Author: Summer White

Twenty-five years ago, business guru Tom Peters wrote a piece for Fast Company entitled The Brand Called You. The best-selling author suggested that in “The Age of the Individual”, a new brand order was sweeping the world — one in which we all had our part to play. Everyone, Peters said, had the chance to stand out.

And so the concept of a personal brand was born, a concept now more relevant than ever thanks to the prevalence of remote work and tough competition for top jobs. A degree and previous experience aren’t always enough in today’s job market; recruiters and hiring managers are increasingly looking for self-aware candidates who know how to sell themselves and their abilities well. Knowing who you are, what you want and where your strengths lie – and presenting that information effectively – is the key to modern-day career success.

Let’s take a closer look at what a personal brand is, why it’s important, and how to cultivate one.

What is personal branding, and why is it important?

Jeff Bezos famously said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” More formally put, we can define it as follows:

“A personal brand is widely recognised and largely uniform perception of an individual based on their experience, expertise, competencies (skills), personality, actions and/or achievements with a community, industry, or the marketplace at large.”

Many well-known people in the tech arena have become famous because they built strong personal brands. Think of online marketer, entrepreneur and investor Neil Patel, whose pay-it-forward attitude garnered him millions of followers across social media. Or Apple’s Steve Jobs, who literally ‘lived the brand’ through his cohesive aesthetic — reflected in his signature black turtleneck and blue jeans — that extended to the simple excellence of Apple products.

Another example is Wordstream founder Larry Kim, who realised producing lots of content on his personal account was far more powerful than hiring a PR team. His personal statement, “Be a unicorn in a sea of donkeys”, has made him so memorable that when some people see a stuffed unicorn, they think of Larry Kim.

How to build a personal brand

One of our FourthRev Career Coaches, Maiyo Febi, recently presented a masterclass in personal brand building, where she talked through the ‘why’ and practical ‘how’ of building a personal brand.

Maiyo said that building a personal brand starts with taking inventory of who you are and what your personality is about. Once you’ve got to grips with this, you can begin to assess what your expertise, experience, skills, and achievement looks like and combine them with your personality strengths to formulate a powerful statement. This way, when people ask you what you do, you can articulate what you bring to the table with confidence and fluency.

These are not small things to wrap your head around. To help, Maiyo unpacked each element:

• Personality: What makes you uniquely ‘you’? How do you position yourself to the outside world in a way that serves you every day?
• Experience: Don’t just think of your professional experience. ‘Experience’ encapsulates things outside of your work that you’ve been doing consistently over time too.
• Expertise: This is something you are uniquely good at and includes the work you’ve done and the roles you’ve held in different organisations.
• Competencies: These are your skills, both hard (technical) and soft (teamwork, communication, etc.) and your specific work-related strengths.
• Achievements: From degrees and education to prizes you’ve won, projects you’ve done in your community and milestones you’ve reached with your family, your achievements are the highlights of your career and personal life.

The building blocks of a personal brand

According to Maiyo, building a personal brand consists of three steps: Preparing, positioning and presenting. Here are some practical tips for each.

Preparation

Establish a base idea of your personality

Consider doing a personality test like Enneagram, Good.co, Brain Profiling, Myers-Briggs and Gallop Clifton Strengths. These tests can give you insight into yourself and help you amplify strengths and identify improvement areas.

Keep a record

Jot down the things you do during your working day, detailing the results you deliver and the value you create. Similarly, write down new things you learned or skills you recently developed, either through learning or work experience. Note how you’ve been performing. For example, if you have a KPIs system in place at work, how many did you reach in the last quarter? What set you up to win? Where could you improve?

Be vulnerable

This can be tough, but ask the people around you for feedback to address your blind spots. To get a holistic view, speak to colleagues and friends. Know whose opinion you value and will take seriously. A helpful tool is the Johari Window for developing self-awareness.

Spend time reflecting

Really understanding who you are and what you want out of life is so important to make changes that will positively affect you in the long-term. Ask yourself questions to identify the values, beliefs and goals that drive you. Some that you might consider:

• What is one thing that comes naturally to me?
• What do I really love doing?
• What would I do every day even if I weren’t paid for it?
• What do others ask me for help with?
• What do I bring to a team?
• What comes naturally to me even though it’s not part of my role?
• What value do I add?
• What skills am I paid for?
• What am I doing when I’m at my happiest?

