Interview Preparation

Research the employer

Employers can tell when you’ve taken the time to learn about their organization and the role. Research not only helps you answer questions more effectively, but also helps you ask thoughtful questions of your own and determine whether the opportunity is a good fit.

Before your interview, research:

1. The organization. Review the company’s mission, products or services, values, and recent initiatives.
2. The people. Learn about your interviewers and team members through LinkedIn. Look for shared experiences, interests, or connections.
3. The role. Re-read the position description and identify the skills, experiences, and qualifications that appear most often.
4. The industry. Understand the organization’s competitors, current trends, and challenges affecting the field.
5. Employee perspectives. Review available insights from current or former employees through Handshake, Glassdoor, or your professional network.

Plan your questions to ask

Almost every interview ends with some version of, “What questions do you have for us?” The answer should always be yes. Preparing a few thoughtful questions demonstrates interest, shows you’ve done your research, and helps you gather information about the role and organization. One strategy is to begin with a fact, then ask a related question. The fact might come from your research or from your own interests, experiences, and values.

• Personal example. “As someone who enjoys working collaboratively and learning from others, I’m curious how team members typically work together and support one another.”
• Research example. “I noticed that community engagement is one of your organization’s core values. Can you share an example of what that looks like in practice for employees?”

A few questions to get you started:

• What does success look like in this role in the first 90 days?
• What’s the team like, and who would I be working with most closely?
• How is performance evaluated, and how often?

Day-of and follow-up

In the last hour

Review the job description, your prepared stories, and your questions for the interviewer. Eat something, drink water, and give yourself a few minutes to focus. Make sure you know the interviewer’s name and how to pronounce it correctly. Most importantly, remember that you were invited to interview because the employer already sees potential in your experiences and qualifications.

The 24 hours after

Send a thank-you email to each interviewer within 24 hours. Thank them for their time, reference something specific from the conversation, and reiterate your interest in the opportunity. Then take a few minutes to reflect. Write down the questions you were asked, the examples you shared, and anything that surprised you. These notes can be incredibly helpful for future interviews. If you haven’t heard back by the timeline provided, a polite follow-up email after about a week is appropriate.