Interview process involves a Demo

La_Gordy

Hi All,

I have an on site interview this week for a software company. Part of this interview will be a demo of the product. The information I have been supplied with so far is:

- The case details will be provided 15 minutes before the demo
- The demo itself will take 15 minutes
- Interviewers will play the role of clients that have recently purchased the product
- It is not a PowerPoint presentation or a sales demo, but a product demo

To prepare so far, I have purchased the entry level business version of the product, and viewed some of the training materials. I will also add the product as App to my phone and Laptop.

That said, I have never been in this kind of interview scenario before. If anybody has any advice, either on how to deliver the demo or how to prepare, I would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Mr. Loverman

Sounds like you're already doing the right things.

Make sure your appearance is impeccable! Smile a lot and come across as a warm person.

stevenmu

Try to familiarise yourself with their marketing materials if you can. Learn what the key selling points are for the product, and if you can research the competition too and see what the main differentiators are. Then plan to focus your demo around these features.

La_Gordy

Fortunately their site has a lot of comprehensive materials. I'm just nervous about how proactive to be i.e. do all the talking such as a full on speech, allow room for questioning?

My plan so far is to begin with : I am here to help you, if there is anything you would like me to go back on or if I haven't explained in enough detail I invite you to let me know and lastly if there is anything I can't answer, I will make a note of it and direct to the relevant internal teams to get an answer for you.

Immediately followed by quietly panicking

stevenmu

That sounds like an excellent approach. They won't expect you to know everything, but will probably be interested to see how you handle questions that you can't answer (and that's the right way to do it).

One other tip I'd give is to not try and memorise a big speech off by heart. It's too easy for you to forget bits of it, or get distracted by their questions, and then get flustered trying to remember your speech. Instead focus on learning the main points you want to cover and a few key phrases. And buzzwords, lots of buzzwords.

beauf

Also plan how to handle questions you won't have an answer for. Perhaps a question sheet, with space for contact details, and your details and the question, that you can hand out and collect at the end. So you can follow up.

Also maybe practise the delivery to the clock so you know how the time goes. If you can do it in front of someone it will make it easier on the day.

El_Duderino 09

stevenmu wrote: »

That sounds like an excellent approach. They won't expect you to know everything, but will probably be interested to see how you handle questions that you can't answer (and that's the right way to do it).

One other tip I'd give is to not try and memorise a big speech off by heart. It's too easy for you to forget bits of it, or get distracted by their questions, and then get flustered trying to remember your speech. Instead focus on learning the main points you want to cover and a few key phrases. And buzzwords, lots of buzzwords.

I agree that you sound like you are taking a great approach to the interview. I know nothing about the topic but for the presentation you can use some classic techniques.

The sweet spot for presentations is to have a basic outline of a script and deliver it as if you're discussing a hobby. I usually walk around the house reading the script in conversational tone of voice. Then turn the script into bullet points and discuss each bullet point from memory. At this point it's not about the script anymore, instead you're listening to how much meaning you are getting across.

The thing with a script is that it works great for getting maximum information on the page so it's great for organising ideas but doesn't translate into spoken word. So bridge the gap by
Speaking about it until it's natural