Navigating the intricacies of jobs in technology can be inherently challenging due to the industry’s dynamic nature.

One common hurdle faced by aspirants is the effective preparation for interviews.

In the first installment of this series, we unveiled twelve succinct methodologies aimed at streamlining interview readiness specifically for jobs in technology.

You can check out part one here

Implementing these strategies will undoubtedly leave you well-prepared.

To further amplify your chances of success within the tech industry job landscape, we have assembled an additional twelve methods…

Tailored to provide a robust foundation for securing jobs in technology.

To anyone who doesn’t know this, did you know that you can ask your recruiter for interview tips?

You can ask them anything – they’re there to help you at the end of the day.

Any questions or concerns you may have regarding your interview should go directly to your recruiter.

This will help answer questions, and they can clarify things on your behalf.

They act as the middlemen / women to support the interests of both the interviewee and the business.

It’s also worth establishing a close working relationship with a recruiter because remember, they have many candidates who they’re trying to source and provide work to.

So a good way to set yourself apart is to gain a recruiter’s trust.

How do you do that?

Be responsive. Recruiters will send you email correspondence relating to your interview or any other related detail.

It’s your job to make sure your replies are efficient and on point.

The faster you are to respond to things, you come across more reliable.

Show courtesy. Recruiters will warm up to you if they see good a sense of character. Show respect and always be professional – they’ll give you the same energy back.

Be charming. This is the icing on the cake really, they need to like you. You want them to go the extra mile for you when required.

Create a plan of action that will guide you throughout your preparation.

Planning is always great, you can set clear goals and objectives and set out ways on how you can achieve them.

There’s nothing that’s going to help you more than a detailed list of actionable steps you need to take.

And if detail is a problem, then something similar to the Ten Commandments would do.

For example, you can make an oath with yourself that says “I will not look for shortcuts when applying for tech roles” and “I shall be honest in interviews”.

That’s only if you’re struggling to come up with the details.

Well, it might just be your lucky day because we have a draft plan you can use as a template to help you plan for an interview.

Sign up to our mailing to receive our free template plan.

This template gives you a nice starting point and we’ve made it user-friendly with commentary wherever possible so that you understand everything in it.

I’m not joking when I say this… it’s not a tracksuit or hoodie type of day.

You need to prepare smart professional clothes for an interview.

It’s something everyone knows but it is always worth reminding at times.

Tech is a modern, cool industry – most tech companies have moved away from the traditional suit-and-tie attire for work.

This is true, however, when preparing for an interview you need to remember, you don’t have the job yet; the business doesn’t know what you look like; therefore, presentation is key.

Your interview may be virtual/online so you may be wondering why I need to go through the trouble of sorting out professional clothes.

Well, the reason is simple – you want to ensure there are no excuses and that you’ve done everything you needed to do to make a good impression.

So, make sure you have variety in your wardrobe.

A mixture of smart wear and casual wear, so that when that interview date comes through, you’ve already for the attire sorted for it.

In the section before this, we touched on why having professional clothes is important for an interview.

The other reason why this is important is that interviewers want to see you ‘looking the part’.

You need to look good appearance-wise. It’s not about being shallow, we need to play the game.

If you didn’t know, first impressions often lead to someone’s final decision about you.

So if you walk in the interview room with a shirt that’s not ironed or a dress that’s dragging along the floor like a carpet, you probably won’t get the job.

But if you somehow manage to, you’re an absolute legend, I don’t know how on earth you pulled that off.

It’s just the way it is, someone would rather hire the person who made an effort rather than the person who woke up five minutes before the interview and still has toothpaste stains on his face.

When you look at the part, it tells someone that you are organised, detailed, structured, and responsible.

It’s a good idea to draft some questions that you’d like to ask in your interview.

Employers like it when candidates ask questions at the end of an interview, it shows inquisitiveness and demonstrates someone with an interest in wanting to explore.

You know when you get asked at the end of an interview “Do you have any questions for us”…

This is your opportunity to give the employer a glimpse of your character, your last opportunity to stand out.

You can go about preparing interview questions by broadly thinking about some of the most common ones.

A great place you can start is by doing a brainstorming exercise; jot down anything and everything that comes to mind.

As a first step don’t worry too much about asking stupid questions, we’ll cross that bridge in the next sentence.

Ok, now think, as much as an employer wants to get to know you, it’s also critical that you get to know more about the employer.

Is there anything that’s a red flag (i.e. benefits, company culture) that you’d like to raise before jumping into something straight away?

You might want to ask a question about flexibility. Is the role offering a hybrid work opportunity?

Or are you expected to be in the office Monday to Friday full-time?

There’s a lot you can ask – it’s your opportunity to figure things out and see what an employer can do for you.

One interview question you should be wary of asking…

I say wary because it’s not a bad thing to ask, but you need to read the room i.e. is this the environment where I should be asking this question?

That’s what you should always ask yourself.

The question I’m referring to is anything related to money or salary. As I said, it’s not a bad thing to ask, but it’s how you ask.

I know… it’s annoying doing all this strategic maneuvering, why can’t you just ask what you want about money and be done with it?

Well, you can do that but there are ways you can without coming across too forward.

One thing you can do is ask this question in a way that’s referencing something the employer has stated or is aware of.

For example, “I’ve seen the salary stated is £50,000, is this fixed or is there an opportunity to negotiate”.

That’s a nice way to ask about salary without coming across as rude or too in their face.

Essentially, what you want to do is gauge the atmosphere, and test the waters a bit, before you make your move.

