EDIT: Damn, some of you all very obviously feel personally attacked. I sure hope this post helps!

I have been deeply unimpressed by my candidate interviews over the past 6 months. In fact, most juniors I interview completely blow the senior candidates out of the water. So, I have some advice for those looking for work right now.

1. Don't use GenAI during your interview. DO. NOT. USE. GenAI. DURING. YOUR. INTERVIEW. We can tell. We can always tell. Beyond that, don't read prepared responses off your screen. We can tell. ChatGPT is a tool in the toolbox, but an interview is not the time to actively use that tool.
2. Do use GenAI to help prepare for your interview (if you want). More on this below.
3. Don't interview the interviewer commandeer the interview. It is a bold move but also completely unhinged. That is an automatic no-go. EDIT: It seems I wasn't clear on this one. My bad. I have had three different candidates make it past the first question and then immediately dive into their own line of questioning, to the point that I had a chance to only ask 1 or two questions in the interview. Also, see #4.
4. Do prepare thoughtful questions that you actually care about for the end of the interview. That's your time to ask questions to see if the role and company would be a good fit for you. You probably have several rounds of interviews so you'll have ample time to get all of the information you could possibly want or need.
5. Don't sit too far from the webcam, too close to the webcam, or take it as a video call and then put the phone in your lap. I can't even believe I need to say this. You're not the Wizard of Fucking Oz -- sit back a bit.
6. Do use a modicum of common sense, critical thinking, and self-awareness. Honestly though, this whole post could just be summed up with that one sentence.
7. Don't ramble on and on and on thinking you might find the right answer along the way. Throwing everything but the kitchen sink at your questions tells everyone you interview with that you are an ineffective communicator.
8. Do know the limits of your knowledge. You don't know everything. Neither do I. We can't know everything. Humility will take you far in life, and it will particularly paint you as a reasonable person in interviews. Leave the hubris at home. Here is a version of what I am looking for when a candidate doesn't know something: "I am not familiar enough with that topic to give you a realistic or accurate answer here, but that is the first thing I am looking up after this interview, and I will know the answer the next time we speak."
9. Don't have a six-page resume. Seriously, WTF?
10. Do have a resume that is no more long as is reasonable to demonstrate your experience, projects, education, and "skills". This isn’t “rocket surgery”.
11. Don't lie. Oh, you personally built the entire security program for a multinational company? I don't know, maybe you did but probably not. Remember: if you put it on your resume, it is fair game in the interview. Be prepared to speak to anything on there.
12. Do stretch the truth. People often don’t give themselves the credit they deserve for the contributions they’ve made. You have probably done more than you think, so stretching the truth interestingly enough probably brings you back closer to the objective truth. “I mean, I was only a member of that project team.” Really? I bet you contributed to the success of that project. I bet you did more than you are giving yourself credit for. Maybe there were 3 engineers from your team on that project. But maybe you were the only engineer, and you are the one who came up with all of those great ideas. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Here are some miscellaneous “protips”:

• Worry way less about the format of your resume and worry more about having an "ATS-friendly" format. While it's not 1:1, I have found importing a resume into any system using Workday will give you a pretty good idea of how shitty these pre-screening systems really are.
• Your resume MUST be readable, and quickly so. Typically, you've got my attention for about 10-15 seconds. I think the average is 7 seconds, but don't quote me on that (EDIT - this hopefully obviously is for the initial screening of resumes). The point being: if there isn't intuitive flow, spacing, fonts, etc., I am not going to get the information I need in those few seconds you have my attention, and that extends to other hiring managers as well. Share your resume with peers or others in corporate who can give you a good feel of whether or not they are able to quickly glean who you are, where you've worked, what you've done, certs you may have, etc. very quickly. This point and the previous bullet aren’t mutually exclusive by the way.
• Carve up the types of questions you will almost certainly be asked however you like. You will probably be asked technical questions (obviously), but more than that: critical thinking, conflicts, mistakes, proactiveness, adaptability, professional growth, ethics, collaboration, leadership/management, communication, etc. Now, think back on 5-8 scenarios across your career. The good and the bad. You then think of scenarios that can kill multiple birds with one stone. Think of projects you participated in or led, training, times you took the initiative, etc. Write those out in as much detail as you can. Fire up ChatGPT and ask it to turn each of those scenarios into responses to interview questions using the STAR method. Boom. Done. Study that.

Remember that you are being interviewed by people. Some are reasonable. Some are insane. Above and beyond all else, follow #6 above and you are already ahead of 90% of your peers, and I am being generous with that estimation.