Ten Reasons To Keep Treating Job Interviews As Target Practice

For the longest time, I've been an advocate of getting practice in job interviews... using actual job interviews. I make no apology for this; in fact, at a certain stage in my career, I made it a point to do this regularly. And I will continue to advise professionals to keep applying for jobs and going for job interviews, even - or especially - if they have no current intention of switching jobs. Hey, life is about at least opening new doors to see what lies beyond, if not going through them.

Opening new doors.

Don't feel too bad about potentially wasting the time of the companies you apply at. How many companies post job ads and conduct interviews for positions they have no intention of filling, just so they can technically bypass the requirements set out by the TAFEP? Two can play at that game.

Plus, there are some really compelling reasons to do it. Here's a list of some really big ones.

1. Muscle memory

You know what they say about practice making perfect? Well, there's no such thing when it comes to interviews (or anything, really). But you can get awfully good at it. What about mock interviews? Well, mock interviews are great and all, but at some point you're going to have to stop hitting the punching bag and square off against someone who's actually trying to hit you back.

This won't hit back.

People also tell me that they have better things to do than to attempt interviews "for fun". This is a huge misrepresentation of what I'm recommending. Of course, if it's fun for you, that's a bonus. But it's not the main point.

Nothing about this is supposed to be fun. Think of this as working out, where you condition your body, strengthen it, in the event that one day it might be ready when called upon. This is the career interview equivalent of exercising in a gym.

2. Confidence

At the very least, you'll get a lot more comfortable at it.

Even when it's a high stakes interview where there's a lot riding on it and you actually care about the outcome, there's no denying that prior practice helps. A big part of you will feel like you've seen and done all this before. There will be a certain familiarity to the entire process that, due to the comfort said familiarity brings, will go a long way towards offsetting any nerves.

Staying chill.

People have remarked on how remarkably at ease I seem during job interviews. What they don't know is that this has nothing to do with my people skills. I still find other human beings tiresome and annoying. It's simply that after a few hundred interviews with actual companies and dealing with all their bullshit, it stops being fresh and exciting. As a result, it also stops being anxiety-inducing. Seriously, no matter how unique and special some interviewers seem to think their interview process is, the truth is that the vast majority of the time, it's like most other interview processes.

Tech round? Mock project? Whiteboard? I've seen it. I've done it. I've even conducted it. Nothing makes me nervous. Because almost none of it is new.

Reusing the boxing analogy from before, the best way to get over a fear of being punched in the face, is to get punched in the face frequently. Similarly, to get over a fear of rejection from interviewers, you need to get rejected often. From real interviews.

3. Develop market awareness

The tech industry is wide and varied. Even if you narrow it down to software development, or even further down to web development, the fact is that different employers have different requirements. They may need proficiency or even just passing familiarity with new software, new frameworks, new software libraries that you may never even have heard of.

And it's true that you don't know what you don't know. So if you don't even have any idea where to start improving, how are you going to improve? It certainly isn't going to be by repeating the same old stuff over and over. That may work for some industries. But no, not software development.

Laundry list of requirements.

But every time one applies for a new job, guess what - the application often comes with an oh-so-helpful wish list of skills that the employer is looking out for. Sure, some of it is laughably impractical, but this is generally where you can scan the list for things that look unfamiliar to you, and then start exploring.

You know the D3 and HighCharts demos I have done? They both started out as items on a job application list of requirements. I Googled the terms and the rest is history.

4. Broaden horizons

There are sights you don't get too see very often. Huge, sprawling offices that overlook the sparkling waves of Marina Bay. Fancy commercial towers. Lush lobbies.

Not to say you can't see those things without going for a job interview... but really, what better time? Surely not during your free time when you undoubtedly have more pressing concerns and better things to do?

See the sights.

Aside from the sights, sometimes companies have interesting ways of testing interviewers, such as through puzzles or case studies. Some of them were so fun I turned them into web demos. Tetris in vanilla JavaScript? Rock, Paper, Scissors app? All that came from some applicant assignment sheet.

Also, I know I earlier said that most interview questions are lame and formulaic. Most. Sometimes interviewers surprise you with a question you haven't heard before. That's very valuable. It not only expands your experience, it tests your ability to think on your feet.

Take the experience as a way to broaden your horizons. Add to the growing list of stuff you can later confidently claim to have seen.

5. Learn how to conduct

One side effect of having attended a whole shitload of interviews in your career, is that you learn how to conduct them.

Well... not quite.

Let me qualify that. You don't exactly learn how to conduct them. That kind of experience comes from actually conducting them, just as the know-how to get through job interviews comes form actually attending job interviews.

