Job seekers often try to dazzle their interviewers with knowledge and problem-solving skills, but an interview should be a give-and-take experience. Both the applicant and the hiring team need to determine whether they can work well together.
If you want to start your new job confident that you made the right decision, first think about how to introduce yourself to your potential employer during your interviews to showcase the dynamic you would bring to the workplace.
How to prepare for an interview
Before your interview, gather information to help you better understand the company and feel more relaxed during your conversation. Check Glassdoor for company reviews on things like salaries, benefits, and company culture, and ask the Glassdoor community for insights, tips, and feedback.
Take your prep a step further by using the Interview Questions tab within the Careers menu to search for— or add — questions that your prospective company actually asks during interviews. This type of tailored information can help you plan for those not-so-common questions that go beyond the skills you bring to the table.
Introduce yourself in an interview and pass the personality test
Part of an interview is determining whether a candidate will mesh with the culture at a company. As many as 88% of Fortune 500 companies use personality assessments as part of their hiring process.
Typically, an interviewer is trying to figure out:
- Will they enjoy working with you?
- Are you genuinely excited about the opportunity?
- Do you have the core capabilities to do the job?
Avoid guessing what you can say to sway the interviewer in your favor. Instead, be honest about your work style, the types of environments where you thrive, and how you interact with other people. (Example: “I work best in a collaborative office environment with weekly deliverables.”)
This is also an opportunity for you to determine how your prospective team interacts and what kind of camaraderie and collaboration you can expect.
Include fun details in your self-introduction
Are you an ultra-marathoner on the side? Maybe you’ve taught yourself to knit or play an instrument. Talk about it! Those details can reveal important character traits about you, like discipline, commitment to long-term goals, problem-solving skills, and a willingness to try new things.
You don’t have to be a completely open book in an interview. Just pick and choose the chapters that highlight your best qualities.
Share how you’ve learned from your failures in the interview
Everyone experiences failure, but what you learn from it can tell a manager a lot about how you solve problems and recover from setbacks. While an interview may include a softball question about your strengths and weaknesses, a more popular tactic is to ask about failure — and it’s an incredible opportunity for honest discussion.
For example, it’s not a dealbreaker to be a lawyer who lost a case because most great lawyers have lost a case. Instead of explaining why you lost, discuss how you analyzed the loss, any action plans or strategies that you developed based on your analysis, and the successes that came out of your analysis.
A valuable prospective employer knows they'll be with you in both good times and bad. Learning how you respond in the bad times can help them decide if you’re a good fit for the team.
Practice for your interview, but don’t make it perfect
It’s okay to bring reference notes to an interview as long as you don’t spend the entire meeting reading them. Opt for candor by taking your time and giving responses that reflect your authenticity. Practice politely avoiding off-limits questions, and come prepared with your own thoughtful questions for the interviewers to help you learn if the company is a good fit for you.
Ask questions about company culture, long-term professional development opportunities, and how individual success is measured within the company. Remember to listen to the answers and take notes.
The responses you get could either be the green light — should you accept an offer with that company — or a red flag that it’s not the right fit for you. When you’re searching for the right long-term work environment, bringing your authentic self can help you shine brighter than the other candidates, nail the interview, and start earning what you're worth.