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- Who We Serve
- What We Do
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Whether you’re walking into your 10th interview or haven’t interviewed in 10 years, interviewing can be nerve-wracking. We understand it is challenging to present your skills and qualifications to a group of people you don’t know under time constraints.
Feeling well prepared can make the process easier. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for preparing for your interviews with Northern Trust.
Interview Preparation
We take our history, heritage and founding principles to heart here at Northern Trust. They are the underpinnings of our success and a key part of our culture and focus, and our ongoing success.
As part of preparing to interview with us, we’d encourage you to take a read through these articles:
· About Us and What We Do
· Our Results – Awards & Accolades
We also suggest checking out what’s currently happening here at Northern Trust with these resources:
For all the latest news and career opportunity information. You will discover details about why you would want to work at Northern Trust and all about our people and culture.
Find out what it’s like to work at Northern Trust with stories about our extraordinary people, culture, and work.
Follow our LinkedIn and see what we are posting, what we are talking about, these can be great conversation points for your interview.
You could also review your LinkedIn connections to see who you might already know that works for Northern Trust. Those connections can be a good source of information about the company and criteria for success.
See the latest press releases to learn more about our impact in the marketplace.
Interviewing Tips for Success
We asked our recruiting teams to provide some interview tips to help make the process as easy as possible:
Plan for technology and travel
Travel delays and technology snafus can happen at any time. To ease your mind, plan for unanticipated events to ensure you are able to arrive for your in-person interview on-time or join your virtual interview with no issues. This is your first chance to show the team you’re serious about the role.
For virtual interviews, test the link beforehand and make sure you can access with no issues. Our interview platform is Microsoft Teams. We recommend that you test out the platform and try to work out potential pain points, such as your video and audio quality. In preparation for your interview, please download the Microsoft Teams app and trial / test with a friend if you haven't used it before.
For in-person interviews, map the commute and plan your route so you are aware of any issues along the way. Consider leaving earlier than you think you need to, on the off chance something unexpected happens the day of your interview.
Communicate any supports needed
We want to get to know the real authentic you, and so we work hard to create an inclusive recruitment experience.
This gives you the opportunity to present your best self at interview. Communicate with your recruiter in advance if there are any adjustments required or any information you would wish interviewers to know in advance e.g. a neurotype or disability.
Dress for the interview
We recommend you wear business appropriate attire whether you are interviewing in person or online with us. While the world is more casual that in the past, dressing smart shows you’re making an effort which will not go unnoticed.
Avoid a time crunch
We recommend giving yourself at least 15 minutes between any meetings and an interview, preferably 30 minutes. In case the interview runs over time, the last thing you want during a positive interview is to have to call a halt to it because of another call.
Stay focused
Interviews are time-bound. Use your time wisely to share examples of how you have honed your skills through previous roles, what you have learned from working with former teams and employers. You want to demonstrate that you understand the culture and know what you can add to the organisation.
It’s best to focus on non-controversial topics. Listing all the flaws in previous managers or employers not only gives a poor impression but consumes your time and does not leave the interviewer with a lot of information to assess your fit for the role.
Keep the conversation focused on what value you bring to the role and how it fits with your career aspirations.
Talk, but stay on point. You want time to listen and understand what the interviewer wants to share about the role, team, leaders and career opportunities. A general rule of thumb is that the candidate should speak about 80% of the time, while the interviewer should speak for the remaining 20% of the time.
Use your resume as a foundation to share your career story
There are a lot of “resume rules” that suggest how many pages your resume should have, what kind of content to include, etc. — but the most important thing is to know what’s on there and how it relates to the job description and skills needed for the role you have applied to.
Using your resume as the foundation, think through your elevator pitch when the recruiter asks you to describe your career journey and what brought you to apply for the role you are discussing during the interview. Think about skills, things you’ve learned, and long term career goals and be able to weave those together in a 2-3 minute overview of your work history.
Your resume should always be tailored to the job you’re applying for, but it needs to be accurate. Your true qualifications and experience should be the focus. When looking at the work history you have on your resume, make sure you can discuss what you did and how you did it. If it’s on your resume, it’s open to questions and a conversation.
Be prepared to provide specific examples of what you’ve done, including results
Our interviews take a competency-based approach focused on the skills required to be successful in the role. You might be asked questions that sound something like, “Can you tell me about a time when…”
In this case, you’ll want to tell the full story. Start from the beginning. What was the problem? Which steps did you take to solve it? What resources did you use? And finally, what was the resolution? Think about and include critical skills you used, technology platforms involved, and what you learned along the way.
This is also known as the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method. This framework helps you provide clear, concise, and compelling narratives that demonstrate your abilities in action.
Sticking to a story format can also prevent you from going off topic while answering the question. Succinct and well thought out answers are for the goal. It’s also good to talk about what you learned in that situation and what you would do the next time you are in a similar situation based on what you learned.
Here's how the STAR format works:
𝗦𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Set the scene by describing the context of your experience
𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸: Outline the specific task or challenge you faced
𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Explain the actions you took to tackle the task
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: Highlight the outcomes of your actions
Have questions prepared to ask your interviewer(s)
Asking questions shows you are engaged and interested in the job and company. Ask the interviewer about themselves, their role, the team dynamic, their favorite thing about working for Northern Trust. Get all the information you need to be sure you understand the role and what’s required for success.
While we are looking to understand your fit for the role, the interview is just as much about making sure you have the information you need to understand if the role is a fit for you and your career goals. Doing some background research using the resources above can help generate questions.
Send a follow up note of thanks
We are a client-centered business and the personal touch can go a long way in building relationships and making an impression. While this is not 100% necessary, there is no downside to sending a thank you note or email to the recruiter or recruiting coordinator who can forward this onto the interviewers. In this note you can express your gratitude and reiterate your enthusiasm for the role and why it fits with your career aspirations and your skills
Final Thoughts
Our founding principles of service, integrity and expertise are the basis of our approach to our business. We hope you feel during your process, that we are focused on ensuring an excellent experience, treating you with consideration and integrity and allowing you to share your expertise and how it fits with the role.
Whether you are preparing for your interview now with us or you'll be interviewing in the future with us, we wish you the best of luck.
Careers at Northern Trust
Come find your greater at Northern Trust. Review our open roles here.