Transcript
Welcome back to PivotPoint. My name is Liz Hart. I'm the Founder and Executive Director of Tailored for Success.
The best way to prepare for a job interview is to prepare before you have an interview. There are many steps that can be taken before and after an interview. Preparation is definitely key if you want to impress a potential employer.
Here are 10 tips to help you prepare to have a great interview.
1. Analyze the Job - Tip #1 is to analyze the job. Think about what the company is looking for in terms of skills, knowledge, professional and personal qualities. So really take a look at that job posting and job description and analyze what the company is looking for.
2. Are you a Match? Tip #2 is to make a match. Determine if your skills and knowledge match the description. This takes a little bit of listing of your strengths and weaknesses beforehand but we'll get into that in. another podcast episode.
3. Research the Company - The third tip is to research the company. Find out as much as you can about the company. One way certainly to do that is to look at the company website. If you look at the company website and go to the about us portion of the website it will give you some information but you can also rely on company reviews such as Yelp, Glassdoor and so forth.
4. Practice Interviewing - The 4th tip is to practice your interview skills by practice answering interview questions whether they are behavioral questions or just standard questions. You want to practice this before your actual interview so that you can practice your answers. There are common questions that are asked at every interview and I can list some of those in the show notes for your practice purposes. One way to. practice is to practice interview questions with a friend or family member ahead of time. Then that way you'll be much more relaxed when your interview comes along. If you're comfortable with technology you can also use Zoom to practice interview questions where you can record yourself, play it back and make any corrections that are necessary.
5. Get Your Clothes Ready - The 5th tip is to get your interview clothes ready. Don't wait for the night before to figure out what it is that you're going to wear to the interview. Take some time to make sure that your interview suit if you're going to wear one it fits, if it's clean and so forth. This is another topic for another podcast but the basic tip here is don't wait till the last minute. Tip number six is along the same lines as getting your clothes ready.
6. Don't forget your Hair - Tip six is to decide what to do with your hair when you're getting ready for an interview. The way you style your hair is almost as important as a clothes that you're wearing so you need to pay attention to
that also.
7. What you Should/Shouldn't Bring - Tip number seven is what to bring with you to a job interview. It's. important to know what to bring to the job interview so that you are not having to follow up with the interviewer afterwards. Make sure that you have extra copies of your resume and a list of references with you in case that the interviewer asks for that. Almost as important as what to bring to an interview is what not to bring. Your cell phone if you must bring it with you. make sure it's turned off. A cup of coffee, gum and so forth is not what you should bring to an interview. Anything else that is outside of your authentic self and your credentials should not be brought to an interview.
8. Interview Etiquette - Tip number eight is to practice and get familiar with interview etiquette. And by etiquette what I mean is to watch your body language, have a firm handshake, pay attention to your eye contact, be attentive during the interview and always look interested in what the interviewer is saying. The ninth tip is to confirm directions if it is an in-person interview. You'll want to program your GPS beforehand, check on parking and so forth to make sure that there isn't any problem the day of the interview.
10. Listen & Ask - Lastly tip number ten is to listen and ask questions. During most job interviews listening is almost as important as answering the questions. If you're not paying attention you're not going to be able to give an appropriate response so listening to the interviewer is extremely important. Be ready to engage the interviewer with questions of your own. You want there to be a given take between you and the interviewer and interview is nothing more than a conversation between two people. So instead of just listening think of ways that you can ask questions and engage the interviewer.
As a bonus tip one way to tell if an interview is going well is if it goes longer than 30 minutes. That's usually a really good sign that you in the interviewer are engaging and that they are impressed with your credentials, your answers and you have developed a report with the interviewer.
Last but not least don't forget to follow up with a thank you email to the interviewer, reiterate your interest in the position and state why you would be a good candidate for the position and maybe bring up something that happened in the interview so that you can remind the interviewer who you are.
In summary the 10 tips for preparing for a job interview are
1. Analyze the job,
2. Determine if you are a match,
3. Research the company,
4. Practice interviewing,
5. Get your interview close ready,
6. Decide what to do with your hair,
7. Decide what to bring with you to the interview,
8. Be familiar with interview etiquette, 9. Get directions, 10. Listen attentively and ask questions and your bonus tips are if your interview lasts more than 30 minutes it's a good sign and always send a thank you email.
