1) Shall we start with introductions?" "Tell me a bit about you" is asking you to condense your entire experience into a short paragraph. Pre-interview look up what the interviewer does, what responsibilities they have etc. Then change your answer so it's relevant to them.
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2) In fact this is the most important question to get write, it helps the interviewer shape their questions, and allows you to direct the interview. Want to show you are reliable? mention your job behind a bar, want to show passion? drop the bar and talk about HackTheBox
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3) Do not just read out from ChatGPT, even if you're using LLMs to help you frame your experience! They can tell because it will sound awkward coming from your mouth and not flow nicely, and it can make you come across like you can't do anything without the help of a LLM
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4) Always know the competitors and differentiators of the company you're interviewing with, when people tell you to research a company ahead of time they want you to do this, this also let's you shape a strong response to "So why this company? and why now?"
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5) A good question to ask your interviewer: "What can I do in the first 6 months that will make the biggest impact to your team?", gets them thinking about where you can slot into the team, and allows you to highlight other experiences/knowledge that maybe wasn't covered
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6) Add your interviewers on LinkedIn with a short message before the end of the day but not right away "Thank you for interviewing me today, I had a great chat, it was nice to speak about.. <specific thing you discussed>", it helps remind them about your interview :)
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7) Remember you are interviewing them as well, while we all know the primary reason for applying for a job is to earn money, and to not hate our work, if you got 2 offers for the same salary/same benefits, how would you pick between them? Ask a question about that
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8) With that in mind, always ask about training and future education, particularly for junior roles try and find a company that will allow you to grow, and wants to invest in you. This won't always be $$$$ for certs, but investing in you is usually a sign of a good job
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9) In technical interviews make sure you verbalise how you would approach a solution, particularly if you find they put you under a lot of pressure, it can give the interviewer an idea of how you think, even if you don't come up with the right solution
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10) Prepare for a curve ball question, there will always be questions you can never prep for, to prep for them, write down a bunch of things you want to highlight for the role based on the job description, stall for time by mentioning it's a good question, and pick one
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11) Push back on the company, they know you want a job so will expect you to really like the company and what they do, throw your own curve ball by mentioning something you don't like or areas for improvement, particularly if it's something you can help them with!
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12) Try and be as casual as you can, even if you're nervous. Job interviews are always going to be scary, there's a lot of pressure to get it right. That pressure makes us all fail to show how great we are. Try and think about it like a casual conversation with a colleague
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13) Bonus skills! If you have skills like programming, graphic design, etc make sure you find an opportunity to mention them, the company feels like it's getting a good deal by hiring you over another candidate, and it also shows you are well rounded with hobbies
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14) Match the interviewers energy, if they are bubbly and excited you will look sad or disappointed if you are very serious, if they are serious and you are excited you will look like you're not taking the interview seriously, it isn't easy to recognise this but try
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15) Enjoy it, look you like cyber, they like cyber, if nothing else you'll be able to network with someone in cyber security and nerd out about cyber security together. take the opportunity to listen to their thoughts and perspectives, you will probably learn a lot!
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16) Take notes, if they'll let you, sometimes interviewers can be weird about it, but as long as you're not only taking notes and then not engaging with the conversation most interviewers don't mind if you bring a small notebook or jot down the odd point
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17) You can ask for feedback but I wouldn't, sometimes getting back feedback can really damage your confidence, sometimes it's better to not know and just assume it wasn't a good fit, instead analyse your own performance or do practice interviews with friends or family
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18) Always note if multiple people have come from the same company, this is a really good sign that the company is great to work for AND you will get a lot of support from managers/colleagues, they wouldn't have joined the company if they had a bad experience prior
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19) If you're asked to share a negative aspect to yourself, make sure you are following it up with how you are addressing it, this shows that you're reflective and you will take initiative to fix something as well as helps lessen the sting when it comes to sharing it!
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