How to Prepare for an Internal Job Interview

Introduction to Preparing for an Internal Interview 

Hello! It’s Kristine here with the Express to Impress podcast. This week, we’ll talk about how to prepare for an internal interview. Interviewing for an internal position is a wonderful opportunity but includes unique challenges. So, you’ll want to make sure you know how to navigate those challenges and take advantage of an internal job opening. 

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Before we begin, I want to tell you about my free five-step job interview preparation checklist. This checklist has already helped thousands of people worldwide get jobs they love. To get it, just visit my website at express-to-impress.com.

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Now, let’s begin!

Why Companies Hire Internally

Many companies look to fill vacancies with someone who already works there. Compared with recruiting people from outside the company, there are significant benefits to hiring an existing employee. Some of those benefits include spending less time and money finding a great employee, knowing a person fits in the company culture, boosting employee morale, and finally, retaining star employees. Sometimes, once an employer knows their employee’s strengths, they will even create a new role for an existing star employee that is a better fit.

With that insight, you may strategically get your start at a company in a less-than-perfect position and apply for a more suitable job internally when it opens. After all, once you’re an employee, you have the chance to show your quality of work, work ethic, and commitment to the company. 

Story About Preparing for an Internal Interview

Now I’ll tell you about a gentleman I’ll call Dan who came to me to prepare for an internal interview. While Dan loved the company where he had worked for six years, he didn’t feel challenged enough in his job. So when a position opened that interested him, he was thrilled. Dan was highly motivated and ready to invest time and money to arrive well-prepared for the interview. His strategy involved gathering a long list of potential interview questions from his internal sources and regularly meeting with another interview coach and me to prepare solid answers. We studied the job description carefully and identified what set him apart from other candidates. 

I was incredibly impressed by his preparation. He arrived with dozens of questions broken down into general, technical, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and leadership. He needed the most help with telling stories powerfully and succinctly. His storytelling skills improved quickly, and I believed he would do very well in the interview. 

One month later, he wrote me to tell me the interview went great, and he had felt more confident and spoke in a more organized way after our coaching sessions. But he didn’t get the job. Yet, he was proud to report that his employer told him he’d done so well it had been hard to decide. Ultimately, the employer offered the job to another person who had an MBA, something not required, which set that candidate apart. Dan had reason to be optimistic. Another job opening at his company was even more appealing, and he wanted my help. He devoted just as much time preparing for this interview, and he got the job! 

I certainly noticed a transformation in his communication delivery and confidence, skills that will undoubtedly help him succeed in his new position and career.

Tips on How to Prepare for an Internal Interview

Now let’s talk about how to prepare for an internal interview. I’ll briefly share some common mistakes before giving you my best tips. One of the biggest mistakes people make when interviewing internally is failing to prepare adequately. They may believe the interview is simply a formality, and they have the job in the bag. Their interviewer may be familiar with their work, so they may not arrive prepared to talk about the specifics of their contributions. And finally, they may have a friendly relationship with the interviewer and treat the interview too casually. 

Other people like my client prepare well for an internal interview, which pays off. Here are my tips, so you also arrive well prepared for your internal interview and get the job you want! 

Learn everything you can about the position.

Talk with your coworkers and human resources to find out who you will report to and their management style, why they’re hiring for the job, what they’re looking for, what team you’ll be joining and what it’s like, the salary range, potential challenges, and expectations for the position. You may decide not to throw your hat in the ring after all, for example, if you find out they are looking for a fresh perspective and will likely hire an external candidate.

Learn everything you can about the interview process.

Try to find out what questions you’ll likely be asked, who will be interviewing you, and who else is interviewing for the position. 

Identify how you’ve prepared yourself for the job.

Be ready to talk about relationships you’ve built, skills you’ve developed, and projects you participated in that will allow you to hit the ground running. 

Find out how you’re perceived at your company.

Chat with your coworkers to find out what they perceive as your strengths and weaknesses. You may have many other strengths that you haven’t had a chance to use for the company. If that’s the case, begin gathering evidence of those skills that will be useful in the role you want so you can reshape the interviewer’s perceptions of you.

Prepare for the interview.

You’ll need to convince the interviewer you’re committed to the company’s mission and intend to build your career within the company. Of course, you should be ready to answer common interview questions. Be sure to have solid answers prepared for questions related to your career goals and mistakes. The employer will be very familiar with your successes and failures, so it’s essential to be honest about your past shortcomings and discuss what you learned and how you grew from those experiences. Some other common questions include why you chose the position and your vision for the new role, such as improvements you plan to make or ideas you have. 

In addition to preparing for interview questions, you should gather internal references, bring an updated resume, and share work samples in the interview. Finally, tell your boss! They will find out one way or the other, so it’s best if it comes from the horse’s mouth. Furthermore, your boss may be willing to serve as a key reference.

Bring Your A-Game to the Interview.

It’s important to dress the part and show professionalism in your interview, so the interviewer sees you respect the process and take the opportunity seriously. 

Those are all of my tips on how to prepare for an internal job interview!

The Benefits of Interviewing Internally

Interviewing internally is one of the best ways to advance your career. Even if an outsider applies for the job and has more qualifications, you have something they don’t. You’ve been vetted. You’re far more than a resume to your employer. They know your talents and your potential. 

And consider what may happen if you interview and don’t get selected. You will have given your employer valuable information about your motivations and goals. Knowing your ambitions, they may tell you about a position opening before making it public knowledge or even create a role for you. Your employer is also much more likely to give you candid feedback about your interview performance than another employer, which is a tremendous professional growth opportunity. 

How to Succeed in a Job Interview Online Course

If you’re someone who wants to arrive well-prepared for an interview, I encourage you to consider all the ways you can get prepared with me! You can listen to all of my Express to Impress podcast episodes dedicated to interview preparation, work with me one-on-one, or take my 90-minute online video course, How to Succeed in a Job Interview.

Sarah, a Legal Marketing Professional completed my online course, got a new job, and left the following review: “This course was really helpful to me in my current career shift. Watching it was very inspiring–I feel like I really can accomplish my career goals by following the concrete steps provided. Kristine speaks clearly and at a good pace and is very likable, knowledgeable, and informed.”

If you have an interview coming up, I urge you to consider taking my course to prepare for it. You will learn everything from body language to etiquette to answering questions confidently. You’ll get two in-depth handouts, including 14-pages of common interview questions and tips on how to answer them. 

You can watch the course introduction and the Interview Etiquette and Techniques lessons for free by visiting express-to-impress.com/courses/. 

English Language Learning 

That’s all for today! Thank you so much for listening to the Express to Impress podcast. Next time, I invite you to tune in to learn definitions for the idioms and phrases covered in this episode. 

And if you found this episode helpful, please remember to share it with a friend! See you next time. Bye!