Employers use interviews to evaluate a candidate’s skills, professionalism, and interest in the employer’s work. The interview also allows the candidate to assess the organization to determine if it fits their interests and goals. The key to a successful interview is research and practice! Review the tips below and these two brief videos: Interview Preparation and Telling Your Story.

Need a private space to have a remote interview with an employer? OCS offers an interview room for Yale College undergraduates, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Science, and Postdoctoral students seeking a quiet space for virtual interviews. Interview rooms are available weekdays from 9:00am-4:00pm Monday-Friday when classes are in session.

To sign up for a 60-minute block of time, complete the following Request a Virtual Interview Room Form at least 24 hours in advance and someone will get back to you shortly to let you know if the room is available. Questions? contact Elizabeth.keane@yale.edu.

Types of Interviews

Interviews come in various flavors, and some combine different types. An overview of each is below, and visit the hyperlinks for preparation tips:

• The Behavioral Interview: Every interview has a behavioral portion, which includes discussing your resume, accomplishments, and the often-asked ‘Tell me About Yourself‘ question. Check out these sample behavioral interview questions and use this accomplishment stories worksheet to develop stories to use when answering behavioral questions.
• The Case Interview: Some employers use a case interview to gauge your problem-solving skills 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.
• Vault Career Guides: Provides interview advice for specific industries or fields. Yale students and postdocs are invited to register for this free resource.
• Big Interview: Licensed by OCS, this mock interview tool lets students choose among thousands of interview types, record their answers, and watch them back for further practice.
• Illegal Interview Questions: It is important to know which questions employers should not ask candidates and how to handle these in the rare event they are asked.