Positioning

Positioning involves summarising your experience, expertise, personality, competencies and achievements. This forms the foundation of your unique selling point and informs how you introduce yourself at a networking event or interview, on the internet and in your CV. 

Maiyo suggests using the CAR method to break down your personal brand statement into three important sections:

1) Context or challenge (the base of the story)

2) Action (what did you do)

3) Result (what happened after the action you took)

As you’re working through this, make use of verbs, such as ‘I built’, ‘I provided’, ‘I changed’, ‘I helped’, ‘I developed’, to relay your active involvement in your story. Keep yourself at the centre and use words that are powerful but concise and easy to understand.

Presenting

Whether it’s online or in-person, you have to ‘live your own brand’. Once you know who you are and how to tell others your story in a compelling way, you need to keep it up and fully believe it yourself to yield the best results.

Here are ways to get it right:

• Communication: Use your body language and voice to your advantage. Look interested and lean into personal conversations.
• Appearance: Your appearance is powerful and plays a large role in creating a first impression. How do you want people to perceive you? 
• Consistency: Present yourself as the same person every time, everywhere. 
• Energy: What energy do you give off? This is subtle and something that can instantly attract or turn people away. Be aware of how you make people feel.
• Authenticity: Don’t try to be someone else. It’s easy to read fake people, and you’ll be caught out quickly.

An important part of the presentation aspect is increasing your digital footprint across media. More employers are requesting reports to understand who applicants really are, so how you show up online counts for a lot. When using social media, know your audience and choose where you want to be. Remember that you must be able to own, protect and defend whatever you post.

You can grow your personal brand on social platforms through status updates, reviews, opinions, comments, and sharing articles and posts that reflect who you are. Ensure you align your profiles wherever they are — from Github to Substack, LinkedIn and Twitter — to create consistency and sell your brand convincingly.

Get help with your personal brand building

If you enrol in one of our Career Accelerators, you’ll get access to five sessions with a dedicated Career Coach, like Maiyo, who can help you with goal setting, networking tips, personal branding, developing a growth mindset, teaching you how to leverage your LinkedIn profile and preparing for an interview.

If you’re interested in finding out more about our Career Accelerators and how a Career Coach can help you develop and execute your own personal brand, book a call with one of our Enrolment Advisors today.

• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s UX & UI Product Design Career Accelerator 
• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator
• Book a call with an advisor on the LSE Data Analytics Career Accelerator

Today’s employers, especially in tech, are looking for specific employability and personal skills, and one particularly important skill they’re scanning for is leadership. Why the tech industry specifically? As the authors explain in this Harvard Business Review (HBR) article, the tech industry’s combination of high-velocity competition, global talent, complexity, and interdependence among rivals makes it a truly unique environment, requiring employees to have a distinct set of leadership skills.

Even if you are not considering a leadership position, developing leadership skills is critical because it can give you a competitive edge when applying for a job or promotion. It also makes you more resilient, adapt to stressful situations and bounce back from difficult experiences. Most importantly, it can act as a multiplier on the effectiveness of your ‘hard’ technical skills.

Let’s take a closer look at key leadership skills needed for a career in tech and how you can start developing them to grow in your career.

What is leadership?

Leadership is defined as a process of social influence which maximises the efforts of others towards the achievement of a goal. A big part of being a good leader is personal leadership which, according to business psychologist Grace Asemota-Orisakiya, is ‘the ability to take responsibility for all aspects of your life and lead it in the direction that is best for you.’

This shows that anyone can be a leader. You don’t need to be the most senior, have a fancy title, a particular personality or be working in a management role. If you possess the skills needed to engage, interact with and influence the people around you effectively and positively, you have what it takes to be a leader. 

The most important leadership skills for digital roles

To succeed in a tech career, you need to possess a range of interpersonal skills, including strong communication, agility, self-awareness, influence, decision-making, conflict management, relationship building and critical thinking.

