Defaults for an interviewee:

  1. Don’t send your resume as a google doc. It has to always be a PDF. Also done’t name it resume03.pdf.
  2. Coming on time; I have no clue how someone can come half an hour late for an interview. If you start the interview by making your interviewers waste their time, then you better have a super strong excuse.
  3. Not appearing arrogant or passing snarky comments.
  4. Showing curiosity; So many candidates waste their chance to ask interesting questions during ‘do you have any questions for us’ at the end of the interview. That is generally your cue to show why you are different from the other 99% candidates. The fact that you have done your research, and want to know even more about the company, your role, the interviewer.
  5. Giving the impression that you know everything; I had a candidate who tried to convince me to go for an MBA when I took him out for tea as part of our interview process. Then he started arguing about how the product management process at our company was flawed. He failed to clear the interview. But if he did, I am sure he would have been a terrible culture fit.

Please give a chance to the interviewer to root for you. The company has probably spent hours going through candidate resumes for the role before selected you, and asking you to come to an onsite interview. We really want you to do well. Hire you. Make it easier for us!