If you tend to treat job interviews like a test that you need to cram for, you’re certainly not alone. Anyone who has sought out guidance on how to best prepare has likely been given a list of potential questions and told to prepare and rehearse a script.
But effective job interviews should be approached more like an audition than a test, according to coaches Dan Freehling and Spencer Campbell, who led our most recent digital careers event with guidance on how to move beyond the script in order to connect with purpose.
In this edition of Career Hub, I’m sharing some key insights from the event, which go well beyond traditional interview preparation advice you may have heard before. Plus, some of the best new job opportunities from Devex’s board, from leading organizations such as Tetra Tech, DT Global, and many others.
+ Join us on June 27 for a Devex digital event offering expert guidance on portfolio careers, which is a path for those looking to do purpose-driven work on their own terms. To gain access to this and all digital events, advice guides, and our job board, sign up to a Devex Career Account with a free 15-day trial.
Top full-time staff jobs this week
1. Sector Principal Specialist - Infrastructure and Energy Sector
Inter-American Development Bank
United States
2. Vice President of Advancement
Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School
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3. Philanthropy Officer
Fos Feminista
Worldwide (remote)
4. HR Senior Associate
UNOPS
Nepal
5. Country Coordinator
Tetra Tech
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6. Director of Special Charitable Projects
The Betsy Hotel
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Devex Talent Solutions, our boutique recruitment agency, is supporting the Asian Development Bank in its search for a senior treasury officer in Thailand, with applications closing on Aug. 4.
+ See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
Interview prep: How to land your audition
“What is the identity that you have that connects you to this role that … tells us that ‘Man, it’d be crazy not to hire you for this.’”
— Spencer Campbell, social impact talent agentDrawing from their work with hundreds of job seekers and lessons from the worlds of decision science and the performing arts, coaches Dan Freehling and Spencer Campbell offered alternative approaches for effective job interview preparation during our latest digital event. Here are a few key takeaways.
Ditch the script. When it comes to job interviews, “there’s only so much that you can really control” and “you don’t know the specific questions that they’re going to ask,” Campbell said. Spend time researching the organization and the interviewer instead to make a more meaningful connection.
Move beyond STAR. Traditional storytelling frameworks such as the STAR method are useful for early-career professionals. But experienced pros need to have a deep and genuine acceptance of their unique abilities. It can be helpful to think more about “who you are” than specific skills, Campbell said.
Presence over perfection. In many ways, what you say means far less than you think. “There’s something else which is going on in these conversations which is so far beyond content,” Campbell said. Conveying your story with confidence is what often seals the deal, and visualization exercises before the interview can do wonders for attaining this mindset.
Watch: Development job interviews — 3 tips for breaking through (Career)
Explore more: How to prepare for a competency-based interview at the UN (Career)
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Top consulting and short-term jobs
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4. Communications Officer
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5. Research Coordinator / Data Manager National Consultant - Laos PDR
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6. Consultant: Youth Agrifood Performance Index Development and Its Biennial Review Integration
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Southern Africa | Central Africa | Eastern Africa | West Africa | North Africa and the Middle East
+ For more opportunities, check out the weekly Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn and Devex’s job board.
USAID crisis: The emotional fallout
Laura I., a former senior nutrition adviser contracted through the Public Health Institute, was one of thousands of contractors caught in one of the most significant drawdowns of U.S. foreign aid staffing in decades, a move that resulted in the dismissal of all but a fraction of the entire USAID workforce.
But Laura says the most difficult part wasn’t losing the job itself. “The hardest part of this [is] we’re watching everything get destroyed … decades of work that has seen real improvements … and watching that just get decimated with utter disregard for the people who are going to die,” she says.
The scale and suddenness of the layoffs have sent shock waves through the international development community over the past four months. Beyond the loss of their own livelihoods, many affected have opened up to Devex about the profound sense of disorientation, rooted in the erosion of purpose, community, and trust.
Read: The emotional fallout of mass USAID and NGO layoffs (Career)
Watch: What to do if you’ve lost your NGO job
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
• Will UNAIDS sunset by 2030? Under a new model, the UNAIDS secretariat will operate with fewer than half of its current staff and downsize its country offices. But by the end of 2027, it may present a plan that could close down the secretariat by 2030.
• WHO’s restructuring has its critics. Some staff fear the World Health Organization is prioritizing longer-term staff to avoid paying bigger separation pay and question whether this would result in the kind of U.N. health agency the world needs.
• The perils of aid delivery in Sudan. Negotiating with different militias, coming up with scarce funds, and sourcing the food — in Sudan, delivering food aid is far from easy, the World Food Programme’s Leni Kinzli tells Devex.
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About the author
Justin Sablich
Justin is a contributing writer and editor who previously led Devex’s careers content strategy. Before joining Devex, Justin served as the managing editor of Springwise, covering sustainable and climate-tech innovation across all business sectors. He also spent over 13 years as an editor and writer for the New York Times, specializing in digital content production and strategy while producing written and multimedia content on a range of topics, including travel, sports, and technology.
