Congratulations! An American company is considering your application. No matter the industry this is a great guide to prepare for an interview with American people. I will cover the following topics:
- Types of questions to prepare for
- How to research the company
- Talking about yourself in the interview
- Things to and not to do during an interview
Interview Questions:
- Soft skills versus Hard skills: You might be asked about types of skills you have. You should know the difference between these two.
- Soft skills are positive personality traits. For example, communicative, adaptable, collaborative, conflict resolution, problem solving, emotional intelligence, etc.
- Hard skills are more measurable. For example, excel, software languages, Microsoft suite, social media platforms, foreign languages, etc.
- How do you manage your time?
- In today’s world, you are often juggling many tasks, between work, school, social life, etc. In the workplace, you must understand how to prioritize certain tasks in addition to making the time to complete them as well as less important tasks. Look at yourself and understand how you manage time for all the tasks in your life. Do you use a calendar? Or alerts? How do you know if a tasks is more important than other tasks?
- What are your goals and what do you want to accomplish in this position?
- This is a good question to talk about what you envision achieving at the end of the internship or your studies. What is your purpose of doing an internship in this field? Are you hoping to learn more hard and soft skills? What do you hope the internship will help you achieve?
- Why do you feel you would be a good match for our company?
- This is where you talk about what interested you in this company. Even if it is not your ideal choice, try to imagine a reason why you think you would be a good fit. As an example, highlighting your unique position as an international student and could bring new perspective to a team.
- What relevant experience do you have to the position?
- For this question, you will need to speak about the topics, projects, and positions you’ve done and held that are relevant to the company’s activities and/or the internship field you are applying for.
- Give an example of a time you overcame a problem or failure.
- Everyone fails, and that’s okay! What is important is how you bounce back. Find an example in which you had a problem but you were able to find a solution or resolve an issue.
Researching the company: This is a very important step in your preparation. Having solid understanding of the company can set you apart from other applicants. During your research, formulate your own questions for your interviewer!
- Social Media – Check out their: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, or any other industry specific sites. Get a feeling for the tone and message they send to their followers.
- News Articles – Find out what the news says about them. Maybe you will learn about products and how the market received them. Read the good and the bad. You will also discover more about them through the news.
- Company Website – Take a really good look at their site. Read their Mission Statement or Message to Investors. These will help you asses the goals and objectives for the company. If you understand these, you will know how to place yourself in them as well.
- Market/Competitors – Spend some time getting to know who they compete against and their place is the market. Are they a leader in the market and/or are they filling a niche?
Talking about yourself: When evaluating your history, try to find certain examples of events, challenges, achievements that you can example in your interview.
- Identify courses and projects you have done in school that are preparing you for this internship
- If you have ever joined a group or done any volunteering work, you might find relevant experience in those.
- Of course, any past job experience is important to highlight. Be sure you can talk about specific skills you learned or tasks you were assigned.
- Hard Skills – If your industry requires that you know how to use certain software or know certain tools, be sure you mention which ones you do know, or any that you have worked with a little. The same idea applies to soft skills.
- Industry Specific Language – In some industries, there is a lot of technical lingo. Do a little research on the lingo, maybe you will remember some words you forgot or learn something new. Keep in mind, the interviews are professionals in their field and use technical lingo daily, so they might expect you to know what they are talking about. If you don’t, I encourage you to ask as a learning opportunity.
Do’s and Don’ts in an interview:
- DON’T – chew gum or use your phone during the interview. Do not be late.
- DO –
- Dress professionally!
- If using a camera, sit in a well lit and quiet space.
- Send the interviewer a message before the start time to let them know you are ready to speak with them. If you will be late, also send them a message letting them know you will be late.
- Have a backup plan – sometimes Skype doesn’t work so well or the connection is poor. Be sure you think of any way you can contact them or they can contact you in case of a problem.
- Answer in FULL sentence
- Create your own questions about the company. These can be related to the internship itself, business activities, or market questions.
Feel free to email me if you would like coaching on interviewing with an American Company.