A hodgepodge of interview tips from sources in statistics, finance, and Jeff Kimball:
-Don’t be late
-Don’t be early. Get there early, go to a cafe and drink some lemonade, then show up dead on time.
-Eat a good meal beforehand.
-Don’t argue with the interviewer about why they’ve asked you something. They asked because they want to know if you can do it.
-Appear enthusiastic
-Wear a suit
-Be eager to please. They want someone who will do what they want, someone obliging > someone who is difficult
-Don’t be too relaxed, show some ambition
-Don’t tell them that C++ and Excel are stupid because your favorite niche product is better
-Demonstrate interest in the company, the industry, and the field
-Prepare 2 minutes to every line on your resume. Don’t say anything negative.
-Don’t claim experience you don’t have or education you don’t understand. More interviewers are testing your knowledge these days. Nothing is more embarrassing than a supposed genius who doesn’t know the integral of log x.
-Be polite
-Ask for feedback and don’t argue about the results. If they misunderstood you, then figure out why.
-Don’t say you want to work for the money. Most of the time it’s true (especially if you work in banking or finance), but it’s considered bad form to say it out loud.
-Say you’d rather work closely with other people than alone
-Take a break from interviewing and take more time to prep if more than a couple interviews go badly.
-Ask about the group you’ll be working with. You want to know about turnover, where people go when they leave, how old the group is, what they do together, if it’s expanding or contracting, and if you can meet them. What is a typical day like?
The general consensus is that yours is a difficult field to get into, but most hiring managers usually say they interview lots of candidates and most are discarded as awful. It is almost never the case that a hiring manager is choosing between two good candidates, it’s more common to be relieved to finally find someone who’s good enough. The moral is that most candidates fail to reach the requisite level rather than other candidates are fighting you to the death on paper and only one can survive.