Interview Prep Program

Together with Dr. Goldfrank, we are offering current GW students interview preparation via resume clinics and mock interviews.

What makes a good resume?

Think about the role of a recruiter or a hiring manager (the person who would be your boss if you get hired); they likely have to sift through hundreds (or more!) resumes for a single position. They’re going to be scanning your resume, and/or probably using AI to filter down the slush pile. Your resume should make it easy for them to quickly identify that you should be someone they interview, by:

Following one of the easy-to-read templates available online (i.e. here). Don’t make them work harder to find out information about you!
Make sure that it contains the same keywords (i.e. Java or spark) that were listed in the job posting. This means you’ll likely need to tailor your resume to each job application. Don’t expect the recruiter (who is often non-technical), or worse, the AI filter, to know that tensorflow is very similar to pytorch if the posting only listed the latter.
Demonstrate that your previous experiences match with what the job posting is looking for by using the same keywords as the job posting, where applicable.
Be specific about deliverables, ROI, or any other value you added in your other roles.
Be prepared to have an explanation for any employment gaps (after college) or jobs that you left less than eighteen months into the role.
For a junior position (generally if you’re just graduating college with a BS and no other work experience after your degree), usually you will want your resume to fit in a single page (by cutting down details of previous less-relevant employment, if any).

There are many other things to discuss; if you’re interested in having us review your resume for you, send either one of us an email!

How do I prepare for an interview?

When you’re applying for an open position, keep in mind that you will be spending the majority of your waking hours in that building with those people. You’ll be reporting to that manager for the foreseeable future. It’s a big commitment, which is why interviews are often several hours long, with multiple rounds. You may be given a take-home coding assignment and/or asked to write code live at a computer or a whiteboard. You’ll want to make a good impression, and you’ll also want to evaluate whether you like them. Fortunately, you can do these things together by:

Doing your homework. Look up the company website, as well as any bios, research papers, blog posts, or anything else you can find online before you show up in person.
Being teachable. No one expects you to know everything, but can you learn? How would you look something up that you don’t know today? How would you teach yourself a new skill?
Being likeable. Are you pleasant to be around? Do you handle setbacks, frustration, and friction in a graceful and mature manner? Are you responsible? Are you fun? For better or for worse being a good “cultural fit” and/or someone who your colleagues would want to hang out at a happy hour with can be important. Write a thank-you email, ideally with something tailored to the individual, to everyone who you met during the interview.
Being trustworthy. If you don’t know something, it’s okay (and better) to say so, than to lie or try to BS the interviewer. They will know. Don’t ever lie.
Being an independent learner. Show that you make every effort to solve problems on your own before seeking out help. Show that you’re curious about the world and passionate about something you had to teach yourself via your personal coding projects.
Being technically impressive. During the coding/whiteboard portion of the interview, convince the team that you would be able to solve any problem you might run into on the job. Ask questions about the problem. Try to come up with test cases and potential edge cases. Make an outline of your solution. Admit when you’re struggling, or when you feel there is a better solution out there. Talk them through your thought process.

All this is a big ask, but it’s important: the company wants to be sure they are hiring someone who they want to see every day for the next few years.

If you’re interested in having us give you a mock behavioral and/or coding interview, stop by our office hours (Dr Kinga and/or Dr Goldfrank)!