I Got the Interview. Now What?

Congratulations! You took a leap of faith and applied to that job you wanted. It’s no longer an idea floating around in your head. It is something you acted towards. Then, you got it, the email saying they want to interview you.

So, now what?

When your gut twists and turns as the nerves build and your heart beats inside of your chest a few times too many as that oh so familiar fear wants to creep in, take a few deep breaths. It is going to be ok. In fact, more than ok because the hardest part is over. You knocked on the door and they said come on in! They want to get to know you.

‘What? How can that be? You may think to yourself.

It can be because you stood out among the crowd. They sorted, looked and found you. You passed the test, jumped the hurdles and got the interview. This next step is about seeing if it is a right fit for both of you.

Yes, you read that right. This interview is as much about you as it is about them.

Before you go scratching your head and pondering that too deeply, hear us out. You are a potential employee. So, make sure that it is a right space for you just as much as you are the right candidate for them. You don’t want to be going to a job you dread day in and day out and we don’t want that for you!

So, here’s what comes next. Take some time to write down questions you have about the job. Things like what will my responsibilities with this role be and what is the daily time commitment? What is my work life balance going to be like here? This really helps visualize what the day to day is going to look like.

Write down the things you want from your team. Is face to face communication important to you? How about autonomy at work? Or do you want weekly one on one meetings with your manager? Write what those things are down and take the list with you into the interview. Get it all out in the open from the beginning and make sure you all are on the same page.

Because that is what this next step is about. You both being in sync. Being a match. They already know you have the experience to do the job and now they want to get to know you and see if this is a good fit for everyone.