My friend Lisa is the co-founder of Kitchener-based company Overlap Associates. She recently opened a second office in England. Imagine that commute! She started her company six and a half years ago with three employees. Now, they employ 25!

Recently, while on a long stop over coming home, Lisa shared with me the advice she gave to her daughter going into her first ever interview. While her daughter was going for a retail job, I think there is a message in what she shared for everyone in this. Here is the text Lisa sent me (minus the title). Yep, it was this long. 

Lisa’s Best Interview Tips

First of all, smile. Be yourself. Follow the lead of who is interviewing you – if they are relaxed, be relaxed. If they are formal, sit up and lean in. If they are disorganized, don’t point out that ‘they could have read that already’ in your application.

They’ll want someone who shows enthusiasm for their business – and someone they can imagine in front of their customers. Answer their questions as best as you can – stick to what they’ve asked, don’t go rambling into other areas.

Answering Questions:

1. Give a simple yes or no-type statement – and repeat the question to buy your mind time to think of an example.

2. Give a relevant example of where you have demonstrated or experienced what they are asking. Bit of storytelling goes well. It should be work related but you can also pepper in school and home examples.

3. Finish with a summary – something like ‘So, yes, I thrive working in a fast paced environment…’

Themes to think about in advance:  

Teamwork – Do you work well with others?

Customer experience – Example of how you handled someone who was grumpy or not happy with their experience

Punctuality – Showing up on time and being organized. How will you be able to take this on with everything else you do?

Retail – Will you be able to work a till? Can you do math in your head? Inventory? Can you take instructions? Can you deliver based on little instruction?

Availability – What kind of times can you commit to working? What about holidays?

Sales – Do you know anything about the art of selling?

And other stuff that is usual for interviews … What is your best quality? What is your greatest weakness ? When did you handle something badly and why? How would someone else describe you?

And finally!!! When they ask if you have any questions – seize the moment to be memorable and set yourself apart from the others! Don’t ask a boring/nothing question. Instead, tell something personal about why them… why you would love to be part of their team and work for them.

Enjoy the experience. Whatever happens the experience of an interview is always valuable.

A final, personal anecdote from Lisa…My mom drove me to my first real interview (at McDonald’s) and I remember getting in a fight on the way because she didn’t think I was prepared or something along those lines … I got the job – and then quit after 3 weeks!!!

Do you have any tips for interviewing? Or a good story from an interview or your first job? I’d love to hear it!

A bit more…Prepare for these common interview questions,  Writing a cover letter and Tips for writing a great resume