The employer will use the interview to evaluate your skills, professionalism, what motivates you, and your genuine interest in their work. Equally importantly, an interview gives you the chance to assess the organization and determine if it is a good fit for your interests and goals. The key to a successful interview is research and practice! Begin by reviewing the interviewing tips below and these two brief animated videos: Interview Preparation and Telling Your Story.
Different Types of Interviews
Interviews come in different flavors, and some interviews may even combine these different types. A brief overview is below, but be sure to choose the hyperlinks to view more details on each type of interview and tips on how to prepare
- The Behavioral Interview: Every interview has a behavioral portion, which includes a discussion of your resume, accomplishments, and the often-asked ‘Tell me About Yourself‘ question. Check out the sample behavioral interview questions compiled by OCS and use this accomplishment stories worksheet to develop the stories you’ll use when answering these behavioral questions.
- The Case Interview: In addition to behavioral interviewing questions, some employers will use a case interview to gauge your ability to problem solve in real-time. This is a popular interview format for consulting roles and marketing positions.
- The Technical Interview: Questions of a technical nature are used to assess specific skills and knowledge of a field. These questions are often used in interviews for computer science positions and technical finance roles.
- Firsthand Career Guides (previously Vault) also provide interviewing advice for specific industries or fields. Register to use this free resource for Yale students and postdocs.
- Big Interview: Licensed by OCS and free for all Yale students and postdocs, this mock interview tool allows students to choose among thousands of interview types, record their answers and watch them back for practice.
- Illegal Interview Questions: It is important to know that there are some questions employers should not be asking candidates, and also how to handle these in the rare event it happens.
