The ability to pass interviews and the skill of self-presentation is one of the main things to prepare for when looking for a job in the States. There is even a dedicated mockup interview service called stellarpeers.com. This platform is used by products from all over the world. By the way, Indians spend most of their time on preparation – they take it with their perseverance.
How does the mockup platform work? You put an hour slot in the general calendar and write: “I am Anna, I want to practice behavioral questions.” You can work out any questions: design, metrics, self-presentation.
Then a person is added to you who also wants to practice this type of question. You meet through Hangouts at the scheduled time. He trains you for half an hour, the rest of the time you interview him. This is extremely useful: you understand the structure of the answers to different types of questions and practice timing.
It is important for beginners to learn how to fit their answer into the limited interview time. Let’s say you were asked the question, “How would you design YouTube for astronauts?” If you hear such a question for the first time, then it leads to a stupor, and it is almost impossible to solve it in 20 minutes.
Another unconditional value of this platform is that you get feedback and learn to give it. It is important to give feedback not in the Russian tradition – through criticism. In the States, it is imperative to first give positive feedback: “Thank you for taking the time with me, talking to me, I really liked it. You have said this and that well. And here I would improve: the first, the second, the third. ” At the end, emphasize that the other person is cool.