Lessons Learned From Interview Experiences

Over the last few years, I’ve switched jobs, given many interviews, and spent hundreds of hours optimizing my resume and profile. During this journey, I made plenty of mistakes that cost me time and opportunities. So today, I want to share these genuine mistakes—and more importantly, how you can avoid them: Applying Randomly & Everywhere: In the early stages, I thought applying to as many jobs as possible was the key. Big mistake! Quality always beats quantity. Lesson: Tailor each application to the job role. Research the company and make sure your resume aligns with their requirements. Ignoring LinkedIn & Online Presence: Initially, my LinkedIn profile was incomplete and poorly optimized. I underestimated the power of LinkedIn visibility. Lesson: Your online presence matters. A complete, active LinkedIn profile attracts opportunities you’d never find by traditional methods alone. Sending Generic Cold Messages: I used to send cold messages like "Hi, can you refer me?" which rarely received replies. Lesson: Craft a concise, clear message. Always include the specific role, job link/ID, your resume, and a short summary of your skills. Poor Resume Formatting: My resume had too many graphics, complicated formatting, and lacked the right keywords. This reduced my ATS compatibility. Lesson: Keep your resume simple, structured, and ATS-friendly. Use clear headings, bullet points, and keywords from the job description. Not Preparing for the "Tell Me About Yourself" Question: I used to treat this question lightly and gave long, vague answers. The interviewer would lose interest quickly. Lesson: Prepare a structured 1-minute summary focusing on your experience, skills, and how you match the job you're interviewing for. Underestimating the Job Description: I didn't closely analyze the job description and often missed key details required by employers. Lesson: Job descriptions are gold. Analyze them carefully and reflect their highlighted skills and requirements in your application and interviews. Overlooking Company Research: During interviews, I would have limited knowledge about the company's products or mission. This made my answers generic. Lesson: Always research the company’s recent activities, products, and news. It helps you answer questions meaningfully and shows genuine interest. Getting Demotivated by Rejections: Early rejections made me question my capabilities, negatively impacting future interviews. Lesson: Every rejection is a lesson. Ask for feedback, reflect, and improve. Rejection means redirection—not the end of the road. Negotiation Mistakes: I used to accept offers quickly without proper negotiation due to the fear of losing the offer. Lesson: Negotiate politely but confidently. Companies expect this. Always understand your market worth, and clearly communicate your value. Have you made similar mistakes or learned something valuable from your own job search? Share your experiences in the comments—let's help each other grow!

Many people ask for interview guidance. You will ultimately find your own approach, which is always the best one, but here is what has worked for me across three different roles I earned at Amazon and for my interview process at Tencent. While my experience comes from Amazon’s interview process, I genuinely believe these concepts apply to interviews at any company. The Amazon interview process is structured and principle-based. Interviewers look for clear, specific examples that demonstrate how your behavior aligns with the company’s Leadership Principles. These principles guide every question and evaluation. Each interviewer is assigned a few to test, and they expect candidates to answer in the STAR format: situation, task, action, and result. They are also looking for reflection, clarity, and measurable outcomes. To prepare, I built a one-page guide that became my foundation for every interview in my career since 2019. It helped me stay organized, calm, and confident. It contained three examples for each theme, such as the Leadership Principles, major qualifications, parts of my work history, or any area I thought they might ask about. I memorized these answers so thoroughly that by interview time I could speak naturally and not sound robotic. This document became my most reliable preparation tool. It gave me structure while freeing me to focus on genuine connection instead of recall, especially during virtual interviews where you can discreetly keep notes nearby. What I learned is that this approach works for any company. Every organization has its own values and ways of working. The key to doing well anywhere is to understand those values, connect your own experiences to them, and speak with ownership and authenticity about your work. It also helps to practice with another person several times before your real interview. You can always ask for a mock interviewer from our community to help you practice. I truly can't encourage you enough to memorize your key examples so deeply that you can tell the stories freely during the interview. This is what helps you sound natural, confident, and human and not to ever worry you will repeat a story. This was very important to me at Amazon and Tencent because even if I was doing a loop with 5-7 people, I wanted at least 21 stories so every single person would hear entirely unique anecdotes, made special just for them. People often circle up afterwards and I never wanted them to say, "he used the same example with me." The goal is not to recite answers but to speak with comfort and authenticity while showing you are prepared and self-aware. Also don't sleep on the questions at the end of an interview. Believe me: when you conduct hundreds of interviews, which I have, poor and great prompts do stick out. Try not to ask questions that are fluffy or that you could find in an internet search. I have always believed it is over-preparation that, ironically, will make you most carefree when it matters.