When considering the leadership skills that employers value most, HBR argues that communication and agility are what will set you apart. The Centre for Creative Leadership suggests that self-awareness and the ability to exert influence are also key. Let’s take a closer look at these four skills, why they’re so highly valued and how you can work on developing them.

Communication

Tech professionals need strong communication skills to explain complex concepts and build relationships with their colleagues and clients. Presentations and meetings aside, a lot of technical communication – from documentation to code review comments, group discussion threads, and combining requirements for a specific project – relies on good written communication to ensure the job gets done.

Quick tips to improve your communication skills

• Keep it simple and be specific. Avoid speaking in jargon or using acronyms in written communication.
• Practise active listening, a communication skill that goes beyond simply hearing the words to understanding their meaning and intent. Show interest, make good eye contact, notice non-verbal cues, ask open-ended questions, and reflect on what has been said before you respond.
• Set goals to build your communication confidence, such as networking, delivering a presentation or raising a point in a meeting.

Agility

We all need to learn to adapt and thrive in situations that are uncertain, and when you don’t know what to do, being agile is the key. Tech employees, in particular, often face high pressure and ambiguity as they navigate overlapping and shared accountabilities. Being agile means, you not only tolerate uncertainty and change but embrace and drive through it, demonstrating effective and compassionate leadership.

Quick tips to become more agile

• Take action by focusing on what you can control so that you keep moving forward. 
• Increase your learning agility, or your ability to ‘know what to do when you don’t know what to do’. This includes learning from experience, getting out of your comfort zone, embracing new challenges, and pushing for new ideas.
• Develop your technical skills by attending relevant courses. By staying up to date with what’s going on in your industry, you are more resilient to change and can avoid the stressful situation of having to learn as you go.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness – how we see ourselves and how we think others see us – is essential when working with diverse teams. Without self-awareness and self-knowledge, it’s difficult to be a good leader because you don’t know what you’re good at, where you need help, and what situations throw you off track.

Research suggests that when we can see ourselves clearly, we are more creative and confident. We build stronger relationships, make sounder decisions, and communicate more effectively.

Quick tips to develop self-awareness

• Ask for feedback. It’s one of the fastest ways to learn about yourself and grow.
• Keep a journal to help you understand yourself better.
• Ask ‘what,’ not ‘why’. For example, don’t ask ‘Why am I not being productive today?’ but rather ‘What about my environment is influencing my productivity?’ ‘What’ questions help us stay objective and find solutions more easily.

Influence

Influence is getting someone to voluntarily do what you want them to do. It should not be confused with power or control or manipulating others to get your way. Rather, it’s based on trust and working effectively with people over whom you have no authority. You want to inspire them to behave in a particular way, leveraging key tactics that involve, connect, and engage them.

Quick tips to become more influential

• Leading by example is a great way to positively influence clients, co-workers and individuals. 
• Build trust by showing a genuine concern for others’ interests, needs, motivations, and values.
• Appeal to their logic by tapping into others’ rational and intellectual positions. By doing this, you won’t struggle to get them to follow your lead.

Hone your leadership skills to excel at your tech job

Developing soft skills is often overlooked by tech professionals during their studies or at the start of their careers. This means exposure to human skills, such as leadership, might not happen until you’re well-established in the workplace. 

One of the best ways to understand, internalise and practise leadership skills is by working with a Career Coach to unpack your strengths, areas of improvement and career ambitions.

If you’re interested in finding out more about our Career Accelerators and how a Career Coach can help you become a leader in your own career, book a call with one of our Enrolment Advisors today. 

• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s UX & UI Product Design Career Accelerator 
• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator
• Book a call with an advisor on the LSE Data Analytics Career Accelerator

You’ve probably heard the phrase: “Your network is your net worth,’ a punchy modern take on ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.

Increasingly referred to as ‘social capital,’ networking is defined as building, maintaining, and using relationships for career advancement. It has become a powerful tool to advance your career and provide an enduring interpersonal safety net that will carry you through hard times. In today’s interconnected world, where so much relies on word-of-mouth, reputation, and personal referrals, a strong network of people who can vouch for you is more important than ever.

