We’ve all been there before—the anxious night’s sleep before the interview, not knowing what to expect, running through how you would respond to certain questions when you’re in the shower… or is that just us? Nonetheless, we can all agree that interviewing for a new job is nerve-wracking.
So, we reached out to our Dot Foods recruiting team and asked them for their tips and tricks for nailing your next interview.
- Be interested & present: Make sure you’re actively showing interest in the role and the company, and mentally present during the interview. If you seem disinterested in trying to get the job, recruiters and interviewers may get the impression that you’re not interested in doing the job.
- Do some research ahead of time: You always hear people say, “come prepared for your interview.” But what does that even mean? For many of the recruiters on the Dot Foods team, they say that being prepared means doing your research. Come to the interview with questions that show you’re interested and that you care.
Curious what a day in the life of a warehouse material handler is like? Ask! Not 100 percent sure what Dot does? They can answer that for you. Worried about whether or not your position would have to travel a lot? They’d love to chat with you about it. - If interviewing at Dot, be prepared for a Behavioral Interview: Behavioral interviews (BI) can be a confusing concept—so we put together a blog post all about what they are and how you can prepare for them that you can reference here.
- Use specific examples: Dot recruiters recommend using the acronym C.A.R. to best succeed in your BI.
C.A.R. stands for Circumstances, Action, and Result. When answering a behavioral interview question, you are taking on the role of a storyteller. In the story you tell, we want to know what the circumstances were, what action you took, and the results of your actions.
It can be easy to start very broad and say, “I do that every day in my job.” But our recruiting team is looking for specific examples—a particular time and instance where you did something and you shined doing it. - Ask for help from your peers and family: Your peers and your current coworkers and managers will be your best resources when trying to come up with specific situations to use in your interview! They have witnessed you in action, and they have seen what critical solutions have come from any sticky situations you may have been in.
These are also good people to bounce potential answer ideas off of. They may also be willing to conduct a mock interview so you can practice! - Be confident: While interviewing makes most people nervous, do your best to be confident in your skills and abilities! Whether you have directly related work experience or not, we know you have something unique to bring to the table.
- Put a smile on!: Showing up with a smile can make a huge difference! Not only does it make an applicant more approachable, but it also helps break the ice as soon as you walk in the room.
Overall, interviewing is not everyone’s favorite thing or everyone’s forte, but we hope these tips and tricks from Dot’s recruiting team help ease your nerves a bit before your next interview!