Happy new year!
I want to make sure you land all the jobs you want this year.
If you don’t want to read through everything, here’s a template to craft your personal narrative for interviews. It should help with reflecting on your year as well.
The guide below is specifically for behavioral interviews. Technical interviews are going to differ depending on the role/company you’re applying for and I’d rather help you with those on a personal basis.
An Unpopular Opinion
If you've made it to the behavioral interview stage, you've basically already got the job.
With technical questions, the interviewer is in control of the conversation. You have no idea what questions might be asked, and if you're having an off day, a single mistake can ruin your chances of moving forward.
But with behavioral interviews, the conversation is completely under your control. Barring the occasional curveball, there is a limited subset of questions that you will be asked.
As long as you've spent enough time planning and reflecting on your experiences beforehand, this interview should be a walk in the park.
You should not be coming up with answers for the first time during the interview
I cannot stress this enough.
You shouldn’t leave behavioral interviews to luck or your mood on any particular day.
Below, I've detailed my own process of tackling behavioral interviews.
Assuming you're starting from scratch, the preparation process shouldn't take you more than a week to complete.
Mindset
Before getting into specific actionables, it's first important to understand the mindset you should be entering into the interview with.
Your job is to tell a cohesive, consistent narrative about yourself that reveals specific traits making you a great fit for the position.
Keep in mind that your interviewer is meeting with dozens of people — if you don't leave the conversation having conveyed a distinct, memorable story about yourself, you're going to be forgotten along with the rest of the crowd.
It's not about the generic "be yourself" either.
Most of us aren't absolute superstar candidates, or else we wouldn't have a problem landing a job in the first place. Being yourself isn’t enough.
So what am I supposed to do?
If your credentials and work history aren't stellar, the narrative you should convey is one of rapid growth.
As someone who's actively hiring designers myself, this is the trait I look for above everything else. Given the choice between someone who's impressive but has become complacent and a diamond in the rough who's potential ability is uncapped, I would choose the latter any day of the week.
For me, conveying rapid growth comes down to two things:
Momentum
Is the work you're putting out constantly getting better?
Do you always keep yourself busy?
Self Awareness
Are you able to self-reflect?
Can identify your strengths and double down on them?
Are you aware of your weaknesses and actively working on them?
These two characteristics should be used to craft your individual experiences into a compelling narrative.
The Game Plan
1. Brain dump your experiences
Using the following themes as a guideline, brainstorm as many specific stories as you can from your life. These can be from work, personal projects, or anything else you can imagine.
Accomplishments
What have you achieved in life?
What have you created?
What are you proud of?
Failures
When have things gone wrong?
What caused it to happen?
What have you learned from the experience?
Teamwork
When have you worked with other people?
What roles do you naturally gravitate towards?
What roles do you excel in?
Dealing with conflict
What caused the conflict to occur?
Did things end up working out?
Motivation
What are your values?
What do you care about?
What have you done in your life that proves these values are real and not just buzzwords?
Is money important to you?
What about career growth?
Work-life balance?
Don't worry about whether or not these stories fit with the role you're applying for. Just get as many down on paper as you can.
2. Choose 3 qualities you want to be known for
Again, your interviewer is speaking to dozens of people — if you try to embody every positive adjective under the sun, you'll end up being bland and unmemorable. Choose a handful of key attributes and double down on them.
The ones I've chosen for myself are relentless, ambitious, and caring.
Read through the stories you brainstormed and identify areas where your 3 chosen traits naturally arise. Not every story will work here, but you'd be surprised how many seemingly unrelated stories you might be able to find from your life that portrays a unique character arc.
I dropped out of college because I was overwhelmed with the amount of schoolwork I had, but I turned that story into a positive by reflecting on all the opportunities for growth it's opened up for me.
Rather than revealing that I was a horrible student (I was), I speak about how I built projects to better my community while working multiple jobs to sustain myself.
3. Trim
Trim the list of stories down to the ones that are the most interesting.
Ask yourself which ones are unique to you.
Keep in mind that not all of the stories need to be positive. Stories where things go wrong and it’s completely your fault are a great vehicle to show your ability to self reflect and take responsibility for your mistakes.
4. Practice
Practice using the stories in context. An example list of questions is included in my template here.
It's not enough to just know what stories you can draw from. The important part isn't just the words themselves, it's the way you say them.
But until you know these stories like the back of your hand, you won't be able to focus on tone and voice. Say your stories out loud and time them. Each story shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes to get through.
Once you’re confident in your narrative, I recommend you get on a call with a friend and simulate the real interview conditions as closely as possible.
Record the call and watch yourself speaking.
I promise you will cringe harder than you ever have in your life.
This is a good thing. It means you are growing.
Take note of any verbal ticks, inconsistencies in your storytelling, dull moments, etc.
I recommend using some kind of structure when presenting the stories.
STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is a great starting point, but feel free to play around with other interesting ways to tell a story.
If I know a story requires a particularly long build-up, I might speak about the results at the start to keep the listener hooked and anticipating the rest of the story.
This might all sound like a lot to do, but I guarantee you’ll come out of it so much more confident in yourself. It’s also a great way to just reflect on your life so you can move into the new year with a stronger sense of conviction.
As always, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me by replying directly to this email.
If you need more help...
Here's the template to write your stories.
Our focus for the group call this week will be on interviews — drop by and we can do some practice and walk through your stories together. I've opened up 15 spots this time to accommodate more people.
If you’re a designer looking for work, I know plenty of companies (everything from startups to enterprise to agencies) hiring.
Drop your info here and I’ll forward it over to them.