This year, I managed to have been shortlisted for four interviews after submitting an initial application —whether for jobs, fellowships, or leadership programs—and achieved a 100% success rate. It’s not always like this every year, but these interviews have taught me some valuable lessons: 1. Know Your Story: Understand the story behind your “why.” In nearly every interview, I shared the same story but tied it back to why I applied and how it connects. The more you practice telling your story, the more naturally it flows. Over the years, I've refined my story through interviews, pitching competitions, and informal conversations, so now I own it without struggling to tell it. Even though it’s your story, you still have to learn to tell it. Without practice, it can be hard to know which parts of your story to share. 2. Competence Breeds Confidence: I’ve been volunteering for 16 years and have run my nonprofit for the last 7. Through countless experiences, I’ve built a solid foundation and amassed multiple examples I can draw on easily. When you build competence and get things done, interviews become easier because you have a wealth of stories and skills to share. 3. Take It Easy: I’ve learned to slow down in interviews. I don’t rush to answer; instead, I reflect, own the space, and pace myself. Even if I feel anxious, I pause and stay grounded. Over time, I’ve learned to recognize when I’m talking too much and when to naturally stop. It all comes from practice. 4. Don’t Be Afraid to Share Alternative Thoughts: I’m open to having difficult conversations in interviews and don’t shy away from sharing different perspectives, even if they’re challenging. My approach is to go in with the mindset that I have nothing to lose. Competence plays a role here, too—I back up my thoughts with examples or data when possible. 5. Be Ready to Flex: I like to share recent observations, trends, or experiences, as long as they relate to the questions being asked. For me, interviews are about being myself and sharing from lived experiences. Trying to be someone else only undermines my efforts, so I’ve learned to enjoy myself during the interview process. 6. Always Ask Questions, If You Genuinely Have One: Be curious in an interview, if there is a burning question you have. Ask away. As they are interviewing you to determine if they are a good fit for you, you should ask questions to determine if they are good fit for you too. It is a two-way street. This isn’t a blueprint, and I don’t claim to be totally brilliant. However, my process grounds me in ways that continue to shape my work and the opportunities I have access to.

Before I landed my current role here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), I went through an incredible journey, one that tested my patience, resilience and faith in the process. I successfully passed demanding technical interviews and secured other offers with three major international oil & gas giants across the UAE, Qatar and Iraq. I even had the opportunity to attend eye-opening interviews with a global mining leader in Australia and a renowned power generation company in the United Kingdom. But the truth? I wasn’t an overnight success. I became part of that well-known statistic “10 applications to get 1 interview and 10 interviews to land 1 job.” In total, I applied to over 100 roles across the globe. Every rejection, silence and shortlisting taught me something valuable. And today, I’d love to share a few insights that might help those currently walking the same path: 1. Trust the process. Just like marriage, you don’t decide overnight. Let the journey unfold naturally. 2. Know the real goal of each step. The resume isn’t meant to get you the job, it’s meant to get you the interview. 3. Be honest. Don’t oversell or sugarcoat. Authenticity lasts longer than exaggeration. 4. It’s okay to say “I don’t know.” Follow it with: “But give me time, and I’ll learn it.” That’s true professionalism. 5. For technical interviews, focus on the bigger picture. Understand trends, company direction and how your role adds value, not just the theory. 6. For international roles, learn the culture. Small gestures of respect go a long way, especially in face-to-face interviews. 7. Don’t overprepare. They want to meet you, not your rehearsed version. Remember, even interviewers aren’t perfect. 8. Don’t assume they’ve read your resume. Many review it during the interview, help them connect the dots. 9. Build relationships with recruiters. Stay in touch. One conversation can open future doors. 10. Remember it’s a journey, not a battle. Enjoy the process, celebrate small wins and keep growing along the way. To everyone still applying, interviewing, and waiting for that one “yes”, keep going. Every rejection is simply redirection to where you truly belong. #InterviewTips #JobHunting #CorporateCultures #OfficeHacks #OilAndGas #Instrumentations #ProcessAutomation

