Pushpay is one of Summer of Tech’s prominent sponsors based in Auckland. Marcus Bristol, Engineering Manager, has mentored a number of students through our programme over the years. This year, he is sharing his interview tips and tricks for students from the perspective of an employer.

Interviewing with the right workplace

Marcus started off by talking about Pushpay's blameless culture. This means that if a problem occurs, it is always a problem with the process, and never a problem with the people. Marcus shared that students need to look for an immersive growth culture and pathway for them to grow within the company. Employers, on the other hand, look for passion, excitement, attitude, and aptitude within their potential interns.

Understanding the interview format

Interviews are usually started with small talk, and these will usually begin with an ice-breaker. The employer will generally lead this part. Even though this part does not seem relevant, it helps build and establish a rapport with the interviewer. It might be a nice touch to keep up with current events and news here to have something to talk about with your interviewers!

When answering their questions, you might think they are asking some stupid or irrelevant questions. This is usually them trying to get an understanding of how you really are or how you think. You may also feel their questions get a bit personal - the most common (and trickiest) interview question is "tell me about yourself", so make sure you have practiced answering this question. A good technique for this question to address the following:

Your background
Your strengths
What you're looking for in the role

Questions for interviewers

There are many good questions to ask your interviewers. Just pick a few that you think are the most interesting. Here are some suggestions that you can use as reference:

Marcus' current favourite: What type of candidate is most successful in this role?
What are some mistakes people have made in this role?
How will my performance be evaluated?
How has covid affected your business?

Don't come with absolutely no questions otherwise it seems like you aren't interested.

Some questions you shouldn't ask:

Do I get paid to commute to work?
How much vacation time do I get?
How long is lunch break?
Can I work from home?

Students practiced their introduction applying the technique that was shared by Marcus

The short of it - how to prepare for a job interview

Ensure you have done your research on the company and the role you are applying for. What does the company do? What products and services do they offer? What are the company’s goals? All of this information is usually available on their website.

Plan

What will you wear (usually one level more formal than usual)?
Where are you going?
How will you get there?
Who are you meeting?
When do you need to be there? Try to arrive about five minutes early, but be willing to wait. Avoid arriving more than five minutes early.
Practice some example questions. You might find it helpful to practice with a friend.
Consider what types of questions you might get asked. Experience, interests, and goals are all popular topics.
Think about stories you can tell. Try to keep them pretty general so you can try and morph and use them to make them relevant for multiple questions. Shorter is better when telling stories. If the interviewers are interested in additional details, they will ask questions prompting you to elaborate.
Be prepared to elaborate and expand on what you have talked about on your CV. This is important. You don’t want to be caught out without an answer for something you are advertising about yourself.

Way to answer a question: STAR Technique

Situation: What happened?
Task: What was your role?
Action: What did you do, and what you spent your time on?
Result: What was the outcome?

Some more things to keep in mind:

Keep calm
Smile
Firm handshake
Accept water if offered. It is fine to drink water during your interview!
Use their names
Lean forward to seem confident
Pause to think. It is ok to pause.
Ask for clarification when you need
Keep it conversational
Be honest
Tell stories
Follow up afterwards, send an email saying thank you for the opportunity
Enjoy the learning experience!

How To Ace Your Job Interview