CANADIAN NEWCOMER 4

How to Prep for Interviews

6 min readJun 12, 2020

If/when you get the happy news that you have landed an interview, then it’s time to do your interview preparation. Check out the following tips to see how you can maximise your chances of success before you get to the interview!

All entries in this series are available at the following links:

Today I’d like to go over how to prepare for interviews.

1. Research

Ask HR who the interviewer will be. Search their profile on LinkedIn. See if you have any common ground. Find people who work at the company in the job you want to do, and follow their career path; see how you stack up.
Practise your “Elevator pitch”. This is a maximum 30-sec introduction you can use often when you meet people for the first time. It will also be a foundation of your answer for the typical opening question in an interview; “So can you tell me about yourself?”
Adapt the answer for the situation (e.g. if you are interviewing for a tech job and previously worked in tech, then moved to Finance, and now you are looking to move back into tech) and make the story work for the listener; make it make sense to them
Depending on how the question is asked (e.g. “Can you go through your resume with me?”), you can give a longer answer. Follow the guidelines here for more advice
Prepare your answers for standard interview questions. If you don’t know what questions to expect, Google “typical interview questions”, or a similar search. Choose the top 8–10 questions and think about how you would answer

Now imagine you are being asked those questions in an interview situation; how would you answer? Use STAR or CARL techniques for responses to behavioural questions
STAR is an acronym that stands for:

Situation: Set the scene/give the necessary details of your example (WHERE)
Task: Describe what your responsibility was (WHAT)
Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to solve it (HOW)
Result: Share the outcome(s) achieved

Alternatively you can use CARL; which stands for:

Context: Briefly describe the context of you experience
Action: Explain what actions you took
Results: Explain what happened as a result of your actions
Learning: Identify what you have learned

By using these approaches to shape your story, it’s easier to share a focused answer. The interviewer can follow along, and also determine based on the answer how well you might fit with the job

One more tip; Write your answers out long-form. How long does it take to say out loud; 2–3mins? Too long! Think how to reword the answer so it can be given in 30secs or 1min. Often, interviewers have a series of standard questions to ask before they get to the part with specific questions. It’s also to ask if you have time for a short or long answer, or if the interviewer wants more detail, and adapt appropriately
Salary expectations will come up. Be ready with an answer. In many countries it is uncommon to discuss money; perhaps during job-hunting, you only see the numbers when an offer is made, for example. Here it is normal practice for the first contact you have (usually a call with HR) to bring up your salary expectations
How to answer the question? If the range was already indicated on the job description, base it on that. If you went through a recruiter, ask the recruiter in advance what the employer usually pays, or how much they got for previous clients
If you don’t have those facts available, you can either a) deflect the question to later, b) answer in a general way, or c) give a straight answer backed by research. Please choose option c! Search on glassdoor, or check what is on offer for other job opportunities in the same seniority/experience level. Check the market average. Know your value, based on your past experience. Answer with something like “I am sure you are on par with the industry average”, or, if the market average is $60–70k, you can answer “I’m looking for $65k, but I am flexible depending on the other conditions”
Note that it doesn’t have to be only about salary- don’t forget about vacation, health benefits, pension, and other forms of compensation. Negotiate for the whole package, if you can. And remember, if you give a number, the company will note the lowest number you say; that will be your bottom-line

2. Specialities of Canadian Hiring

If you have passed initial interviews, the next stage may involve references. They were a surprising (for me) part of the Canadian job hunting experience. It was not a common practice where I came from, but it is common in Canada. Search on Google about references to familiarise yourself, if you are hearing the word for the first time

Prepare your references early; reach out to trusted former employers and co-workers. Typically you need to provide 3 references; 2 former managers and a former peer. Each company will have a different process (some may email a survey page out, or send a table by email, or have a phone call)

If you have moved here from another country, make sure your references can speak English, and are willing to receive a phone call or an email and write back about you. Prepare them ahead of time. You can refresh their memory of a project or achievement you had, that is relevant to the position you are applying for. Respect their time, and make sure to thank them after the interview

Summing Up

You prepared, you did you research and you are ready to ace the interview. Successfully landing an interview is the result of your hard work. It means you did something to pique their interest. Don’t forget that. Good luck!

Who Am I?

Hello, I am Garry. Nice to meet you. Here is my LinkedIn profile. After 15yrs living in Japan, I moved to Canada in late 2019. Since I got here, I have learned a lot from friends, great mentors and advisors, pre- and post-arrival services, and good old-fashioned internet research! I would like to expand on those points and share more, through a series of posts/articles that can help you on your journey here in Canada.

Also earlier this year I talked about some of these things in a LinkedIn article, and in a webinar with NewCanadians, I discussed with some smart people about the newcomer’s job search and the impacts of COVID-19. Please check them out!