I’ve sat through more job interviews than I can count in the last 20+ years. As a VP, a founder, an advisor, an investor. Hundreds of candidates. Thousands of conversations. I only remember a handful. And one of them was mine. After my health crisis in my 20s, I didn’t know if I’d ever work again. I walked into my first sales interview carrying nothing but scars, a chip on my shoulder, and a deep fear that I wasn’t ready. When the hiring manager asked why he should bet on me, I said: “I’m the best undrafted free agent you’ll ever find.” That line changed my life. He took a shot on me. I got the job. And I never forgot what it felt like to stand out when everything was on the line. Here’s what I’ve learned about great interviews since: 1. They make you want to keep talking. No robotic answers. No “strengths and weaknesses” script. The ones that hit build instant connection and show they’ve done their homework. Within minutes, you’re leaning in instead of checking out. 2. They make you think. The best candidates don’t just answer questions they flip them. They ask things that make you pause, reevaluate, and see problems in a new light. 3. Their resume isn’t the star. Everyone has bullet points. Not everyone is a storyteller. The best turn those bullets into a story that you can actually picture inside your org. 4. They don’t rush to prove themselves. Desperation kills interviews. The standouts slow down, listen, and frame their story around your problems, not just their wins. 5. They go deep, not wide. Three clear stories. That’s it. Each one shows grit, impact, results. You don’t need a laundry list, you need proof. 6. They respect the clock. Too many candidates ramble or fade. The best close strong, with clarity and confidence, leaving you thinking: this person gets it. — Most people think interviews are about showing off. They’re not. They’re like waves and most wipe out before they even paddle in. Your first impression is everything. Make it count.

In the last 10 years, I've applied to almost all the MAANG+ companies for Cloud & DevOps positions:  - Applied Twice at Google - Applied to Microsoft (Cleared 3 rounds) - Applied to Amazon Twice - Applied to Meta (for Production Engineer_ - Had a chance to sit in for the SRE interview at Apple Each time, I went through the hiring processes, I learned a lot from my experiences regarding industry standards & my skills. Here are my learnings from all the interviews (insights that are rarely talked about)  1. Confidence Opens Doors - Walk in with confidence, but back it up with examples from your work.   – Show them how you’ve done similar things before or learned fast on the job.  - Give specific examples of how you created solutions, the more detail you give, the more genuine you seem  2. Talk Out Loud: They Care About Your Thinking Process   - Coding rounds are less about the final answer and more about how you think.   - Always explain why you chose this algorithm, data structure, or approach.  - Example: If I ask you to sort a linked list and array, explain how you’d handle each input without hardcoding.   3. Problem-Solving >>> Memorization   - You won’t be asked standard questions all the time. –They want to see if you can break down problems into smaller steps.   – Focus on understanding the problem statement first.   - Example: At Google, questions often started vague, like “Optimize Spark performance.” You had to ask questions to clarify the scope before jumping in.   4. Business Impact > Fancy Code  - Interviewers love candidates who think about real-world impact, how their work improves systems, reduces costs, or handles failures.  - Don’t just explain your code. Say, “This approach scales better because…” or “This method reduces downtime during outages.”   5. Expect Tricky Questions & Learn to Adapt   - You’ll get questions that test your ability to learn on the go.   - They don’t expect you to know everything but want to see if you can stay calm, ask the right questions, and figure things out.  - Example: Amazon asked about migrating hot and cold storage. Even without prior experience, the key was breaking the problem into steps and proposing ideas.   6. Failures Are Normal, Show How You Recover  - Big Tech doesn’t expect perfect systems, they expect fail-safes.   - Prepare examples where something failed, and you recovered quickly.  - Example: They asked about a time when servers went down during peak hours. My answer focus was on how recovery systems reduced downtime instead of avoiding failures completely.   7. Simplify Your Approach. Don’t Overcomplicate   - Many candidates try to impress with complex answers and overengineered solutions. Don’t.   - Focus on clarity and efficiency. Explain why you’re choosing one approach over another.  - Example: For a database optimization question, start with indexing strategies before diving into custom caching layers.  Continued in the comments ↓

