"To be a great interviewee, do your homework." Prepared interviewees can be great interviewees. This was my #1 piece of advice for the Data Science for All by Correlation One student cohort about how to be a great interviewee with the awesome Teneika Askew.
To be a great interviewee, you must tell stories about what you’ve done. Try reading these books about how to be a better storyteller:
Everyday Business Storytelling: Create, Simplify, and Adapt A Visual Narrative for Any Audience, Kurnoff / Lazarus. A simple, straightforward book on how to be a better storyteller at work. Simple yet deeply wise.
The Big Picture: How to Use Data Visualization to Make Better Decisions, Steve Wexler. I chose this one, along with Storytelling with Data1 and Effective Data Storytelling2, because the group was studying data literacy, and those are my top three right now.
Then, for your next interview, do this:
Do your homework. Here’s how to prepare: before an interview, CONNECT with your interviewer on LinkedIn, READ about them, and take notes. That helps you establish empathy and connection. For more, read about the Connect-Read-Write system3.
When you get a tricky question, tell a story. The best way to answer a challenging question like "tell me about a tough situation you faced and how you handled it" is to show, don't tell. Don't give me platitudes--tell me a story of a challenge you faced and how you handled it.
Use the S.O.A.R. technique. Use the S.O.A.R storytelling structure: what your Situation was, what your Objective was, what Obstacle you faced, what Action you took to overcome it, and what the Results were. S.O.A.R. is my variation on Indeed’s STAR4 on how to be an awesome storyteller in an interview.
Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
The STAR storytelling technique, Indeed.
Just picked up "Everyday Business Storytelling" on your recco - starting nodding in agreement almost as soon as I began reading. Rethinking past presentations and looking forward to the next one with new enthusiasm. Thanks!