Interviewing for a job can be frustrating for Architects (INTJs). These personality types prize rationality and impartiality, but job interviews are inevitably subjective, with the outcome determined by an interviewer’s opinions and perceptions. At worst, Architects may see job interviews as a particularly unfair kind of popularity contest – one that tends to reward smooth talkers rather than the person who deserves the job the most.
Job interviews may never be perfectly meritocratic, but if you’re an Architect, you don’t have to be jaded about the whole process. With a few key insights about your personality type, you can approach interviews in a way that allows your unique qualifications and abilities to shine. Here’s how.
Harness Your Strengths
People with this personality type pride themselves on being quick learners. When Architects are exposed to a new challenge or situation, they don’t just get the lay of the land – they also gain a deeper understanding of what’s going on, keeping an eye out for the problem’s root causes and envisioning what issues might arise in the future. These are great strengths to bring up in a job interview. No matter how high or low the position might be on the career ladder, training a new hire is a major concern for employers, so you’ll do well to highlight your ability to get up to speed and make contributions quickly.
What to Do
Talk about specific situations in the past when you have learned something new quickly, and then describe the contributions that you were able to make as a result. If you don’t have much work experience, don’t worry – it’s fine to give examples from an academic or extracurricular context.
What Not to Do
Don’t tell yourself that only fake or phony people talk about their strengths in a job interview. Remember: you don’t need to brag, but you do need to present evidence that you’re the best person for the job. If you’re not comfortable describing your abilities in the abstract, that’s fine – but don’t miss opportunities to discuss specific experiences and accomplishments that have prepared you for this role.
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Work With Your Weaknesses
For many Architect personalities, the most arduous part of a job interview is the first few minutes, when interviewers tend to engage in small talk about where you’re from, where you went to school, and so on. If you’re an Architect, you might want to rush past these niceties and get to what you perceive as the “meat” of the conversation.
But there’s a reason why many interviewers reserve part of the interview for light chitchat – it gives them a sense of what you’re like as a person and how you’d be as a colleague. You might perceive this as unfair – after all, shouldn’t your work speak for itself? But team dynamics are a factor in the success of nearly any workplace, so it’s entirely reasonable that your interviewer might want to get a glimpse of your social style.
What to Do
Think of your interviewer as your host. Start the conversation by thanking them for speaking with you – much the same way that you’d thank someone for having you over for a dinner party. Remember that this person is taking time out of their workday to meet you and that they’ll have to do extra work in the form of writing up comments or sharing their feedback afterward. If you can find reasons to be grateful for the interviewer’s time and energy, you’ll find it less painful to navigate a bit of small talk with them.
What Not to Do
Don’t rush or second-guess the interviewer. You can steer to a new topic, but they are ultimately in charge of the direction and pace of the conversation. You don’t need to give lengthy answers, but you should treat all of the interviewer’s questions – no matter how inconsequential they might seem – with consideration and respect.
Prepare Wisely
Like every personality type, Architects tend to have a slightly skewed view of their abilities. When you think of your greatest strengths, you probably come up with individual qualities, such as intelligence, determination, and rationality. And it’s true that these are all valuable assets that you can bring to your future employer. But your interviewer won’t just want to hear about your individual strengths – they’ll also want to hear about how you function as part of a group, including how you take direction, respond to feedback, and support others. Thinking about your strengths in this way may not come naturally to you, so take some time to do so before the interview.
What to Do
Come up with at least one example of a team project or collaboration that you’ve participated in. Practice describing your role within the group and how you contributed to the effort as a whole. Ideally, come up with at least two examples: one in which you had a leadership role (or at least led a particular aspect of the project) and one in which you supported and collaborated with others.
What Not to Do
Don’t underestimate the importance of highlighting your abilities as a team player. Even if the job you’re applying for is fairly independent, you’ll still need to take directions from a boss and get along with colleagues. As you plan the key points that you’d like to make in the interview, don’t forget to consider how you function as part of a group or team.
Conclusions
As an Architect, you might approach job interviews with more than a little cynicism. After all, the hiring process doesn’t always reward the most qualified candidate, and you may end up getting turned down for a job even if you’d be really, really good at it. But the good news is that by harnessing your personality type’s strengths, working with your weaknesses, and preparing wisely, you can go through the job interview process knowing that you’ve done your best – and stayed true to yourself.
Are you an Architect with job interview tips of your own? Let us know in the comments below!
Further Reading
- Check out our job interview tips for Advocates (INFJs), Mediators (INFPs), and Logicians (INTPs).
- How Your Personality Type Can Help You Get Hired
- 7 Workplace Success Tips for Analyst Personality Types
- How to Survive Your First Day on a New Job, by Personality Type
- Have you tried our Career Tools & Assessments? They can help you navigate the world of work.