Ep 97: Effectively Maximizing Your Initial Interview - Propelling Careers Podcast

In this episode, Jim and Lauren focus on interview advice.  In the last few months, Lauren have interviewed hundreds of people for a  variety of roles.  Some of these people are recent graduates and others are very experienced people applying for Sr. Director and VP level roles.  As she reflects on these interviews, a few themes have emerged. We thought it would be helpful to talk about these points in the podcast to help our listeners who may be interviewing. We hope you find this episode helpful and that you enjoy listening!  The job market is so competitive right now - if you make it to the interview stage, you are most likely one of a few people, out of hundreds or thousands of people who applied and you have been picked by the organization, since they are interested to talk with you.  They are interested to hear more about your background and experiences to see if they align with what the organization is looking for in the role you areinterviewing for.  A few mistakes we have seen  Have an answer to the question, what excites you about this role  Don’t ramble - try to keep your interview responses shorter - a few minutes Use the STAR/PAR technique Answer the question - don’t keep the interviewer guessing if you have the experience they asked about Be careful talking too fastDon’t talk over people Don’t “complain” about previous roles/companiesHave questions to ask and prepare questions relevant to the interviewer   Lauren Celano, CEO of Propel Careers and Jim Gould, the Director for Postdoctoral Affairs at Harvard Medical School,launched this podcast as a way for us to share our advice, insights, and reflections to help others navigate their careers. As we develop new episodes, this podcast will provide insights regarding career advice to help listeners navigate career choices and become more confident in their decisions. We look forward to busting myths and providing real life, timely, and accurate advice. Jim and Lauren work heavily with Ph.D. trained scientists, but the advice we provide can be applicable to other audiences. We hope you enjoy listening!