Preparing For Your Interview

The Job Seeker Series - Part 3

YAY.

You’ve been invited to interview.

That could mean a number of hurdles have been jumped, phone screening, CV follow-up, and an invitation to interview. Getting here is a huge achievement in itself, but now the question remains: how should you prepare?

It is important to remember that an interview is an evaluative situation. Someone is judging you — they want to know if you are the right fit for the role, the team, the organisation. However, now more than ever, the tables have become more even. Within this space, you are also judging back. Does this company and role fit my why? My values? Does working here align with the life that I am building?

Drop Threads

An interview is about connection.

The interviewer is looking for ways to connect with you, and vice versa. For this to happen successfully, we need to drop ‘threads’, which are snippets of information about ourselves that make us more memorable and connected to the person we are speaking with.

For example, you might mention that you had a harried morning before getting to the interview because your two children slept in for the first time in forever. That could lead the interviewer to respond with, “Oh, I know what that’s like, I have two of my own. How old are yours?” Suddenly, the conversation is able to grow naturally, and from this, you connect on mutual ground.

These small threads, and the gentle peppering of them throughout conversations, are imperative in networking, conversation, and interview situations. Ultimately, the question becomes: who is the person I am speaking with outside of the CV and the experience?

Looking for common ground and not finding any is also not a sign of a red flag. My husband and I are alike in many things but also completely different in others — that is sometimes what makes the balance so much more effective for us.

You will not know exactly what the interviewer is looking for, so if they ask if you play football and might be interested in joining the social work team, be honest — yes if you would like to, and no if you don’t.

You need to be able to be yourself at work, and there is no better time to try this than in the interview.

So how do you prepare?

In New Zealand, especially, we do not get a lot of joy from talking about ourselves in a “talk yourself up” kind of way. The term here is tall poppy syndrome.

BUT.

In the interview, you need to be confident in your strengths and your experience — you need to show off. Because we do not do this often, it needs practice.

What are your strengths, the things that you do well? What are areas that you know are “work-ons,” things that you can improve about yourself? What skills do you have (technical or otherwise)? Be honest about these; if you don’t have the skill now, it does not mean that you will never be able to learn it.

Interviewers don’t expect perfection. They expect awareness. You are as human as they are.

Storytelling is key.

If you can nominate a strength in yourself, think about a story that reflects this. “My organisation is a great strength, I love having everything colour-coded and in lists. It is why, when I was studying at university, I got the nickname ‘mum’ because I was the one who knew what was happening, when and where, and people knew they could come to me for immediate answers.” (True story.)

Don’t overthink storytelling — sharing a small comment or moment is storytelling just as much as having a larger story prepared.

If we look at some of the most common questions:“Tell me about yourself.”“What was one of your more challenging moments?”

Have a few real examples ready and practise saying these out loud. Think about moments where you solved a problem, collaborated well, showed resilience, or learned something important. Then practise telling those stories out loud.

Speak in an extempore style.

By using extempore speaking, we sound spontaneous and maintain eye contact with our audience. This enables us to read the room and gives us the ability to adjust if required. By not relying on memorised material, even if we are slightly nervous, we will not stop.

Extempore speaking is learning the ideas, not the words. It does not mean being unprepared. It means knowing your subject, knowing your structure, but allowing the words to change. This keeps your delivery alive and connected to your audience. Brainstorm what you want to say, bullet point your structure, then go for it.

Be prepared to stop and think — not stop and panic.

The more you rehearse speaking about your experience, the more natural it feels.

Hello AI — I need your help.

There are also helpful tools available now, including AI platforms that can generate practice questions. Find one that will transcribe your response as you say it (the Google Interview Warmup tool is one of many AI interview tools, and they are all great for this). That way, you can hear your response back and see it written down. Seeing it in text form allows you to identify moments of repetition. Hearing it back allows you to analyse your voice and tone, is it interesting enough?

As a side note, if you find that your voice is turning into a monotone rehash of the same response over and over, try smiling before you answer the question. This will generate a lift in your tone, and the positivity will filter through. Alternatively, add a gesture to your response. These subtle shifts in tone and body language will help you hear the difference. Your interviewer is hearing your response for the first time, keep it genuine and upbeat rather than bored and repetitive.

Preparing well doesn’t guarantee the outcome. But it does guarantee that you walk in knowing you’ve done your part to put your best self forward.

In the next post in The Job Seeker Series, we’ll move to the day of the interview itself; what to do when you arrive, how to manage nerves, body language, voice, and those crucial first impressions.

And if you would like help — Let’s chat.

Ashleigh