You need to make sure you leave a memorable experience with the employer.

How do you do that? You draft a thank you email response that you will send immediately after your interview.

Don’t leave any follow-ups till the last minute. The last thing you want to do is miss out on an opportunity.

Drafting a follow-up email to say thank you shows that you have courtesy, respect, and gratitude and that you want this.

It can also be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship.

These are the small things you can do to put yourself ahead of others. I like to call it charm.

Whether an interview goes well or bad, it’s a nice gesture to say thank you and show appreciation for the opportunity given to you.

Drafting the emails isn’t a difficult task, there are many example templates online you can choose from.

It’s another positive when preparing for a tech interview, although this happens after, it’s nice to think about it in advance.

I don’t know why we have this as #7, probably should be the first thing.

When preparing for an interview, you need to research the employer.

Do you know who the employer is? What do they do? What’s their main business? Who are their customers?

We’re going back to basics for this one, it’s not complicated. You need to research the employer in advance and, at a minimum know what they do.

When you’re being interviewed, you need to know the business well enough to know how to respond to questions.

You need to have shown you’ve done your research prior.

The employer will ask you something about them, i.e. “What do you know about our business?”

This is your one opportunity to show you know your stuff, if you struggle here it’s not a good look overall.

The employer’s confidence will slowly start to deteriorate.

Do yourself a favour and cover your back, look interested, and demonstrate your competence.

When preparing for a tech interview, it helps when you’re proactive.

One way you can show this is by finding out the person who will be interviewing you.

After you research the employer the next plausible action is to follow up with understanding who will be conducting the interview.

Again, the point is, that you’re trying to be ahead of the game and have an advantage.

Think about it, the employer has all the information it needs about you.

Your name, job experience, qualifications, and address…

We don’t think about it like this, but the employer has an unfair advantage.

Why not make it a bit fairer on yourself? Let’s change the game a little bit.

Instead of just going along with the process as it is, go and do the same thing the employer did…

Get info on the person who will be interviewing you, their name, experience, job title, business function, etc.

You want to also paint a picture before meeting them. It’s only right you request this from your recruiter.

Again, this shows someone curious and invested in knowing more about the employer than most candidates.

Have your pen and paper ready! You want to be able to make notes in your interview.

This is probably rule 101.

Taking notes can be a lifesaver, you can capture key points that you’ll be able to refer to later.

Also, your brain can’t remember everything.

Don’t give yourself the pressure of having to remember all the fine details, technicalities, etc.

Save yourself a lot of stress by jotting down notes. Having a notepad and pen for an interview is like having your phone with you.

In school, we weren’t allowed to take in a notepad for an exam, unless it was considered open-book.

Well, in the real world, when you’re about to attend an interview you have the privilege of bringing a notepad along with you.

This may sound silly, but, it reassures you that you’re not alone in an interview.

At the end of the day, you never want to feel unprepared, lacking equipment, or unready.

You want to be war-ready – so get a notepad and be ready to have that with you.

Yeah, so you’re in a bit of a pickle for this one… before you attend an interview, one of the first things you need to decide is whether or not salary matters.

You need to get this chip off your shoulder before you can consider progressing with an interview.

There’s nothing wrong with salary being at the forefront of your mind, it’s the most relevant thing anyone should consider.

But let’s be honest, not every employer openly advertises their salaries. You may see some salary ranges, from comparison sites, etc.

However, the reality is that not every employer shows this.

You need to get to the interview stage or at a similar point where an employer will be more inclined to reveal salaries.

So, the reason why this is key to note here is that you won’t always know everything until you interview and speak with the employer, that is.

This is why the decision of whether or not salary matters is important.

Are you going to lose out on an opportunity since your expectations of a salary aren’t clarified from the beginning?

This section gives you something to think about. Just another tip that may be useful.

I didn’t know the power of a mood board until my girlfriend had a go at building one for herself.

It gave her a visual representation of her objectives for the year. How detailed was it? Better question, what’s a mood board?

Well, my definition and understanding of it is that a mood board is a collage of images that you visually embed onto a board (hence the name) that represents your goals and aspirations.

There, hope that explains it – and if it hasn’t, there are sites online that can help with that.

Anyways, the reason why a mood board is great when preparing for a tech interview is because it encourages and reminds you of what it is you’re going for.

Not only that but what that looks like.

I think mood boards are a great visual presentation of what we discussed in section #8 regarding positive affirmation.

It reinforces what you want. Taking the time to find and pick images that reflect what you are aiming to achieve and aspiring for.

At the end of the day, it’s just a conversation. But you want to make sure it’s a good conversation and not a bad one.

There are ways you can ensure the conversation goes well:

• Take control
• Speak in the interests of the employer
• Have a good rapport with the interviewer

Take control

You want to be leading the conversation so that you know your agenda is the one being served.

You can’t walk into an interview feeling blindsided. This can easily happen if you fail to own and lead the conversation.

It doesn’t have to be abrupt or aggressive, you just need to initiate, lead, and close the discussion.

Speak in the interests of the employer

You want to show loyalty and a commitment to serving the business if given the opportunity to join.

It’s a good strategy to show you’re on their side and understand the employer’s interests.

Have a good rapport with the interviewer

Building a good rapport is arguably the best and most effective way to ensure conversations flow and go well.

Just from having a good rapport with someone, you quickly gain their trust, you become more likable and you make the person on the receiving end comfortable.

Remember, it’s just a conversation. If you apply all of the above strategies then you can rest assured that conversations will go the way you want them to go.