Some people may find networking daunting. If you’re one of them, remember you don’t have to befriend the whole world to take this career progression opportunity. Because there are so many channels, you can choose the ones you feel most comfortable with. If you’re wondering where to pick up from, follow along for our easy guide to start networking.

Networking can help you grow your career

A professional network can offer many things, but perhaps the most talked about is career growth. Research shows that people with stronger networks earn higher salaries and are promoted more often throughout their careers. Studies also show that people with diverse contacts have better access to information that helps them be more innovative in the workplace.

Benefits of networking

• When you interact with others, you constantly gather information, which helps you learn, grow, and perform at a higher level. You can use your network to gain insights about your industry, for example, by talking to a thought leader on LinkedIn, getting feedback on an important project by interacting with peers or gaining tips on how to excel at your organisation by talking to senior leaders. 

• It boosts your profile and reputation within your industry and often serves as a career progression opportunity. The more people see your face, learn your name, and associate you with a certain skill set, the more clout you will build.

• When job hunting, a network can introduce you to opportunities before they’re advertised, and you get to meet the right employers, clients, or people who could be a stepping stone to changing your life.

• You gain access to influential people who you would have a hard time getting in touch with otherwise. Industry events often feature workshops from business leaders and pros from other parts of the world.

• Seeing how others in similar positions have attained top positions can provide you with a roadmap for your own career development.

• You stay up-to-date on the industry, news, and trends. Attending events like workshops or seminars, or talking to people who are leaders in their fields, means you continually have access to the latest information and strategies.

• It builds self-confidence in your abilities when interacting with other professionals in your field, especially as you get used to presenting your skill set and speaking to people in top positions.

Practical advice to start networking

Here are practical steps to get your career networking off the ground.

Build a personal brand

FourthRev Career Coach, Maiyo Febi, says that before you start networking, it’s important to build a personal brand. A personal brand is a ‘perception of an individual based on their experience, expertise, skills, personality, actions and/or achievements within a community, industry or the marketplace.’

She urges professionals to take inventory of who they are and what their personality is about. Doing an online personality test, such as Enneagram or the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment, is a good place to start. Combine your personality test outcome with your expertise, experience, skills, and achievements to formulate a powerful statement that sells you who you are well. This way, when you’re at a networking event, and people ask you what you do, you’ll be able to articulate what you bring to the table with confidence and fluency.

Launch yourself on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an excellent professional networking platform that offers various career advancement opportunities. Another one of our Career Coaches, Adele Leah, suggests that once you’ve updated and optimised your profile, you should join groups relevant to your industry and request recommendations from your first-degree connections. 

Regularly interact with posts and comments, and use hashtags in posts you create so that you’re easy to find. Because LinkedIn is primarily about making connections, Adele suggests you upgrade to Premium, even if only for a short time, to boost your search functionality and the number of connections you can make. 

Join Meetup and other networking events and groups

Meetup has been around for over two decades and is still considered one of the most effective social networking platforms for connecting individuals with shared interests. Meetup groups are organised around various themes, such as technology, entrepreneurship, marketing, coding, and even professional networking.

When you sign up, you’ll be able to pick a category such as ‘boost your career’ and then find groups or events in your area. On the group page, you can see its members, the organiser/s, events, photos, and discussions. When you find something that interests you, simply request to join. 

You can also give Eventbrite and Facebook a whirl or look for Mastermind group meet-ups using a simple Google search. These events happen in person or via video conference and are designed to get you thinking critically about your industry and profession. In these groups, members share their knowledge and skills and support each other in reaching their goals.

Harness the power of professional associations

Professional associations, such as TechUK, often hold events and conferences that provide the opportunity to meet people face-to-face. In addition to networking opportunities and one-on-one conversations with industry experts, you can access educational resources and training programmes through workshops and seminars.

Connect with industry experts and likeminded peers through a Career Accelerator

When you enrol in one of our Career Accelerators, we provide ongoing opportunities to network with peers and experts in the field during live facilitator-led sessions, masterclass presentations and in an online forum.

