SolveYourProblem eLearning Series: Job Interviews
Help Me Nail My Job Interview!
( 11 pages )

Preparing for the Interview

Once you get the call for an interview, the next thing that you have to do is prepare for it. You can never over prepare for an interview. The more prepared you are, the harder it will be to make mistakes. It is best to prepare yourself emotionally as well as intellectually for an interview. Giving a great interview is not as hard as some may think, but not as easy as others do either. Here are a few things that must be done in order to prepare for your next interview.

Remember: during an interview, you are a salesman. You are there to sell yourself to your prospective employer. You want to market yourself in the most interesting way possible. Great preparation for the interview is your best bet. A salesman that is knowledgeable, friendly and positive always gets the close.

Do Your Research

It doesn’t matter how much knowledge or experience you have about the position you are trying to get with a company if you don’t have a clue who the company is or what they do. It is disastrous to enter into an interview and not be able to tell your interviewer what their company is all about. Besides, how else are you going to tell them why you feel that you would be a good addition to their company?

The best and least time consuming way to get to know more about a company is to look at their website. You can absorb all of the general knowledge about them that way, including the names of key people and their job titles. There will be more on that in a minute. You should also sift through most of their pages, including the pages that show samples of their work and/or products.

You can also type their company name in your favorite search engine. Read the articles or press releases listed about them and soak up as much information as possible. Another thing that is nice to do is to check out the surrounding area around the company headquarters. It makes for a nice ice breaker during the interview. You can make a comment about a particular monument or resting place nearby or even 'hot spots' where employees choose to eat lunch.

A trickier way to get a little extra information about the company is to call them on the phone and ask general questions, without referring to yourself as a potential employee. It’s a nice way to get the goods on upcoming promotions, etc.

Know Your Contact

When called for an interview, ask who you will be talking to & meeting with. It is nice to be able to greet your interviewer by name at the beginning of the interview without first being told who they are. It shows that you are on top of things, and have prepared beforehand.

You will also want to do some research on the person that will be conducting your interview. Learn what they do for the company and try to get some samples of their work or achievements at the company.

If you know what department that you are going to work in, you may want to get the names of your potential colleagues and superiors prior to the interview as well. This way you can get some information about their roles in the company and the types of work that they have done.

Mention some of the things that you learned about your potential colleagues in the interview and about how much you look forward to working with them in the future. If you can, give an example of their work so that you will appear more sincere.

Practice Your Responses

It is best, if you are prone to nervousness, to practice giving your responses to the questions that may be asked of you. A list of the most common questions will appear later on in this guide. You should practice your wording and the tone of voice you plan to use; Try to keep your responses as brief as possible, but with as much detail as you can.

As you work on the proper responses to an interviewer’s questions, you will also want to practice the art of getting your nerves under control as well as ridding yourself of any other odd habits while talking; like over expressing yourself with your hands.

Practice answering your interview questions with a friend. Get his or her opinion about your delivery and gestures. Perhaps your friend will have some nice insights for you to use during the real interview. If a friend is unavailable, use a mirror.

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