It's Almost Time... Interview Time that is!

This was a blog of mine last year, but I think it's so important, that I'm going to re-post it for you guys this year!  I’m going to go back six years or so and put myself into your shoes and reflect on how I felt the interview process was like with PwC.  Then I’m going to give you a few tips that I think are key for interviewing.  Oh I feel a little ancient when I say I interviewed six years ago now.  But it’s true… I interviewed for a co-op position and had no idea what to expect or how to act.  Here’s how my interview went.

I walked into the PwC office the morning of my interview.  I was young; I was nervous; I felt not prepared enough; I was honestly scared.  However, then I was greeted by the receptionist with such a friendly smile – I came to my senses.  I calmed down, took a deep breath and greeted her back with my friendly smile!  All of the other people I met that day were just as friendly and just as great – including the person who interviewed me.

I was picked up from the boardroom by my interviewer and we walked together to an office.  I was getting nervous again.  I sat down in the office with my interviewer and I had no idea what to expect.  Then all of a sudden, she just started making small talk.  Then one thing lead to another and we just started having an in depth conversation.  We talked about my experiences, how I overcame some conflict, leadership experiences, working with a team, development of relationships, and the list can go on.  It was amazing because my interviewer just seemed like she was talking to me, not drilling me with questions.  She seemed genuinely interested in my thoughts, my opinions, and what I had to say about myself.  That gave me the confidence to then be able to let me be me – I was positive, confident, talked passionately about the different things I was involved in and then how I could apply that at PwC.  I came out of that interview knowing that I would fit in with the firm and hoping that I would get an offer.

The interview was very conversation based, which made me feel more at ease, and I was able to really relax and be myself.  I think that is the key to an interview – be yourself!  You want to be interviewing the firm just as much as the firm is interviewing you during this time.  You need to see if it’s a fit for you.  I think that was the biggest reflection point that I came up with when putting myself back in your shoes to interview time.  BE YOURSELF!

Other tips I’d like to share with you include the following:

- Be prepared with real life experiences to cover a range of topics

- Use different experiences to answer different questions instead of always using the same team, or volunteer experience, or job for answering all questions.  This will show you are a more well rounded person in my opinion.

- Show interest in the firm

- Try as much as possible to relax – remember your interviewer is a person too – they remember how nerve wracking it is to be in that position.

- If you have to think about a question, honestly take several seconds to stop, think, and then proceed with your response.  A little bit of silence shows way more confidence than using “umm” to fill the space.

- Be confident in yourself and in your capabilities.  You got an interview because we saw great potential in you – you made that cut from the hundreds of resumes reviewed.

The biggest tip of all…

BE YOURSELF!  BE YOURSELF!  BE YOURSELF!

Good luck with all of your interviews and hope that they go smoothly and you can show us who you are!  We are interested in you!  Hope you’re interested in us too – I think we are pretty great.  I may have a bit of a bias since I work here… but that’s a great impression to see when you’re looking at a firm – are the staff proud of where they are from?  I am!  I hope you are with the firm you choose too!  GOOD LUCK!