Interviews can be nerve wracking. Interviewers know this and can tell when you are nervous. You’re trying to sell yourself to this new manager and team that you are the best option against an unknown amount of other candidates with various other skill levels and unique talents. Do you have the skills? Are you a good fit for the team? Does your personality align with others? Do you have the soft skills necessary? I’m sure you’re asking yourself these questions. Breathe. We all are nervous.
So, how do you perform well in interviews?
I won’t try to completely reinvent the wheel here, as there are some really good guides on interviewing that I’ll reference. However, we will go over the things that we look for when making hiring decisions in my area. You might be surprised by the importance we place on different skills.
The interrogation:
Well, at least it feels like an interrogation, right? However, interviews don’t need to feel like this. After all, this is a mutual engagement where the company is seeing if you’re a good fit. You should also be asking questions to see if this team/company is a good fit for you. You would be surprised at how many people do not ask questions in interviews. I feel that it’s a mistake to let an interview be one sided. You will make an impression if you ask relevant questions about the team and company.
Some questions you can ask are:
- What does a normal day look like for this team?
- What roles are there within the team and who does what?
- How is the onboarding and training for the team/company?
- How does the manager/team gauge success?
- What are some major achievements of this team, organization, or company in the last year?
- What goals does the team, organization, or company have for this department this year?
Asking questions will help you better gauge the effectiveness, team cohesiveness, and overall work environment before you are a part of it. Asking questions also makes you stand out against other candidates as someone who was engaged and wanted to know more. You need every advantage you can get in an interview process.
The technical questions:
Technical questions will be a part of your interview. Depending on what team or area you are applying to will determine the questions that you get asked. This can range anywhere from asking you what the CIA triad is to very detailed questions about how block ciphers work. The key here is to do your research and prepare for these questions as best you can. Don’t worry if you can’t answer all of the questions. Technical questions are meant to gauge how much you know. If you’re new to InfoSec, these questions will typically be easier. However, not being able to answer questions such as describing the difference between HTTP and HTTPS or why SSH is better than Telnet can be detrimental to your candidacy.
If you do not know an answer to something, don’t fumble over the question and leave a large gap of awkward silence. Calmly state that you do not know that answer off-hand but would be happy to research it later to educate yourself. This may sound odd at first, but can show an employer that while you may not know every answer, you can be humble enough to know when to seek help or ask questions…even if it is to Google. After all, this is a team sport and we all must rely on others and know when we can’t find the answer on our own. This is a sign of maturity.
The soft-skill questions:
Often overlooked in interview preparation is the questions regarding soft-skills such as teamwork, conflict resolution, strengths, weaknesses, and career goals. These are important to managers and teams, though. How you work within a team, handle stress, conflict, and diversity can ultimately decide your fate and have a very big influence on any team. Interview questions will be geared towards trying to understand how you work through all of those scenarios.
Example questions:
- Please describe a time where you had a conflict with someone you worked with and how did you address this situation?
- How do you handle competing priorities?
- What would you say is you biggest strength/weakness?
- Why are you interested in this role?
- How do you handle the stress of having deadlines that must be met?
Again, this is not an exhaustive list of questions, but these are some of the most common questions you will encounter. The folks over at Training Industry posted an article about the top 10 popular interview questions. I would have to agree with their post and have provided a link to that below. This is a great post that goes into more detail on these questions and how you should answer them.
Nailing the Job Interview: 10 Popular Questions and How to Answer Them (Kimberly Schneiderman, 2019)
What do managers look for?
While I could profess to know exactly what all managers look for, I’d be wrong. Managers can have their own favorite characteristics that they seek out in employees. However, there are some things that you can do that can set you apart from other candidates.
- Eagerness to learn and grow – Are you a lifelong learner?
- Ability to shift gears quickly and multi-task
- Keen sense of the business, understand what impacts the business/customer
- Customer satisfaction, going above and beyond for your customers
- Fast learner – Able to pick up on tasks quickly and master them
- Reliable under pressure – How do you handle stress?
- Results oriented, you drive issues to resolution
- Internetworking/teamwork – How well do you work on a team, share your knowledge, learn from others, reach out to other teams?
The bottom line:
Interviews are your chance at a first impression. They are very important in getting your foot in the door. Your job is to sell your experience, drive, ambition, talent, and your time to this company. You want them to walk out of that interview impressed with your overall performance. It is not easy, by any means. It is something that does take practice to really become good at. Be honest, be genuine, be calm and collected and just be yourself. Answer questions to the best of your ability with confidence. Admit when you do not know the answer to something.
Below, I’ve provided a link to a good article from the folks at getfive.com. They’ve written a lengthy guide on interviewing that would be beneficial to read.
Best of luck to you on your InfoSec journey and if you have any advice or feedback, I would love to hear it!