In an interview, being efficient is crucial—it’s important to avoid wasting time at all costs.
Your path to efficiency begins even before the interview, starting with your CV and cover letter. A key recommendation is to keep both documents to a single page, even if it means trimming some details from your resume. Your application is likely one among dozens, if not hundreds.
Consider whether a potential employer wants to navigate multiple pages. They are busy individuals seeking the best candidate while also managing their own responsibilities.
If my advice doesn’t resonate with you, perhaps insights from Dan Space, a former HR professional at Spotify and EA (Electronic Arts), might be more persuasive.
Space shared his thoughts on Instagram, advising against asking the common interview question, “What does success look like in 30, 60, 90 days?”
While this query aims to provide insight into the workplace, Space argued that it doesn’t offer much value.
“This is always on the top 10 questions to make sure you ask in an interview but I don’t really think it’s that valuable and I think this for two big reasons,” he explained to his nearly 15,000 Instagram followers.
“One is that I don’t think you’re going to get as a candidate meaningful information that’s really going to be valuable to you, and two you’re not asking a question that helps you stand out.
“Like I’ve said with hiring managers who have three or four really really good candidates and can’t make a good decision, like any of the four would do well, and in many cases they start to go the questions that the candidate asked essentially as a way to help them decide.
“And if you have four really good candidates and three ask ‘what does 30, 60, 90 days success look like’, and you sort of gave them what you think the predictions would look like if the person takes the role, but then one person asked a really, really provocative question that helped make them stand out… to me, that does better for you.”
In a video, Space discussed an interview with CNBC where he concluded that the question is “just a waste of time.”
In summary, steer clear of questions that are likely to be repeated by others. Thoroughly prepare and ask something unique to make a memorable impression.