Are you excited, but nervous for your next job interview? Don’t worry – you’re not alone! Believe it or not, even the recruiter might be. For this post, we went behind the scenes and asked our recruiters what they look for in an interview.

We prepared 4 great tips for job interviews. Check out our tips that will help you prepare for your upcoming interview:

1. Research the company (not only for the interview but especially for yourself, if you could see yourself working there)

Of course, every company wants to find people who truly believe in their service/product. They want to find people who would be proud and passionate to work with them.

Researching the company will help you get a first idea of what work is being done, including any projects, clients or possible challenges they are trying to solve.

How to do it:

Check out the website
Browse through the social media
What’s your first impression?
Bonus: You can research about the industry by typing into google: future trends of xyz – This can help you get an idea of any future trends or challenges within the industry

2. Uncover your personal USPs

Be ready to introduce yourself. The goal of recruiters is to identify whether you are the best candidate for the specific job.

Therefore it can be helpful to brainstorm in advance, how you fit into the position. It is not about “convincing” the recruiter, but more about establishing trust in the skills and experiences you can provide to the business. Try to mention things that are especially relevant to the specific role.

How to do it:

Check out the job description: what specific roles, tasks and skills can you deliver that fit into the requirements?
What added value do you bring to the position? Are there any professional accomplishments that you are proud of? Demonstrate that you are qualified for the role by sharing relevant examples.
Think about your personal motivations: Why are you interested in the role?

3. Consider personal challenges within the position

It’s always a great sign, if you show initiative in an interview. Recruiters also focus on your “soft skills”. While “job experience” is one part of the criteria, the “soft skills” are also very important in landing the job.

Challenges to solve, could include: leadership skills, industry knowledge, technical experience, soft skills, specific role experience, company values and more…

How to do it:

Consider any challenges that you might personally have and think about what you would do to solve them. For example, explaining how you would take on a leadership position, although you may not have done so before.
Think about why you are ready/up for the challenge
Think about how you demonstrate company values by providing examples from your academic, professional, or personal life.

Communication & Collaboration → How you communicate and get along with others (in and outside of a team)
Agility/Learning — How you stay up to date about relevant technologies and trends. How flexible are you in adapting new skills? Do you show initiative/interest?

Try to balance off any “challenges” you might see. You might notice that a specific skill or experience is required that you don’t have yet. The keyword here is: yet. If possible, explain what you could do to tackle the specific challenge.

Maybe you notice the job role requires “TypeScript” but you are knowledgeable with “JavaScript” – here you can balance off one challenge, as you can learn the other code by building on your previous knowledge …

4. Prepare your Questions

Now that you have gathered all your information, you can prepare your open questions.

At Lionstep, we believe an interview should be a dialog not a monolog. We want to give you the opportunity to get to know the role and company as well as possible.

How to do it:

Instead of asking generic questions about the company (where you might find the answers online), try to pick questions that are relevant to you personally or the specific job. Here you can find some examples.
Consider the way you phrase your questions: Try to avoid yes/no questions. Be specific to encourage elaboration. The questions you ask can showcase what you are curious about. Take the time to think about what is important to you and prepare relevant questions beforehand.

Finally: Be your true self!

Recruiters want to get to know you personally. Try to put yourself into the recruiter’s shoes: what would they ask? Think of specific examples to back up your points. There is no exact number of how long you should prepare. The end goal should be, that you feel confident in yourself. This will ultimately help you perform best.

We look forward to getting to know you. Thank you for taking the time to prepare! Please feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or send us a direct message if you have any further questions.

If you’re a candidate looking for a job change, take a look at our job board with a variety of job offers.