thinking: Sharp critical thinking skills, enabling quick analysis of customer issues and thoughtful, informed decision-making. Solution-Oriented: Proactive approach to problem-solving with a focus on creating a positive customer experience. |
While not every company will lay out their requirements so explicitly, we can immediately identify several things the company is looking for in an employee. Using these skills, the next step is to prepare for interview questions with examples that show why you are the right fit.
Prepare Your Own Examples
Using the previous example, we can take these expected competencies and turn them into practice interview questions. As a reminder, in our previous job description, they explicitly stated they were looking for someone who can meet these requirements:
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When preparing for an interview, the goal is to show how you are a good fit for the role. Do a practice interview by writing down some potential questions, and different answers that can fit them. A few example questions are:
+ What do you do when you don’t know how to help a customer? (Critical Thinking)
+ Can you tell me about a time you turned an unhappy customer into a delighted customer? (Solution Oriented)
+ Tell me about a time when you had several competing priorities or were under significant pressure at work. How did you stay focused, manage your responsibilities, and make sure the quality of your work didn’t suffer? (Emotional Intelligence)
+ Tell me about a time you had to learn a new system or process quickly to help a customer. (Process Excellence)
+ Tell me about a time when you received criticism from a manager. How did you handle it? (Open Mindedness)
+ Describe a time you dealt with a difficult or angry customer. (Communication)
These questions are just some of the examples that may come up. The goal is to find questions that relate to the skills or requirements the job is asking. If you are unsure of good examples, many job boards like Indeed or Glassdoor have questions that employers may have asked before.
However, preparing with answers that only answer these questions may not be helpful if the interviewers ask something completely different. The goal isn't to have a script but rather have some ideas of what you can answers, then adapt them to the question.
When you're first starting out, start by writing situations you can have experienced. They don't have to be refined, just some quick notes relating to the question. For example:
Tell me about a time when you received criticism from a manager. How did you handle it? (Open Mindedness)
I didn't follow proper procedure at work for a new process, and my manager pulled me into the office to talk about it. My manager told me to follow the new process.
In the next section we will refine how to make this a flexible, suitable answer for an interview.
How to Always Have the Answer
As discussed above, most questions follow a similar pattern. They ask about something that you have experienced, and how you reacted. These questions are designed around the idea that past behavior can help predict how someone may handle future situations.
Once you have come up with, or found, interview questions the next step is writing down just simple answers. From here, we will refine them.
Let use our previous example:
Tell me about a time when you received criticism from a manager. How did you handle it? (Open Mindedness)
I didn't follow proper procedure at work for a new process, and my manager pulled me into the office to talk about it. My manager told me to follow the new process.
As you can see, there isn't much description in this answer. and if you brought it to the interviewer like this, chances are you're not getting the job. But that's where our next step comes in. Having a put together answer is as simple as following the STAR method.
Situation: Explain the background and what was happening.
Task: Describe your responsibility or what needed to be accomplished.
Action: Explain what you personally did.
Result: Describe the outcome and what you learned.
So let's turn our original answer into a STAR format.
Situation - My workplace had recently introduced a new process that employees were expected to follow. Instead of tracking using the manual system, we switched to an automated system with one-click input. I made a mistake by continuing to use the previous procedure instead of following the new one.
Task - My manager brought me into the office to discuss the issue and explain what I needed to do differently. Naturally, I was nervous but welcomed the constructive criticism.
Action - We discussed the differences between the prior procedure and the new procedure, I listened to the feedback and acknowledged where I could improve. After asking a few questions to better understand the best way to use the new system, I immediately began using the new system on my next call.
Result - As a result, my tracking metrics increased by 30% and I continued using the process, improving my overall workflow.
As you can see, the answer is significantly longer but it also gives context, as well as the information about what the reaction was to criticism, directly answering the questions. This is just one example, but what about if you prepare for one question, but a different one is asked?
Let's assume you prepared for the prior question, but instead, you are asked this one:
Tell me about a time when you had several competing priorities or were under significant pressure at work. How did you stay focused, manage your responsibilities, and make sure the quality of your work didn’t suffer? (Emotional Intelligence)
As we can see, this question is very different from the first one. However, we can use the same scenario and alter it to fit this new question.
Situation - We recently switched to a new tracking system, using one-click tracking instead of our prior method of manually entering informtion. On top of training for the new system, I was also responsible for a higher intake of calls while other employees attended training for this new method, since I had taken it prior.
Task - My supervisor requested that I take on an additional responsibility, being a mentor on the new method for other employees just starting the process.
Action - With these competing responsibilities, it was important to prioritize. Calls come in automatically, and needed to be answered regardless. I continued to use the new method with all of these calls as they came in. As a mentor, I realized a lot of other employees were messaging me separately for questions. In an effort to avoid distractions, and avoid repeating answers, I created a group chat where new trainees could ask questions, and I kept a running list of previously asked questions in a guide they could refer back to.
