Technical Consulting Company

You’ve made it past the application screening, and the client company wants to speak with you. Congratulations! There’s a lot you have to do to prepare for this interview. You have to research the company, and prepare your interview answers. You’ve got to make sure your interview clothes are wrinkle-free, and that you know where you’re going. So much to do, so little time.

In all of this preparation, thinking about what actually happens in the interview (outside of how to answer interview questions) gets lost. Never fear. We’ve got 10 tips to help every technical consultant interview with their prospective client company. Just incorporate these tips into how you prepare your answers, and you’ll be all set.

1) Don’t Talk Too Much

The case of short, sweet, and to the point applies to your interview for a technical consulting position. This means:

- Don’t be longwinded.

- Don’t get off topic.

- Only answer what they ask.

- No tangents

- No rambling

No one wants to hear a twenty-minute story about how you solved a simple technical problem. It’s boring and probably difficult to follow (no offense!). Give the simple answer and then ask the interviewer if s/he wants more or not. By being succinct, your interviewer is better able to follow your answer. In turn? You appear better prepared, which gives you a step up in the hiring process.

2) Pause and Allow for Interruptions

When you’re interviewing, don’t feel the need to fill the room with noise at all times. It’s OK to take a second to answer. Get your thoughts together, and then give a reply.

Taking the time to think about your response is much more professional than blurting out a rambling, off topic sentence. It’s hard to recover from that. Organize your initial response into a coherent sentence, and then respond.

3) Be Aware of Your Audience

Don’t be afraid to ask about someone’s technical background before giving them an answer. In fact, not doing so can be dangerous. If you’re talking to a non-technical person, they will fall asleep as they listen to you discuss solving threading issues within the JVM on Solaris. If you’re talking to a technical person, you can get technical. They will want to discuss those threading issues within the JVM on Solaris. Give them the meat of the answer. Knowing your audience ensures that you give appropriate answers, ones that give you a better chance of being hired.