How to Get and Nail Your Next Interview, According to a Senior Talent Scout

Nicole Kaiser shares what makes applicants stand out and how she evaluates candidates in interviews.

Nicole Kaiser, Executive Search Partner and Senior Talent Scout at Navy Federal Credit Union, tells Fairygodboss that she has the unique opportunity to sit on two incredible teams, helping them to find top candidates for their hard-to-fill positions.

“It’s about finding people who align with our mission, bring energy and adaptability to the team, and are ready to grow with us,” Nicole adds.

Whether you are preparing for an interview, considering a career change, or looking to elevate your skills, she says the keys to success are preparation and authenticity.

“Know your strengths, frame them for impact, and show how you can contribute to a culture that values collaboration, curiosity, and people-first leadership,” she advises.

Here, she explains exactly how to do just that—and she shares some of her top tips for getting and acing an interview at Navy Federal.

What are the top three qualities you look for when you’re interviewing a candidate for a role in your industry?

I often focus on hiring people leaders at Navy Federal. However, for all roles, I look at a few key points with each hire.

1. The priority is finding a good human. I ask pointed questions to understand whether this person supports their team, acts as a team player, looks for ways to help others, and aligns with our mission. 
2. I look for whether they can clearly explain how the work they have done supports the requirements of the role. 
3. Equally important, I look for a people-first mindset, whether they are a leader or a senior teammate. They may not have every answer, but if helping their team succeed is part of their approach, that is a thumbs up from me.

What advice do you have for candidates who are looking to elevate their career in your industry or job type?

If you are trying to elevate your career in technology or finance, the best thing you can do is a skills audit. 

• Start with your core role. List the tasks and responsibilities in your current job description. This gives you a baseline.
• Capture what you actually do. Think about the projects, meetings, and ad-hoc tasks you handle daily. Often, these involve skills not formally recognized, like stakeholder management, data analysis, and mentoring.
• Look beyond work. Include skills from volunteer work, hobbies, or freelance projects. For example, organizing a community event demonstrates planning and leadership.
• Identify transferable skills. Highlight abilities that apply across roles: problem-solving, negotiation, or tech proficiency. These often go unnoticed but are highly valuable.
• Validate and prioritize. Seek feedback from peers or managers on what strengths they see in you, and then rank your skills by relevance to your career goals.

What tips do you have for someone considering a career change who wants to break into a totally new role or industry?

I love this topic because I was also a career changer myself. Right now may not be the best time to change careers, given how tumultuous the market has been. However, sometimes making a change is the right decision regardless of market conditions. Layoffs or other pressures behind the scenes can make staying in a role more challenging than leaping into something new.

Transferable skills will be your greatest strength. These are the skills that apply across industries and roles. Start with a skills audit and review your past roles to identify patterns. Ask yourself: What skills helped you succeed repeatedly? Examples include digital literacy, analytical thinking, communication, and problem-solving. These skills transfer easily to most workplaces today.

Next, frame those skills for impact. On your resume, connect each skill to measurable outcomes. On LinkedIn, share stories that show adaptability in action. Employers value versatility, so positioning these skills as part of your narrative can turn uncertainty into opportunity.

How do you suggest candidates get through automated systems?

Your biggest concern should be how easy it is to find the relevant skills on your resume. Customize your resume to call out those skills, what you used them for, and the measurable results.   

Networking is always helpful, but remember, you are one of potentially hundreds of people reaching out to the recruiter or recruitment team. The best time to really network is when you aren’t looking for work.

Connect with people in your industry, in roles that you are interested in, and the people showcasing work that you find interesting. You will be naturally engaging with them and their content on a semi-regular basis. Then, when an opportunity arises, you aren’t sending out a cold call message to a recruiter with 400 other candidates doing the same. You are sending a chat message, built on previous relationships, asking about the role and any insight they have.

How do you suggest candidates prepare for an interview at Navy Federal?