Conducting an
interview.

But you do learn an awful lot about how to conduct them. For example, you would know from firsthand experience how cringey some questions sound, such as the classic "where do you see yourself in five years?" and the ultimate douchebaggy "why should we hire you?", and hopefully avoid being such a cliché.

You would learn, from the interviewee's point of view, what makes a bad impression on them, and avoid falling into those traps.

6. Zero consequences

Using real companies and real job applications for practice, is like honing your craft in a real environment with no stakes whatsoever.

If you weren't all that (or even at all) interested in the job, it doesn't matter if you fail. Your ego might get bruised a little bit, but that's about it.

Target practice.

What are they going to do if they find out you were just using them for practice? Not hire you? Big deal. It's not like you were actually interested to begin with. Practice, remember? Are they going to sure no one ever hires you in the industry? Please, they wish they had this much clout. This is Singapore, not Silicon Valley.

My entire point is that there are no consequences for failure. This is a consequence-free activity dressed up as high-stakes operation. You pretend to yourself that this is a job you really want, though in actual fact you could care less. As interviews go, the only thing less stressful is a mock interview, and those are pretty lame.

7. Future-proofing

"But I'm happy where I am!"

Oh, you sweet summer child. You don't have to be unhappy where you are, to go for a job interview. Especially when the objective is practice. But it probably would add a huge dose of motivation.

If you're happy and
you know it...

It's a hedge against the eventuality that you no longer want to work in your current place of employment, for whatever reason. No relationship lasts forever, especially not one that's predicated on a nebulous human emotion like "happiness".

And when - when, not if - that happens, you'll be glad you bothered. Your resume's already somewhat up-to-date due to all the regular practice. The last interview's still fresh in your mind, along with all the land mines you stepped on in the process. You're ready to go.

At the very least, you'll have gotten a good idea of how much your skills and abilities are worth in the market.

8. Bragging

Anyone with even an ounce of ego likes to brag about their accomplishments. Well, sunshine, here's your chance. A sanctioned space for you to safely brag about all your professional accomplishments. Talk about how you solved the persistent rounding error, that intermittent asynchronous event bubbling issue, and optimized that query to reduce latency to milliseconds.

Not only are you expected to do so, you are encouraged to. That's the entire point - to sell yourself.

I'll confess - this is one of the biggest reasons for me to attend any job interview. Not only do I get to brag, I get to brag to an interviewer who knows exactly what I'm bragging about. That's not a small thing. You see, anyone can brag. But who you brag to makes a hell lot of difference.

Toot that horn!

As a tech, if you're bragging to people who don't have the know-how to properly appreciate the brilliance of what you're bragging about, it can be like casting pearls before swine.

But when you're speaking to someone who has a pretty good idea as to why your accomplishments are impressive, that is sweet. And the cherry on top? Impress that someone enough and you may just win a job offer.

9. Eureka moments

During interviews, you're asked to describe your current work, and the challenges you face. And this can have a few effects.

You'll talk about the problems you're tackling, and how you either solved them, or are attempting to solve them. And we all know what happens when you talk them through someone, especially if you're explaining those problems well enough: you get an Eureka moment. Honestly, a lot of problems are solved just by talking the problem through with someone; anyone actually. You don't really need to be in a job interview to get that Eureka moment.

Your Eureka moment.

But can you get that Eureka moment during a job interview when you're talking about your work? Yes, absolutely. I wouldn't make it the reason to do job interviews, but it's one of the possible side-effects.

10. Gaining Perspective

One thing may happen when you go for those interviews and discover all the things you wouldn't have otherwise. You may actually realize how good you have it. You may gain a newfound appreciation of your workplace, warts and all. If seeing how things are out there makes you happier at your job, that's value.

The grass is browner on the
other side.

Granted, some places seem more fun to work in. They're also potentially messy, have less benefits, and are a pain in the butt to commute to. It could be any number of things, or all of them.

In the process, you may just discover that you're really grateful to have this job. And that's fine. Just don't be too grateful. Your career depends on it.

I like to call it the "grass is browner" syndrome.

Final notes

I haven't followed my own advice in years. I do still think it's good - even great - advice. But for me, it's started to show diminishing returns. The gains just aren't there anymore once you've clocked in the hours. Still, what this means is that there are gains. I can walk into an interview and feel little to no anxiety. I can answer most questions glibly, and even if I don't impress sufficiently in the end, I'm rarely too bothered by it.

Do exercise caution. It's entirely possible that you'll become better at passing interviews than actually doing the work... and that's the last thing you should want.

Let's review this in five years!
T___T