I failed more interviews than I can count. Awkward silences. Rambling answers. Complete blanks. But after months of practice, I finally figured out what actually works. Here’s how I turned my interview game around: 💜1. Turn nerves into momentum Instead of fighting the adrenaline, I learned to use it. Before each interview, I’d do a 5-minute power pose and repeat: “This is excitement, not fear.” Sounds ridiculous, but changing my mindset stopped me from freezing up. 💜2. Prep for the format, not just the questions For behavioral interviews, I drilled STAR stories. For technical rounds, I practiced coding out loud. But the game-changer? Simulating real interview pressure. I started using voice-guided AI tools like InterVue to ask me questions randomly. It forced me to think on my feet without relying on notes. 💜3. Stop talking after you answer I used to overshare and accidentally undermine myself. Now I silently count to three before asking: “Would you like me to elaborate?” It gives the interviewer control and makes you seem collaborative. 💜4. Debrief immediately after every interview I jot down 3 things: - What went well (celebrate the wins!) - One answer I’d rephrase - A question the interviewer asked that caught me off guard This habit helped me spot patterns. Turns out I struggled with “Tell me about a conflict” questions across 4 different companies. The biggest lesson? ✨ Interviews are skills, not luck. Treat them like a muscle - train consistently, and you will improve. Most people hope to magically perform better next time. Winners treat each interview like practice for the next one. Stop winging it. Start training. #InterviewPrep #CareerGrowth #JobSearchTips #InterviewSkills #ProfessionalDevelopment P.S. Struggling to even get interviews? Your resume might be the issue. Comment “REVIEW” below and I’ll send you a FREE resume analysis to help you land more opportunities. 💌

A Note from My Interviewing Experience Having conducted countless interviews over the years, I’ve come across a variety of candidates. One common pitfall I’ve noticed, especially among young professionals, is the “over-polished trap.” This happens when candidates focus so much on delivering perfect, rehearsed answers that they lose the authenticity that makes them stand out. Recently, I interviewed someone for a key position. Their initial responses were impressive—polished, articulate, and well-structured. But as the conversation went on, it became clear they were reading from notes or reciting memorized lines. The overly polished tone didn’t match their natural communication during impromptu moments. For me, it was a big put-off. Why? Because interviews aren’t just about what you say—they’re about who you are. When someone sounds scripted, it raises doubts about their ability to adapt, think critically, or connect genuinely. Employers aren’t looking for perfection; they’re looking for authenticity, confidence, and adaptability (most of them). Why his approach doesn’t work: 1. It Feels Inauthentic: Rehearsed responses come across as unnatural and can make you seem less credible. 2. It Shows a Lack of Adaptability: Real-world work requires thinking on your feet, not relying on scripts. 3. It Reduces Connection: Interviews are conversations. Over-preparation often gets in the way of genuine engagement. What to Do Instead: 1. #KnowYourStory: Practice sharing your experiences naturally. Focus on key points, not memorized scripts. 2. Use Structure, Not Scripts: Use whatever frameworks you know or like - say for instance STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to guide your thoughts without over-rehearsing. 3. Be #Authentic: Share real, honest experiences. Employers value self-awareness and genuineness over perfection. 4. #Engage Naturally: Treat the interview as a dialogue. Listen actively and respond thoughtfully to build rapport. The Bottom Line: Preparation is key, but don’t let it overshadow your personality. Authenticity and adaptability leave a far stronger impression than a polished facade. So, to all young professionals out there, take this as a little nudge to rethink the “perfect answers” myth. Your true, natural self is always your greatest asset in any interview. If you seek support in any area related to career planning, please reach out to me - will be happy to support to the extent possible! Good luck & see you soon! #InterviewTips #CareerAdvice #BeAuthentic #JobSearch #InterviewPreparation #CareerGrowth #manavaani #manavspace

