(In no particular order of importance)

1. Ask good, thoughtful questions.

As researchers, we ask questions for a living. So the quality of your questions can tell me a lot about not only if your interest in the role is genuine, but also potentially how thoughtful you are as a researcher. Steer away from asking questions that you can easily find through your research into the company and the role. Think through and focus on questions that you are really only get from the interviewers. Also make sure you tailor your questions to the different interviewers at each round. For example, for a UXR interview, you’ll likely meet PMs and designers in your interview process. Ask questions that unique to their roles.

This tip applies to both during the actual interview sessions and during interview prep, which leads to me my next tip…

2. If you are not sure, ask.

Don’t go into interviews guessing the format of the interview, or the type of conversation you are expected to have, or who will all be present at your interview. You are not a mind-reader. If you are not sure, reach out to either the Talent person or the hiring manager. You won’t be (or, shouldn’t be) punished for asking clarifying questions. The hiring team’s attitude and their responses are also good data points for you to evaluate the company - do you feel like they are giving their time by responding with thoughtful answers? Are they being genuine? Do they even respond at all? Every interaction is an opportunity for you to learn about the company and for them to learn you. Take advantage.

3. Show me “you” beyond your resume.

Too often candidates spend the first eight to ten minutes of the interview listing off their past job experiences. I know your past job experiences already because I’ve reviewed your resume before the interview. I looked you up on LinkedIn. If you and I have a mutual connection that I know and trust, I almost always reach out to ask them about you. So why would you want to repeat all that?

Instead, I would much rather learn about who you are as a person - where did you grow up? Where do you live now? Do you like where you are? What do you do in your spare time? etc., etc..

The bottom line is that an interview is more than just a review of your resume - it’s about us taking the first step of getting to know each other, and for me to understand if it’s someone I and the rest of my team would want to spend most of our waking hours with. So don’t waste your time telling me something I already know.

4. Find ways to cut through the noise.

1,263. That’s how many applications we received for the three roles I was hiring for between when the roles were first posted in mid-June to when we filled them in mid-August. I was both shocked and elated by the level of interest, but you can also imagine that there was no way for me and my TA lead to sift through all the application. Not if I still wanted to succeed at my day job.

I hope this doesn’t come as a surprise to any you when I say that more than half of the candidates I ended up interviewing were referrals, either from colleagues at 1Password and people in my network. These candidates were able to cut through the noise by reaching out to people in my network whom I trusted, so there’s already an element of credibility established.

Many of you will ask at this point “Well, how do I do that? How do I just know someone to cut through the noise?”. Well, get out there! Make connections. Attend conferences, reach out for coffee chats to leaders in the industry. Go to meet-ups. Expand your network.

5. Transferrable skills are more important than you think.

6. Bring examples of your “extreme ownership”

Researchers are more than just support. Your job isn’t to take orders. Too often in interview, candidates fail to come up with examples how their research led to real, measurable impact, or how went above and beyond to push something forward that’s outside your day-to-day job description as a researcher. Too often researchers stop at delivering the reports but don’t follow through on whether the Product teams did anything with it.

Instead, I look for those who take “extreme ownership” - those who not only deliver the reports but also make sure the insights get leveraged, following up with the Product and Eng teams to make sure the insights are turned into solutions that make it onto the roadmap. I want people who can push the envelope.

7. “The devil is in the details”.

I sweat the small things, because I believe polish or, simply, your attention-to-detail, make or break the quality of your application and is a tell-tale sign how you show up at work. I’ve reviewed countless cover letters and resumes that were littered with careless typos, or even getting the title of the role wrong. Proofread your applications. If the role you are interviewing for has a take-home assignment, make sure it’s your best work.

8. Stop doing cover letters.

I don’t read them. Why? Because they are redundant. You’ve already applied, so I know you are interested in the role. You don’t need to rephrase your past experiences because I have your resume and can look up your profile on LinkedIn. Writing the perfect cover letter is just not a good use of your time, and companies who make them mandatory as part of the application is wasting your time. Instead, focus your time and energy on other parts of the interview prep.

9. Know your passion.

10. Check your cynicism at the door.