What I Learned From My First Interview out of Bootcamp 
Tags: interview
Published: 2020-06-23 21:18:57

After applying for about a month and half, I finally had my first interview for a technical writing position. I gave myself a week to prepare for it and learned important things about the company, myself, and the art of the interview along the way. 

## Leverage Your Past Experiences 
Graduates from non-traditional backgrounds (like myself) may think they have little experience in the way of technical knowledge. That’s generally not the case. Companies value experiences that show character and align with their principles. 

Before my interview, I brainstormed a couple examples of times I created value in my workplace based on the company's guiding principles. There were many leadership-type questions that I felt especially unprepared for, but I dug deep and came up with experiences that—while not necessarily hitting every bullet—provided the interviewer with a good picture of where I was in my career. 

## Get Excited About Yourself
I consider myself more of a listener and talking about myself can be hard at times. However, the interview was great validation that my achievements were worth hearing about. Do you have a habit that melds well with the company? Consider sharing it. I love looking at data and analyzing trends. This proved to be a high point during my interview and gave my interviewers and I plenty to talk about. 

## Realize that You Can Never Study Enough
I have a hard time gauging when I am ready to do something. I usually over-prepare, or try to, and end up exhausting myself. Now, I do believe there’s a point where you become an expert at something, but that usually isn’t going to happen in the week or month that you have to prep for an interview. I went through the job description and highlighted areas that I felt I was well prepared for had a working knowledge of. That left me with a few blank spaces that I focused on. Specifically, I started a free online tutorial on the subject matter and by the end of the week I could at least answer a few questions on a submit I had barely known about a week prior. Of course, I also brushed up on the areas I felt familiar with just to check myself.

## Reach Out 
Although my recruiter had provided me with some information, it wasn’t a complete itinerary of the interview. In fact, I spent a day focusing on algorithms because the confirmation email mentioned a coding challenge. I’m glad I contacted the recruiter early. He let me know that there would not, in fact, be a coding challenge during the interview and to focus on behavioral questions. That’s not to say there weren’t any technical questions, but I found the behavioral questions more involved than the technical ones. 

I also reached out to an acquaintance who had interviewed with the same company. Although we interviewed for different positions, his knowledge was useful when it came to the overall structure of the interview. 


## First of Many 
To say I was nervous before my first interview would be an understatement. I was an anxious mass of nerves and frantic heartbeats. I wish I could time travel and tell myself to be less nervous. It’s important to remember that interviews are really just conversations, and that the more you do them, the better you become. 

## In Short
Research, study, and be kind to yourself. You got this!