Interview Tips for Dream Job (Diff Practice Area) Forum

[Anonymous User]

I lucked out and have an upcoming interview for the job of my dreams- however I imagine they may be looking for someone with experience in a different practice area (e.g., someone with M&A experience interviewing for a job in cap markets). Ironically I chose the practice I'm in currently because I thought it would help me break into this field, but never thought this specific job would be available.

I know this is rather vague; I'm (excessively) paranoid of outing myself, but do you have any advice as to how to approach this? I have solid credentials, but how might I positively distinguish myself/improve my chances of looking better next to someone who may have that specific practice experience?

Note- the M&A/cap markets example was to hopefully make my post a bit more coherent, not necessarily because those are the applicable practice areas.

[Anonymous User]

Bump.

[Halp]

I think the question is just too vague. No offense, but it’s hard to tell what you’re asking for. Are you looking for ways to spin your past experience as relevant ? Or how to signal your commitment to the new area? General lateral interview tips? I don’t have specific advice for those but if you update with somewhat more specific requests I think you’ll get more advice.

[collegewriter]

OP, without knowing more I can’t be too helpful but I just went through this and can add a few tips:

(1) Be prepared to answer “why this job/area/practice shift?” You should have a clear, confident response because you know this will he asked. And saying “this is my dream job” is not enough. When I was asked I gave concrete examples of work I had done that touched on the area I wanted to move into, showing I know what the work is like and I still want to do it.

(2) For each position on your resume you should make bullet points of experience and projects applicable to this new role. These should be your talking points. If you are speaking about your experience it’s always helpful to have examples to point to instead of speaking just in generalities.

(3) mock interview! This will help you work (1) and (2) into your interviews more naturally. You may be asked to do a more behavioral type interview for which you can look up questions to practice with.

Good luck!