Results - As a result of my group chat, other trainees were able to get answers quickly, while my productivity increased 30% by me taking more time for calls instead of answering questions that had already been answered.
With this example, we used the same situation but instead of focusing on the manager part, we instead pivoted and focused on the actual procedure in practice. We only had to come up with one scenario, and were able to recycle it for a different question.
Try and draft a few different answers from the same scenario to have something to refer back to for an interview. Additionally, focus on "I" statements, taking ownership of what you have done. Avoid saying "We came up with" or "We decided". Only you are interviewing, so make yourself stand out.
Prepare Questions for the Employer
Many applicants forget that interviews are also an opportunity for them to evaluate the employer. At the end of many interviews, you will hear: "Do you have any questions for us?"
Rather than saying "no" take this as an opportunity to not only show interest, but also gauge if this really is the right fit for you. Some good questions to ask include:
Beyond the job description, what other responsibilities do you expect from an employee?
What does long term growth in the company look like?
How does advancement work in the company? (This shows desire for long term tenure).
What is the average tenure of an employee within the company? (High turnover usually signifies a bad work environment.)
Are there any certifications or continuing education that would make me more desirable for the role?
If this role becomes filled, do you have other roles that may be more suitable for me?
Does this position offer overtime? (This helps to gauge how high volume the role is.)
How often are performance reviews? (This helps to gauge if there are potential pay increases throughout the years.)
What is something about the company you feel makes it a great place to work?
What about me makes you apprehensive? (This is the one that actually got me hired at a great paying job!)
Prepare for Different Interview Formats
Interviews happen in a variety of ways in modern times. Face-to-face is still common, however many businesses have shifted to virtual interviews over Zoom or another video conferencing app. Regardless of the method of interviewing, the expectations are similar.
In-person interviews
These require attention to arrival time, professional appearance, and workplace etiquette. With these interviews, having prepared answers can be a little harder to reference. Having a small index card can be helpful, but often conversations will happen naturally without much time to refer back to the card. In this situation, memorizing a few scenarios that you can change to fit the question on the spot (angry customer scenario, receiving feedback from a manager, or how you've adapted to change tend to be the most common).
Always arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the interview, ideally 20 minutes prior. Arriving directly on time gives too much room for potential delays if you can't find the room you are looking for, or don't know where to go in the building. It also shows initiative to be early, because you are prepared and available.
In our later article "What to Wear" we will discuss further the expectation for setting the right impression with your appearance during an interview.
Phone interviews
These are often used as an initial screening step. Even though the interviewer cannot see you, preparation still matters. Your tone, clarity, and ability to communicate are important. Avoid saying "um" or "I'm not sure". Stick with a confident tone and speak clearly. Because you are not on camera or in person, you can use your notes from interview preparation.
Do not read the scenario word-for-word, instead paraphrase or summarize it in a way that sounds natural. Talk as if you're explaining the event to a friend, but keep it professional.
Video interviews
Virtual interviews require additional preparation. Test your technology beforehand, choose a quiet location and make sure your camera and microphone work properly. Join the meeting 5 to 10 minutes before the official time, to avoid being late.
Regardless of it being a virtual interview, you should still appear presentable with a proper blouse or shirt, well-groomed hair and facial hair, and a plain background like an empty wall, or one with minimal decorations.
Avoid having children, other adults, or pets in the background. Interviews usually only take about 20 minutes so block out quiet time where there will be no distractions. Some people often opt to leave the house entirely and do the interview from a cafe or other public location, however the same thing applies, avoid background distractions.
Remember That You Are Interviewing Them Too
While you want to make a good impression, the employer is not the only one making a decision. Pay attention to how the employer communicates with you.
Consider:
Did they explain the role clearly?
Did they answer your questions respectfully?
Did they describe expectations realistically?
Did the workplace seem organized and professional?
Did the position match what was advertised?
Did they avoid directly answering your questions?
Were they combative/ rude?
If the interviewer is late, or reschedules for another day, it often shows poor planning, or an understaffed environment. If they are hesitant to answer questions, or provide a generic answer that sounds scripted, it may not be a good work environment. Additionally, look for reviews of the work culture on job posting sites or on social media, to get an idea from an employee's perspective.
At the end of the day though, if you need a check right now, decide if any of these are a deal breaker. If not, do your best in the interview with your preparation with the confidence that you are the right fit.
Final Thoughts
A successful interview is built before you ever enter the room. Preparation, research, and understanding what employers are evaluating can make the process feel much less intimidating.
You do not need to have the perfect answer to every question. You need to demonstrate that you are prepared, professional, capable of learning, and genuinely interested in the opportunity. It is about showing an employer why you could be a valuable addition to their team.
Up Next: Most interviews include a few questions that appear again and again. In the next article, we will discuss Questions Employers Almost Always Ask, why they ask them, and how to prepare answers that feel natural instead of rehearsed.
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