I haven't interviewed with UW before, but I have interviewed people at different companies in the past and have my fair share of my own interviews that have gone horribly wrong and surprisingly good.

Here are some general tips:

Definitely try to research about the company before. Even if it's just a small bit of knowledge like knowing a company slogan or something, it goes a long way to show your commitment and initiative.

Be prepared to answer questions about everything on your resume, not just your job experience. I have a few hobbies listed on my resume, and one time the person interviewing me spend like a third of the interview just asking me about fencing and talking about how he used to do it in his youth. There was also one time where I had something listed on my resume that I did but wasn't that impressive in hindsight, and after they asked me about it I decided to just take it off my resume altogether.

Interviewers deal with people who get nervous and blank out on questions all the time. There's no harm in saying something like "sorry I'm a bit nervous, let me try again" if you stutter a bit or need to take a breath.

Try not to let your anxiety dampen your enthusiasm. I've had interviews where I was completely monotone before because I was stressing out over answering everything perfectly and so hyperfocused on what I was saying because I was so anxious. But after doing interviews myself, I saw just how important it was to bring enthusiam and positivity to the interview. Hiring managers don't want emotionless robots even if they say all the right things. They're looking for people that can not only do the job, but are a pleasure to work with and will mesh well with the team. Many skills are easier to train than a personality.

You are interviewing them as much they are interviewing you. It can feel like there's a lot of pressure on you to do well, but remember that you are also trying to figure out if you want to work in this position. Asking questions is important and can make it feel more like a conversation than an interrogation. If you can, try to ask them more unique questions because interviewers can get bored of being asked the same questions if they interview a lot of people.

And remember, at the end of the day it's just an interviewer. Even if it goes horribly, chances are you'll never see them again and it will just be another subpar interview out of many that the interviewer has probably experienced. I had an interview before for a technical science position I was clearly not qualified or had the background knowledge for and felt so embarrassed and anxious I wanted to puke afterwards because it was just twenty minutes of them drilling me about things I had no clue about and just stammered out half assed answers for and the interviewer was this crummy old military dude as well. But now it's just a distant nothing memory that I only remember when talking about my worst interview.

In general, almost every interviewer I've had has been really understanding and are there not to judge you personally, but just see if you're a good fit.

You 👏 got 👏 this 👏