During the Employer Project, learners interact directly with employers and experts in the field by working on a real business problem set by an Employer Partner. Working as part of a small group, you’ll get to ask questions, pitch your ideas, construct a complete solution and receive feedback.

Learners who live in the same area often organise in-person meet-ups, which is another great way to build working relationships.

Use your network to make your next career move

Whether you’re starting your career journey, making a career switch, or are solely focused on career progress and growth, networking is a critical competency. Based on trust and support, and with the potential to open up a whole new world of opportunities, it can mean the difference between an ordinary career and a phenomenal one. 

Once you’ve chosen your networking channels and prepared your personal brand statement, reach out, introduce yourself, shake some hands, and start talking to people. You’re only a conversation away from your next great connection!

• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s UX & UI Product Design Career Accelerator 
• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator
• Book a call with an advisor on the LSE Data Analytics Career Accelerator

To ensure that our Career Accelerator learners continue to have access to the support and resources they need to achieve their career goals, we’ve created the FourthRev Community.

Every learner that completes a Career Accelerator programme is invited to join the community on Slack, where we encourage everyone to connect and network, ask career questions, share industry learnings and reach out for help when they’re experiencing a career challenge. We share articles and podcasts from our university and tech partners regularly and also host a variety of online events, including webinars, live Q&A sessions with our Career Coaches and networking socials.

Get expert advice from our Career Coaches

We’ve devoted one of our community Slack channels to ‘career questions’, where we encourage our members to reach out with anything career-related that’s on their mind. Our coaches all weigh in, offering expert advice and guidance through posts or voice notes.

This month, our community members were curious about:

• How to present themselves when meeting new people at networking events or job interviews 
• Tips for pivoting in their careers
• How to build a personal brand and create a winning elevator pitch

Here are some of the questions we received and the advice our Career Coaches shared:

Q: I’m nervous to go out and start networking. Do you have any insights that can help me?

Don’t think of it as networking; think of it as relationship building
Emma: “I’ve found it helpful to reframe how you think about it. In your mind, change the idea from ‘networking’ to ‘relationship building’. Thinking of it that way personally gave me permission to do it my way. In general, I find people like talking about their interests and careers, so you can be effective at networking by taking a genuine interest in other people.”

Have an opening statement
Alice: “For me, it’s about being clear about what my opening statement is going to be, especially for in-person networking. I feel more confident when I’ve practised what I will say when someone asks me, ‘What do you do?’”

Focus on the other person
Adele: “In the past, when I went out to network, I’d focus on myself and what I was going to say or do. This used to make me feel really frazzled. Networking totally changed for me when I shifted the focus to who I was going to meet and what I could ask them to find out more about them and engage with them. It was a game changer, and I found I built great relationships, found out lots of interesting information, and felt a whole lot less nervous.”

Be clear on what you want to communicate
Maiyo: “I struggled to focus on communicating my core message: Out of all the things I can do, what was the most important thing I wanted people to know? The clearer I became about that, the easier it was for me to network.”

Read the room and adapt accordingly
Clare: “It is a great feeling when you meet someone, and the conversation flows, rather than those awkward interactions. I also find that I need to reflect on the message as the core message might change or need to be adapted slightly depending on the purpose of the networking.”

Q: I’m looking to change industries. Should I focus on building my network and personal brand first or get out there and “fake it ‘til I make it”?

Let your unique attributes shine through
Tracy: “I would own the new version of you. Be confident. People are unlikely to hire you if you don’t have faith in the new version of yourself. Remember what makes you different from the rest and embrace it.”

Be true to yourself
Alice: “Be your authentic self, and you will find roles that align with you more.”

Q: When pivoting a career and writing a LinkedIn or CV summary, is it better to explain the past or to focus on the future?

Strike a balance between what you can already bring to the table and where you’d like to focus your growth
Alice: “When making a career change, those summaries can be so important to explain why you have pivoted. I would suggest that you touch on key parts of your past experience and the transferable skills you have gained, but also talk about your career goals now, like what you want to achieve or get into and what steps you are taking to get there – for example, enrolling in the Career Accelerator programme.”

Q: What are some tips you would give to someone looking to make a career change, particularly if they have been in the same industry for a long time?

