5 questions to answer before a recruitment interview

Most of us have experienced this moment - you apply for an interesting offer, get a call from a recruiter and... an invitation to an interview. In addition to the joy and curiosity about what awaits you, you perhaps begin to feel slightly nervous, especially if this is one of the first recruitments you are taking part in. The basic question you may have is how to prepare for an interview? What questions will come up at the interview? How do you get the job you applied for? Let's try to turn this question around a bit and think about what questions YOU can ask yourself before the meeting to feel confident at the recruitment. If you think about them well before the interview, when the time comes for the official meeting, you will feel much more confident!

Why do I want this job?

In addition to the obvious considerations, i.e. looking for a source of income, it is worth returning for a while to the offer you applied for.
What interested you in the company? What is the company's profile - do you want to work under the banner of a recognizable, large brand? Do you feel that you would find yourself better in a smaller structure? At this point, it's also a good idea to show the recruiter that you've done research on the place you sent your application to.

What experiences from college or a previous job work in my favor?

Any common point of contact will benefit our image as a potential future employee! Pay attention in the ad to the duties or requirements related to the knowledge of tools - is it something similar to situations you have encountered in the past? Maybe some projects you had to do in college sound at least a little similar to the tasks in your new position?
Try to think about how you envision the job. What might you enjoy there? What challenges will you do well in? Which of your qualities will prove helpful in this role?

How do I behave in difficult situations?

You can prepare for the interview mere praise about your person - but nothing works as well as concrete stories and examples of your own experiences. Try to recall at least one such situation where something went wrong for you - what happened? What factors did you take into account then, and what was the end result of your actions?
It's worth expanding on these memories: how do you act in conflict situations with another person? How do you react to sudden and unexpected situations, as well as those over which you seem to have no control? How do you seek solutions? These are the famous soft skills that matter at work - show that you have them!

How do I work with people?

Technical or substantive requirements are important, of course, but there are few positions where we don't have to deal with other people. This applies to working in a team - smaller or larger - as well as working with people from other company departments, or with customers and external stakeholders. Ask yourself, how do you find yourself in interpersonal relationships? How do you feel about individual work? If you're more of a social soul, you may have a hard time finding your way in a team, where interactions are limited to business conversations.

What is my biggest success?

Here is perhaps the most pleasant part - over the past years, what are your achievements that fill you with pride? What can you realistically boast of? When telling about it at the interview, point out what the difficulty of the situation was, its solution, and what helped you do it - it's worth identifying and highlighting your skill or trait that helped you achieve this success. Perhaps it was the ability to think analytically and break down the problem into smaller pieces? Was it properly arranged relationships with other people, so you could quickly find the right person and benefit from their expertise in an expert topic? Perhaps even the answer to this question has already come to you while pondering the previous question 🙂

With such a solidly prepared set of answers, you will feel more confident at the interview - when you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, it is definitely easier to present yourself in front of the recruitment team. Importantly, you also identify your needs and aspirations, so it's also easier to show whether you're the right candidate for the job.