Interview Etiquette for the Candidate

I’ve been involved with technical communications for over 15 years in various capacities: technical writing, user education, training, documentation management, product management, and mentoring. For many years, I’ve interviewed hundreds of junior to senior technical writers, but I understand what it’s like to be the nervously excited interviewee. I wanted to share my experiences on both sides of a fence. In part one of a two-part article, I’ll discuss six important tips on how you, as a candidate, can get the most out of an interview while putting your best foot forward. Part two will delve into how an interviewer also needs to prepare for interviews.

Interviews are a two-way street: employers want to find out not only if you can get the job done, but whether you’d be a good fit for the team and company. As a candidate, you want to ensure you understand the full scope of the work you’d be expected to do, and discover as many pros and cons about your possible working environment. For example, do you think you will get along with your co-workers? Is the expected work and compensation worth the commute to you? Is there opportunity for future contracts, or growth for your job and the company overall? Or will the opportunity be short and sweet, just the way you like for building a business with many clients? Do you think you’ll be paid on time?

1. Presentation and Vocal Preparation

A business environment may appear to be business casual or simply casual (e.g., every day is denim Friday), but does that mean you should dress to match those who are already employed there, or should you dress to impress? 

Keep in mind that the interviewer may be your future cubicle neighbour, or that you may be required you to give presentations, in person, or via teleconference with a webcam. You may not have seen that in the job description, but that doesn’t give anyone the excuse to not present their best self, including appearances. Make sure your clothes are clean, pressed, and yes, please attend to personal hygiene!

Now that you’re all dolled up with some place to go, it’s a good time to practice your voice projection. Pull up a chair in front of a mirror – and if you really want to go the extra mile, break out a recording device. Look at your posture: are you sitting up straight or are you nervously hunched forward? Are your hands at your side or in your lap (i.e.,, is nervous fidgeting  under control)? Great! Now confidently introduce yourself. That means projecting your voice, without yelling, across the room. Clearly enunciate, especially if your name is “non-Western” (like mine). Now try it with a smile – if you’re not normally a smiler, I know this one feels odd – and notice the difference.

Lastly, observe the hand that you use to shake hands with. Practice with a bottle or a zucchini. Another person’s hand would be ideal, but make do with what you have. Your grip should be firm enough to hold the object briefly without dropping it (think firm, but gentle) Is your hand sweaty? Before you go in for an interview, sit with your palms on your lap, facing up. This allows the perspiration to air dry.

2. Portfolio Preparation

We might be living in the digital age, but you’ll still need to print some of your portfolio as a hardcopy.. Why? Your interviewer may be spending a total of eight hours of his or her work week interviewing candidates in addition to their own work which still needs to get done. Maybe they need to make up for that time on the weekend. Regardless of the reason, it is wise to respect the time of your interviewer and arrive prepared with a printed, indexed, and bound portfolio, along with a USB drive in case you want to demonstrate on your laptop. Don’t assume that wifi will be available and always have a back-up.

General rules about your portfolio:

• Ask your previous employer for permission to keep a copy of your work for purposes of a non-distributable portfolio.
• Organize your portfolio into categories so it’s easy for the interviewer to find your API writing samples versus the work you did with that User Guide written in Microsoft Word.
• Be honest about your contribution. Indicate whether you were one of many authors, the original author, or an editor. Did you contribute to the style guide? Which parts?
• Include a list of any accomplishments, awards, and performance reviews that highlight your talents.
• Keep it fresh. You may be most proud of a manual that your wrote 10 years ago, but employers want to see what you’ve done lately. Regardless of gainful employment, it’s simply good practice to add/discard items from your portfolio every couple of years.
• Have a “thin” portfolio? Volunteer opportunities through STC and non-profits, or even recent school assignments (for those new to the profession) are acceptable as long as you take the time to organize something, and it shows that you’ve done your best to match the employer’s requirements to your experiences.
• Include at least two printed copies of your resume. These don’t have to be bound, but can be kept in a side pocket or separate folder just in case there are more interviewers than you expected.

3. Observe and Listen

Interviews can be nerve-wracking, but they don’t have to be. The good interviewer wants you to be relaxed enough to answer their questions as completely and honestly as you can. One of the easiest ways to relax in an interview is to reel in your thoughts about you, and focus on two things: listening to the interviewer and observing their body language. If they ask you a question and you don’t understand, there is no harm in asking them to clarify or repeat the question. There is also no harm in giving yourself a moment to compose your answer before you speak.

Make eye contact with your interviewer to show that you are listening. Jot down notes on what they’re talking about to help you later with questions or key points you might want to refer to in case you need to make a decision. And as you’re answering, keep track of the time. Can you be detailed but brief? The interviewer may give visual cues that they are ready to move onto the next question, so it’s crucial to pay attention.

4. Length of Interview

The employer is making time to meet with you. An interview of any length can be painful for the interviewer if they know that the candidate is not the right person after a few minutes. However, if after the first few questions, the candidate shows potential, the remainder of the interview is the time for “sink or swim”.  The interviewer will delve into your experiences to look for commonalities, problem solving capability, “what if” scenarios, and perhaps offer you a written or technical skill-testing opportunity. If you are a seasoned communicator, the latter shouldn’t be interpreted as anything other than a way for the employer to fairly evaluate all candidates.

5. Questions

This is a golden opportunity for you to ask some questions to show that you are indeed interested in helping the employer achieve their goals.

Here are some examples of good questions:

• Where do you see the primary expansion for this business in the next few months versus next couple of years?
• What do you/other writers like most about working here?
• I am most interested in [name a certain aspect of the job]. Can you tell me more about what your expectations are, how they would be measured, and how they align to the objectives of the business?

Here are some examples of questions you might ask either before you accept an in-person interview or immediately after, via phone or email. In a situation where you are approached initially by Human Resources or a recruiter:

• What are the benefits? (anything relating to health/dental, vacation, sick leave)
• What is the salary range?
• Am I expected to do overtime (and will I get paid)?

Ask these individuals to help you obtain the answers before the interview so that you can focus directly on the actual job. Leading with these questions at an in-person interview shows that you are more interested in “what’s in it for me” than the advertised role.

6. Request for Feedback

If you haven’t heard back from the employer or recruiter after a few days (and were expecting otherwise), it doesn’t hurt to do two things: email a brief thank-you for the interviewer’s time and politely ask for feedback on the interview. Some employers may ignore your request completely – this is not unusual, so don’t be alarmed. But for the ones who do, accept the feedback as a constructive gift and thank them again. The technical communication world can be surprisingly small; you may cross paths again with the interviewer and it never hurts to be on good terms.

Congratulations! If you’ve taken the time to read this article to the end, hopefully you’ve picked up some tips on how to improve your interview experience or at the very least, confirmed some good interview habits.

Stay tuned for future STC workshops on mock interviews. Please enter your comments below if you wish to share your experiences or wish to voice your opinion

For tips on conducting an interview, please see “Interview Etiquette for the Interviewer”.