Start by visualising your ideal career and work backwards
Alice: “I recommend exploring and clarifying what a great job looks like for you. You can do this by reflecting on your past career and working out what your motivators are, what your values are, what your transferable skills and strengths are and what conditions enable you to thrive. Clarifying these factors will paint a picture of what an ideal role looks like for you.”

Q: I’ve heard that it’s useful to have an elevator pitch. How do I put one together?

Keep it quick and to the point

Tracy: “Your elevator pitch is sort of a condensed version of your branding statement. When you meet someone for the first time, what are the key pieces of information you want them to know about you? Ultimately, it’s the strengths, skills and experience that you’ve got – and if relevant, the sector that you’ve been in.

Your elevator pitch will be adapted depending on who your audience is. So for a recruiter, for example, I would go on to say what you were looking for in your next role.
In terms of how long your pitch should be, I would try to stick to 30 seconds. Some people talk about a 60-second elevator pitch, but in today’s world, unfortunately, people have short attention spans. You need to grab them and make sure they’ve understood your core message quickly, so I always suggest 30 seconds max.”

Get the answers you need for your career

We’ll be sharing more insights from our community and Career Coaches on a regular basis. If you’re interested in making a change in your digital skills career and working directly with a coach to meet your goals, book a call with one of our enrolment advisors to find out more about our Career Accelerator programmes. 

• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s UX & UI Product Design Career Accelerator 
• Book a call with an advisor on the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator
• Book a call with an advisor on the LSE Data Analytics Career Accelerator

In the 2022 Future of Work Global Report, ‘interview presence’ was listed as the number one factor that stands out to HR managers and recruiters conducting candidate interviews. This came above ‘relevant work experience’ at number two and ‘skills match’ at number three. 

With so many professionals looking for their next opportunity, the pressure to perform well in an interview is high. We’ve put together a few tips to help you feel more confident in your preparation and performance on the day.

1. Do your research

• Start by reading the job post several times to ensure you thoroughly understand what they’re looking for: Take note of specific words they use to describe the ideal person for the job. Recruiters tend to immediately cross off applicants who they think didn’t read the job description or requirements.
• Research the company to understand what they do and see if you share the same work values and culture: Look in their website’s ‘about us’ section to review the mission statement, company history, culture, products and services, and management structure. A solid grasp of their mission and operating style will help you both answer and ask questions in your interview more confidently.
• Browse their social pages: Visit their LinkedIn page to get up to speed on the company’s recent projects, as well as new hires, promotions, vacancies, and other companies they are connected to. Follow the company’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more about their employees, events, achievements and customer interactions. This will give you a more holistic idea about the company and might even prompt talking points. 
• You can also sign up for their newsletter and Google them to find out what others and the media have written about them: The more you know about the company, the better you’ll be able to position yourself as someone who will bring value to them.

2. Optimise your application

Submitting a job application is typically the first contact you have with a potential employer – and, hopefully, what will get you an interview in the first place. Whether you apply via email using your CV and a cover letter or apply online using a template, you have to ensure the content of your application is primed for the job you’re applying for. 

• If the CV is run through an applicant tracking system (ATS), you should optimise your copy to include keywords used in the job posting: If not, the person vetting your CV needs to pick up that you are a skills match quickly. Ask someone with language skills to cast an eye over your application, or run it through Grammarly and ask a mentor or a friend in the industry to read it for clarity. For more info, read our top tips for boosting your CV.
• Many employers use applicants’ social media pages as a screening tool before hiring: Clean up all your social media pages, removing anything that can put you in a bad light. If you don’t have any social media profiles, consider at least a basic LinkedIn page with information about you, your qualifications and past experience. 
• Write a cover letter that frames you as the perfect candidate: Keep your sentences short and include as much relevant information as you can efficiently fit into a few paragraphs. If the employer likes what they read, they will use the interview process to learn more about the goals or skills you mention in your cover letter.
• If you’re applying for a tech job, like a UX designer or software engineer, for example, your online portfolio will give interviewers an idea of your skill set and topics to discuss with you: List three to five projects with quantifiable descriptions and position yourself as a curious experimenter that has taken on and completed programming challenges.