I was working with a VP-level healthcare technology leader who had been searching for her next role for 6 months. She was talented. She was respected. She had led real transformation in her last role. But after months of interviewing with no offer… her confidence had taken a hit. When you’ve recruited for 20+ years, you can tell when someone starts doubting their own value — not from what they say, but in how they show up. ⚡ Softer tone ⚡ Less conviction when describing achievements ⚡ More apologizing than owning the room 👀 Here’s what we did: We had a pep talk before her final interview. 💬 We went back to her impact: ✅A platform she scaled that improved clinical workflow efficiency ✅Cross-functional teams she built and retained ✅Measurable patient outcomes her work supported She had evidence, not just experience. She just needed to step back into it. Then we shifted the mindset: She wasn’t just being evaluated. She was evaluating them, too. 🎯 So I coached her to take control of the interview — in the first 10 minutes — by asking smart, strategic questions: 1️⃣ “What is the first major initiative you'd want me to lead in this role?” 2️⃣ “How will success be measured in the first 6–12 months?” 3️⃣ “What made you decide this was the place you wanted to stay?” 4️⃣ “Can you share an example of someone who has been promoted here and why?” The interview changed instantly. Her presence shifted. Her confidence returned. The conversation became a partnership, not an audition. The result? Offer. 💡 The lesson: Asking thoughtful questions doesn’t just help you stand out. It reminds you of your power. You’re not just being interviewed. You’re interviewing them, too. ❤️

As a social work intern, I used to interview people who were awaiting sentencing in criminal court at 100 Center Street. It often felt like a really intense episode of Law & Order, and at first, I was quite terrified. Then, a more experienced colleague took me under his wing and advised me to start with open-ended questions. “Tell me the story of your life as if it were a movie and you’re the star” was his favorite, and it was quite effective - because it was non-judgmental, allowed the client to be in control under difficult circumstances, and led us to the information we needed. I think about this experience every time I am hired by my clients to interview their target audience. Although the purpose of my interviews now is quite different, I learned that good interviewing is less about asking the perfect set of questions, and more about listening in the moment and guiding the conversation. Here are some simple interview tips you can try: Before the call: Have your questions ready, but don't send them ahead of time. People freeze up when they think they need to "prepare." Start the conversation right: Always ask permission to record (and explain it's just so you remember the conversation, not so you disseminate it to the world). Begin with a softball: "How did you first connect with the company?" This isn't hardcore journalism—you want them comfortable, not defensive. During the interview:  Listen more than you talk.  Riff off of their responses instead of robotically following your list in order. I’ve learned to use the gentler "I'm curious..." instead of "Tell me..." If someone shares negative feedback, don’t gloss over it - they're taking a risk by being honest. Recently, I explored an offhand comment that an interviewee made about their experience, and she thanked me for giving her permission to express how they really felt. Learn and adapt: Drop questions that tend to make people overthink. I stopped asking "If this company were a famous person, who would they be?" because it tended to eat up time while the interviewee thought about the answer, which they often gave just to please me vs. having a strong opinion to share. Let each conversation teach you something for the next one. A word of advice: If you want to get the most straightforward feedback from your target audience, consider having someone else conduct these interviews. People are often more honest with a neutral third party than they are with you directly. Remember, the goal isn't perfect answers—it's insight. And real insight only comes when people feel heard and understood. And, PS - no amount of assumptions, internal brainstorming, or AI-generated analysis can replace actually talking to the human clients who pay your bills (sorry, Claude!). What's your experience with client feedback? Have you found any questions that work particularly well—or spectacularly badly? I’m curious to hear about your experience. 👇