“Sophia, do you have any tips to be successful during an interview?”

Since I started my career as a Recruiter, this is probably the question I have been asked the most.

Actually, yes, I do. So…. get ready for SOPHIA’S 5 TIPS TO A SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW *drum rolls*

Sophia Khettab, Global Talent Aquisition Specialist at Adaptive Financial Consulting

1- Read about the company you are applying for:

This one seems obvious, but I can tell you that actually, it is not evident for everyone.

Reading about the company shows that you are genuinely interested in joining.

Research the founders, who works there (LinkedIn is super-mega-helpful for this.... #stalkingtime haha), read the Glassdoor reviews of the company to have a sense of how people feel about working there.

When I see that a candidate knows a little bit about us, that makes me happy and I instantly think “Oh la la! The candidate knows stuff about us. This person is genuinely interested! How cool is that?!”

I am not asking for much, but when a candidate does not even know our industry I am a little bit concerned, like “Why did you even apply?”

2- Ask questions:

Asking questions is so important!

First of all, once again, it shows that you are genuinely interested and that you are keen to learn more about the company. Most importantly, this is an opportunity for you to know if you actually really want to work there or not.

If you don’t ask, you might not get the answers you are looking for. Never make assumptions either. ASK.

There are no silly questions, always remember that. If someone makes you feel like you asked something stupid, you can take it as a red flag. “Is this company going to give me the chance to share my ideas freely?” Probably not.

3- Don’t ignore red flags

Sometimes after a job you can feel like something isn’t quite right.

You don’t know why you feel this way, you can’t put your finger on it but you know deep down that something is wrong and that you are not confident to accept an offer from this company.

Why? This is your gut warning you. Your subconscious warning you about red flags that you ignored unconsciously. Ask questions to get data to support/eliminate these feelings. A good employer will not hesitate to happily answer your questions.

Please, please, please! Always listen to your guts!

One of the biggest red flags I have in mind is:

The hiring manager being late to the interview and not even apologizing.

Yes, we are all busy and sometimes can end up in a last-minute meeting or being in a meeting that lasts longer than expected. This is understandable. What is not is your interviewer not apologizing or doing it but in a you can feel it is not genuine.

What does this attitude mean? It means that this hiring manager does not value your time. Which is rude and disrespectful. If this person doesn’t value your time now, they will definitely not value your time if you work with them.

So run away before it is too late.

4- Be honest:

If you do not know something, just say it. Admitting that you do not know something and that you are willing to learn shows that you want to grow and move out of your comfort zone.

To be completely transparent with you, if you lie we can tell. As talent acquisition specialists, we are interviewing a lot of people daily, so we do have a great sense to detect this kind of thing.

If we feel that you are lying during the interview, and are not honest, how can we be sure that you will be trustworthy if we hire you? We cannot. And in our industry, better be safe than sorry.

We need trustworthy people, someone who is not afraid tell the truth and admit when they do not know something - at the end of the day, this is how you build trust. Honesty and transparency are key!