It’s beginning to feel a lot like summer! Summer intern recruitment season, that is! Here are some tips for students and graduates preparing for recruitment season.

We’re going to assume that your CV, cover letter and portfolio are awesome! You’ve applied for appropriate roles, reviewed, refreshed and updated your documents in line with what employers are looking for. You’ve put your best foot forward… if all goes well, you’ll get invited to the next step in the recruitment process.

If you haven’t been invited to any interviews (yet), remember, it’s a tough job market right now. Hang in there, keep applying for roles, but take a moment to reflect on things that you can influence in the process….

• are you applying for the right roles? Make sure you meet the eligibility criteria, and that your documents are PROVING that you have potential to do the job they’ve described

• is your CV/Cover letter doing it’s job? Get it reviewed by industry people, your campus careers team, your peers and mentors if you can

• if you have any spare time while you’re waiting and applying for jobs, you could invest in your “experience” by working on portfolio projects or learning or practicing relevant skills

Interviews

Got interviews? Congratulations! Many Summer of Tech employers use “speed interviews” as a way to quickly assess who they want to put forward into the next step of their recruitment process. Summer of Tech speed interviews are online, approximately 7 minutes long. It’s just like a real job interview…. but speedier! Most will also do a follow up interview, either in person or online. You can expect standard job interview questions, including behavioural and technical formats.

Remember an “interview” is just a conversation about you and how you match with their role. Interviewers will understand if you’re nervous, they expect that this is the first time you’ve done this kind of thing. Your goal is to connect with the people behind the jobs, and help them understand your potential to be awesome in the role.

Top tips for interviews

• Have a positive opening introduction. Think of real example to demonstrate your learning, introduce yourself… and practice it!

• Be prepared to speak for 70% of the time

• Prepare Your Conversation Topics - remember, an interview is a conversation!

  • Research the company and role

  • What do they do? Who are their customers? Does the role align with your aspirations for your next job?

  • Why do you want to work for us?

  • Be ready to answer that question!!!!

  • Map role description to your skills

  • Be prepared to talk about your fit for what they’re looking for

  • What are your best attributes / skills?

  • Prepare your “casual” sales pitch - job interview is NOT the time to be humble, find a way to tell your story and shine a light on your skills. Practice it!

  • Prepare two questions about the role / company 

  • What would help you make a decision if they offer you this job?

Job Interview Etiquette

• Be kind and be respectful to everyone you meet, they all have a role to play in the company

• Arrive a 5-10 minutes early (except for speed interviews, where you need to be EXACTLY on time!!)

• Remember: eye contact! body language! Look at the person who asked you the question. Look out for social cues to stop talking, you could ask: “does that answer your question?” 

• Take notes of impressions so you know which role(s) you’re most excited about

• Dress appropriately! Smart casual is usually fine, wear what you’re comfortable wearing for a job interview. Check out the “team” page on the company website to see what their people wear

Top Tips for Online Interviews

Update and get familiar with online meeting software

• Download or update or practice using Meet, Teams and Zoom. Get familiar with their interfaces BEFORE your interview. If you don’t have Teams or Zoom subscriptions, you’ll be choosing to “join the meeting via your web browser” and it might take a few clicks to get there.

Don’t overload your laptop

• Close applications you’re not using for the duration of the interview

Neutral, non-distracting background

• We don’t need to see your messy bedroom…

• Let your housemates know that you’re on an important call, but don’t panic if there’s noises of “life” in the background, employers understand WFH.

Have a stable internet connection for an optimal experience

Reboot your machine before you start

• ….and make sure your camera and audio are working

Prepare your mind & body!

• Have a drink of water handy, just in case you get nervous (good if you’re thirsty but also if you need to take a pause during the interview)

• Have some notes or bullet points in your line of sight IF YOU NEED THEM - you don’t want to be reading things out, but sometimes key words or prompts are useful

• Eye contact and body language are even more important for online interviews! Have your camera near your screen, so that your eye gaze is towards your interviewers.

Top Tips for Speed Interviews:

Plan what you are going to say

• Research the organisation and the role

• Know how you align with what they’re looking for, be ready to tell your story, and prove that you’re a good match for the role

• Think about the top 3 things you want them to remember, you should have a chance to mention at least 1 or 2 of them

• Prepare some questions for them

• Be ready for any kind of question, career or professional or personality or technical

Practice!!

• Come to our free SoT candidate events including alumni and employer panels, and mock interviews

• Get friends to interview you so you can practice answers to common questions

Pace yourself

• Speed interviews will go FAST! 

• It’s ok to take your time, think, and let them know if you’re nervous.

• Take some deep breaths, a sip of water…. it’s ok to ask for clarity about a question.

• Have your top 3 things in mind, and make sure you’re memorable, in a good way :)

Top Tips for Technical Interviews

Read or listen to the instructions

• Make sure you understand what they’re asking you to do. Ask if you’re not sure

Give it your best shot

• Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know, or you’re still learning this stuff

It’s not a test, it’s showing how you solve problems

• In most cases, asking for help and having creative approaches will be a BENEFIT to you as a candidate! Remember, they’re looking for fundamentals, technical skill, technical potential, and problem-solving skills.

• Check out this LinkedIn post for the perspective of a hiring manager:

Whenever I run technical interviews, I require that candidates share their screen and I start with this intro: "Imagine you are working with us for real. Everything is at your disposal, even the people on this call. You can treat us like coworkers sitting right next to you. We won't penalize you for searching things or looking anything up."

From there, I will give candidates challenges deliberately designed to force them to ask questions, gather requirements, solve ambiguity, engage with my panel, and look things up. Nobody knows everything, and technology is constantly changing. Knowing how to solve problems, how to discuss them with others, and having a dedication to solving them well... that is infinitely more valuable than rote memory recall or coding speed.

The outcome of this approach is that I have found and hired some of the absolute best engineers I've ever encountered... high-performing, diverse, inspiring, innovative team-players. And many (if not most) of them would have been overlooked in other interviews due to interview objectives that focus on all the wrong traits and goals.

Good luck to everyone going through job interviews right now! Take some time to prepare, practice, and put your best self forward when you get an opportunity! Kia kaha!