Top 5 Tips on Interviewing During Covid-19
Guest Blogger Nancy Nguyen shares amazing tips and advice from the candidate perspective during these difficult times! Thank you Nancy!
Top 5 Tips on Interviewing During Covid-19
By Nancy Nguyen
Having been one of the 21 million people unemployed in the US today, it was extremely intimidating to submit an application to any company and instantly compete against 300 qualified applicants. It seemed like the odds were stacked against me, so I applied to every company that had an open role in my field and reached out to every recruiter in my network. Nonetheless, the rejection letters started pouring in. In hindsight, I had made a disastrous mistake by not following the 5 key tips below while applying. My ego and confidence deteriorated and I began to question if I even had the capabilities to be successful. Why would anyone want to hire me?
After several months of endless misery and feeling displaced, the tide started to turn. I connected with 16 companies! This was a huge accomplishment, considering my application was selected from a pool of 300 to 500 other applicants. As someone who experienced the tribulations of the current state of our economy, I want to ensure you that your job search will get better, so don’t lose hope! I’ve included the 5 tips below that helped me to achieve success in my job search and anchored me during this ambiguous time.
1. Build your resume and cover letter - Previously I’d felt that resumes didn’t quite capture the full picture of the applicant and I deemed them unnecessary. However, I quickly learned that an effective resume will get you an interview, a foot in the door to showcase who you truly are and what value you can bring to the company. It’s helped me to get my foot through 16 doors. Make sure to set your resume apart from the others by highlighting key achievements in your roles and avoid just summarizing your core responsibilities. For cover letters, highlight 4-5 key bullet points that are relevant to the company and role you are applying for. It helps to add a key point that highlights the reason you’re enthusiastic about joining that company.
2. Establish what you’re looking for - What are the top 3 aspects in a company that you are looking for? This could be culture, growth and mobility, leadership, product, compensation etc. It’s important that you spend time thinking about what you are looking for so that you can find fulfillment in your role. Clearly defining what you’re looking for helps to weed out the companies that fail to match those criteria and makes you look good in interviews, steering you in the right direction.
3. Practice interviewing - Rated as one of the top things that people hate, interviewing isn’t easy, but you can set yourself up for success. LinkedIn and Indeed both provide general interview questions that you can use to prepare. Practice answering them out loud or with a friend. When you start practicing out loud, you will be prepared to speak to examples, projects and experiences during interviews with ease as opposed to thinking of situations on the spot.
4. Ask for referrals - Your network is powerful and you shouldn’t be afraid to use it to get a foot in the door. Some companies even prefer that you apply through a referral. Before applying at any company, see if you know someone from your network and ask if they can refer you. I received an overwhelming amount of support and referrals from my network and it really changed my perspective on the job search. People are willing to help you or even jump on a call to tell you about their experience working somewhere before referring you. They understand this is a difficult time now to search for work. When you land a job, wouldn’t you do the same for a fellow colleague? Also don’t be shy about adding recruiters and reaching out to them directly on LinkedIn to let them know that you’re interested. They love that!
5. Grow your confidence - The most important tip is growing your confidence. Remind yourself every day that opportunity is coming and that you’re doing great. Reinforce your perspective and mindset before applying and interviewing by listing out all of your accomplishments and every detail that you championed so that you can easily see how much value you would bring to any company. That’s how you build confidence in your search because success is a mindset and it starts with believing in yourself. Remember to slow down and be patient. Companies take anywhere from a day to several weeks to get back to you. Don’t automatically assume that you’ve failed but keep looking until you’ve found the right fit.
I hope these tips help you as they’ve helped me. Please know that you’re not going through this alone. We’re experiencing this together and we will overcome this together. Feel free to reach out to me on my LinkedIn if I can be of any help.
Great advice Nancy- Your hard work, positive attitude and persistence paid off. Thank you again for these great tips! We can see why anyone would be lucky to hire you!