Start with research. This applies to any company. With the advent of AI, begin with a quick internet search and then build an AI prompt. Ask it to provide details on the company history, recent large financial moves, whether positive or negative, layoff or WARN notices the company has made or has pending, and an overview of the CEO and leadership team. Be sure to request that it include all references.

Next, review the job description carefully and include the skills listed in that description in your AI prompt. This helps you tailor your preparation to what the company is actually looking for. Use that information to prepare answers that demonstrate those skills and abilities in action.

Many companies prefer structured response formats because they make your answers clear and focused. Here are a few examples:

• STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result
• SHARE: Situation, Hindrance, Action, Result, Evaluation
• CAR: Challenge, Action, Result
• SOAR: Situation, Obstacle, Action, Result

Let’s talk about the interview itself. What are your go-to interview questions for all candidates?

What’s the information they must know when interviewing at Navy Federal?

While we don’t require answers in a specific format, most of the feedback we hear from hiring leaders focuses on the quality of the answers a candidate gives. Having concise, relevant answers to the questions can make a big difference and leave a strong impression.

I suggest finding—or creating with AI—a series of questions relevant to the job you are interviewing for. Then record yourself on video answering those questions.

When you review the video, pay attention to how long it took you to answer, whether the example you gave was concise and directly related to the question, and flag any filler words or sounds. When I did this, I realized how much my nonverbal habits, like fidgeting with my hair, displayed nervousness. I had great answers, but visually, there was work to be done.

You can also load the job description into AI and ask it to interview you. You can put the job description into any AI tool (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, etc.) , give it the below prompt, and use the voice listening tool to verbally answer your questions like you would in a real interview.

Below is a prompt I would suggest:

“Please use the attached job description to generate 10 –12 interview questions that include: 

• Technical skills relevant to the role, role-specific competencies, soft skills (communication, adaptability, teamwork, problem-solving)
• Ensure questions encourage behavioral responses (e.g., STAR format: Situation, Task, Action, Result). 

As a recruiter, what are three things about Navy Federal that you always make sure to highlight when talking to a candidate?

First is our Mission Statement: “Our Members Are the Mission.” I explain to potential employees that we turn that mission statement on its head by providing the same level of support to our employees that we offer to our members.

We want our members to have the best banking and lending experiences. We achieve this by supporting our employees, even those who are not member-facing, because their work directly impacts our members. That support includes comprehensive benefits and PTO, opportunities for continuing education, stretch assignments, hybrid work, and multiple pathways for professional development.

We have numerous employee groups that are very active and cover just about every interest you can imagine and then some. Some are serious, but not all. I am in a dad jokes community, and that group makes me ridiculously happy. There is something comforting about belonging to a crew of bad joke enthusiasts who post puns and one-liners every day. We also have very active Employee Resource Groups focused on Military Communities and Diverse Abilities. 

Being a not-for-profit credit union is great, but what truly sets us apart is that we are member-owned and deeply integrated into our communities. This includes not only our campus locations but also our branches across the country.

We’re encouraged to give back each year with eight hours of paid volunteer leave. In addition, our Navy Federal Serves team coordinates numerous onsite events to make it easy for us to support the communities around us.

What are your biggest tips for what not to do when applying or interviewing at a company?

Don’t apply for 20 roles at the company. We do have similar roles, with sister teams posting very similar roles around the same time. You can apply to a few of them, especially when you take the time to update your resume for each role. But when someone keeps applying to various roles, it shows skills misalignment and that the candidate is applying to things they think they can do rather than roles in their expertise.

In today’s super competitive market, you won’t be getting a call back from loose fits, not when we have candidates who match the entire job description applying.

What’s the most memorable piece of career advice you’ve received?

If they don’t create a space for you at the table, set up your own table and invite others to it. Be the powerhouse you know you can be, even if you haven’t been given formal space to do so, and work to bring others up alongside you.