3. Be organised for the screening call

If you’ve made it through the first round, the company could contact you for an initial phone or video call interview. Here they’ll verify your qualifications and experience and ask logistical questions such as where you’re located and if you’re willing to relocate if needed. They’ll also assess your overall motivation for the role, company and industry. This is your chance to give the recruiter confidence in your claims and assure them that you meet the requirements of the role and that you are a good fit for the company. 

• Once the phone or video interview is scheduled, prepare a quiet, uncluttered place where you can take the call. 
• If it’s a video call, ensure you are neatly dressed and groomed.
• Test your webcam, microphone and video chat software 15 minutes before the interview.
• Ensure you know the name of the person interviewing you, and have pen and paper ready to take notes.
• Listen carefully, don’t interrupt and be conversational and upbeat in your responses.

4. Map out your skills and previous experience to ace the behavioural interview

During the main interview process, interviewers will test your capabilities by asking you competency-based, behavioural and technical questions, giving you the chance to show you have the experience and skills needed to do the job well.

Competency-based job interview questions and answers relate to the skills required to perform the job. Your responses will typically be compared to a pre-identified list of answers. They will look at whether you have the hard skills needed to do the job, but also if you have the relevant soft skills—communication, teamwork, leadership, and attention to detail, amongst others.

Behavioural questions are used to gauge how you overcame/developed/resolved real-life scenarios and are designed to let the candidate talk. They could ask you to:

• Give an example of how you solved a problem in a creative way
• Describe your biggest achievement to date
• Explain why they should hire you
• Explain how you achieved a goal that seemed out of reach
• Describe a situation in which you successfully led a team

Prepare for these types of questions by going back to experiences you’ve had in the past, the actions you took and the results you achieved. Look at the tried-and-tested STAR methodology that guides you on how to tell a story by laying out the Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

For more info on preparing for these questions, look at these great job interview tips from a FourthRev Career Coach.

5. Keep calm during a technical interview

Those applying for a job in tech will likely be asked to complete a technical assessment or attend a technical interview. This may be a homework-type assignment or conducted via Skype or Zoom and a web-based code editor like CoderPad or Collabedit. Sometimes technical interviews are conducted in person, in which case you’ll use a whiteboard while standing in front of the interview panel.

Here are some examples of what they could ask of you:

• Give a technical presentation using PowerPoint. 
• Write code in real-time or complete a coding test.
• Work out a tech problem on a whiteboard and present your solution to the panel.

To get an idea of how big tech companies conduct technical interviews, look at Google’s Job Interview Questions and the Asana Engineering Interview. The technical interview can be long, sometimes taking up most of the day. During the test, interviewers—members of the engineering team, a senior developer, or even the CTO—will want to hear you explain your thought process as you work through a problem. This gives them insight into how well you know your subject, your personality, your ability to solve problems in a structured and systematic way, and how well you work under pressure.

Bonus Tip: Make a lasting impression on interview day

Familiarise yourself with the interviewer’s face, name and title by looking them up on LinkedIn. Regarding the dress code, it’s a good idea to dress one level above the company’s dress code. For example, if the company allows jeans and T-shirts, you should dress in business casual. 

Go through the directions the evening before, and give yourself enough time to get lost and still arrive 15 minutes early.

After the interview, send a general note of thanks to everyone. If you haven’t heard back after a week, send a short follow-up email reiterating your interest in the role and asking about potential next steps.

Work with a Career Coach to get 1:1 interview support

Career coaching plays a fundamental role in all of our Career Accelerator programmes. Every learner works with a dedicated coach to help them map out their career goals and plan their next move. We’ve had several examples of Career Coaches helping learners to secure fantastic career outcomes, including landing roles at major companies, doubling their salaries and pivoting into completely new positions and industries. 

If you’d like to find out more about our Career Accelerators and how a Career Coach can help you prepare for your next job interview or career move, book a call with one of our Enrolment Advisors.

• Book a call to discuss the King’s UX & UI Product Design Career Accelerator 
• Book a call to discuss the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator 
• Book a call to discuss the LSE Data Analytics Career Accelerator