How to Perform Well in a Job Interview (Not Just Survive One)

The job market right now is genuinely awful. Getting interviews is harder than it's been in years and, even if you've been doing everything right, you're probably struggling to even get to the interview stage. But hear me when I say this: that is not a reflection of your value.

However, I know that when you do get the interview (and you absolutely will) you want to make sure you're walking in ready to make the absolute most of it. In a market this competitive, every interview (unfortunately) counts more than it used to. So, this post is specifically for the woman who finally got the call and wants to make sure she walks out of that room with the offer. Because preparation before the big day gets you ready. But your performance the day of? That actually gets you the offer at the end of the interview. Most advice about job interviews conflates prep and performance but they’re actually two very different things. You can know every answer to every question and still lose the room. You can also be the most qualified person in a pool of applicants and still leave the hiring manager uncertain. 

Performance during a job interview is about presence, reading the energy in the room, and making the person across from you feel genuinely confident in choosing you for their open role. Keep reading to learn how to increase your odds of making that happen.

How to Talk About Your Strengths in an Interview Without Sounding Arrogant

The fear of coming across as arrogant keeps more women from advocating for themselves in interviews than almost anything else. And tbh it's a fear that's been deliberately cultivated by a society that punishes women, especially Black women and women of color, for confidently taking up space.

The antidote to “arrogance” isn't making yourself small though. It's specificity. There's a significant difference between "I'm really great at building teams" and "In my last role I built a team of nine from scratch, implemented a new onboarding process, and reduced early attrition by 35% in the first year." 

One is a claim that, when unsubstantiated, seems like you’re tooting your own horn. The other is a track record of your success. Lead with that track record every single time and you’ll never have to worry about sounding like an arrogant 🍑 

What Questions Should I Ask at the End of an Interview?

We get this question a lot because the things you ask at the end of an interview often reveal as much about you as the answers you gave throughout it. Asking nothing signals disengagement, (like that awkward date that never asked any followup questions about the stories you shared while you were talking). On the flip side, asking the wrong things signals inexperience (if you can find the answer with a quick Google search, don’t ask it). But asking sharp, thoughtful questions signals that you're already thinking like someone who works there. Questions that work?

 1. What does success look like in this role at the 90-day mark?

2. What are the biggest challenges the team is currently navigating?

3. What do the people who thrive here have in common?

4. How would you describe the culture on this specific team versus the broader company?

Also, as much as you may be dying to lock in your compensation, avoid asking anything about salary or benefits before an actual offer is on the table. It’s weird and lowkey a fauxpaus. 

Should I Handle Virtual Interviews Differently Than In-Person Ones?

Virtual interviews have their own set of rules and most people treat them like a casual Zoom call when they should be treated like a meeting in one of those fancy boardrooms we see in movies and tv shows (you know the ones with the long af table in the middle and a million windows).

Your background matters: go for a blank wall if you can and blur your background if you can’t. Your lighting matters: natural or reasonably bright artificial lighting (like from an overhead light fixture nearby) is acceptable but a dark room where they can hardly see your face is not.

Your camera angle matters: please don’t take the call from your phone and only show the top half of your face like a grandma. Your location matters: you should be sitting (or standing if you have a standing desk) in a fixed location, not taking the call from your car or the middle of a store while you’re running errands. And these are just the basics.

Eye contact on a virtual call means looking at the camera, not the person's face on your screen. That distinction feels unnatural but it reads as confidence to the person on the other end. Make sure to log in five minutes early and test everything. Audio, video, internet connection, the link itself. Technical issues at the start of a virtual interview create an impression of disorganization that's hard to recover from even if the rest of the conversation goes perfectly. Also, if you’re testing things out five minutes early then you’re not going to show up late which, in my opinion, is one of the most infuriating things a candidate can do for a scheduled interview.

My favorite tip is to dress fully before your call, not just from the waist up. If you’re a makeup girlie, put a little lip gloss or mascara on when you’re getting ready (or beat your whole face if that’s your thing). Not only do you feel better, more confident, and more professional going into the call but it also keeps you from standing up unexpectedly in sweatpants (or no pants at all). Unless you’re doing a virtual interview to be a midnight ballerina, that is not the energy you want to bring into a 6 Figure conversation 😂

For in-person interviews, arrive ten to fifteen minutes early but don't go inside until five minutes before. The way you treat the receptionist, the security guard, and everyone you interact with before the formal interview starts is often reported back to the hiring manager. So act like you're already being evaluated from jump and refrain from being a jerk. You’re too damn fine to be a bag of 🍆 anyway.

How Do I Read the Room During an Interview?

Pay attention to the energy of the people in front of you, not just their words. If a hiring manager perks up when you mention a specific experience, stay in that lane just a little bit longer. If their eyes glaze over, pivot quickly. An interview is a conversation, a vibe check, not a middle-school performance where you’re sweating buckets the entire time and terrified that people will boo you out of the room. And conversations require you to respond to what's actually happening in the room, not just deliver your prepared material in a pre-selected sequence.

Watch for moments where they lean in, where they write something down, or where they nod more frequently. Those are your signals that you've said something that landed. Make note of it and find a way to reinforce that point before the conversation ends. If you get them smiling and laughing, even better. Personality is just as much of a hiring factor as performance. 

Also watch for moments that feel off. If they seem distracted, rude (to you or each other), if multiple people are late to the panel, if the conversation feels rushed, those are all data points about the company culture that you should be factoring into your decision to work there. Because you're evaluating them too, babes. Don’t forget that.

What Do I Do If I Blank on an Answer During an Interview?

You pause, you breathe, and you say "that's a great question, give me just a moment to think through a specific example." That is a complete and professional response. Hiring managers do not expect you to perform under pressure perfectly. They do expect you to handle uncertainty with composure. 

What you don't want to do is fill the silence with rambling, apologize for not having an answer, or make something up on the spot. A thoughtful pause followed by a focused answer is infinitely more impressive than a nervous monologue that goes nowhere. And if you need to close your eyes and breathe for an extra second that’s okay too. Just try not to burst into tears in the middle of the session.

If you genuinely can't think of a relevant example, you can say "I haven't faced that exact situation but here's how I would approach it" and walk them through your thinking. That demonstrates problem-solving ability, which is often what the question was testing in the first place.

Let's Wrap This Up

There's a version of you that walks into an interview nervous, over-rehearsed, and just trying to get through it. And there's a version that walks in knowing what you're there to say, why it matters, and how to read the room well enough to actually connect with the person across the table. The difference between those two versions isn't talent or experience, it's intention. Your resume gets you considered.

Preparation gets you ready. But performance is what gets you hired. The good news is that performing well in an interview is learnable. Every conversation teaches you something. Every answer you give in the moment sharpens how you'll give it next time. So whatever happens in your next interview, treat it like practice because in a very real sense, it always is. And, if you want to build the kind of interview presence that gets offers, come work with us. You already know, we want to see you win.