Congrats, boo! You landed a job interview! Look at God and all that hard work paying off! Once the high of being a potential job candidate has died down, you need to start to prepare for your job interview. Job interviews can be a stressful part of the hiring process if you don’t plan accordingly. The following six tips will help you prepare for your job interview:
1. Wear dark colored suit that fits well and doesn’t hug your body.
If you don’t have suit, opt for a nice cardigan and work skirt or slacks. Try to stay away from wearing club-friendly clothes and shoes, if you can. Be as conservative as possible.
2. Research company.
Research social media. Go on Glassdoor. Go on LinkedIn. If the hiring generalist or manager sent you the list of people who will be interviewing them, look them up immediately. Find out what schools they went to, what their majors were, what jobs they had leading up to the role they are currently in. This will give you a feel for who they are without really knowing them.
3. Review job description.
Highlight any similarities in your current skill sets and job competences with what they want in this role. Print it off, even, and look over it several times before the actual interview.
4. Practice the question portion of the interview.
Rehearse answering typical interview questions like what are your strengths and weakness, how did you overcome a challenge, and the like. Remember, they will also ask you to shed some light on your background, so review your resume to make sure that you don’t leave anything pertinent out. Also, prepare any questions you might want to ask them. You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.
5. Print off several copies of your resume.
Potential employers and coworkers that will interview you may have forgotten their copy. There might be a few that never got the chance to view your resume at all–the hiring manager just scheduled the interview with little-to no information provided. Having a copy of your resume available in a portfolio or nice folder will show that you are prepared.
6. Head to the interview early.
Give yourself at least 45-60 minutes wiggle room. You might get stuck in traffic or get lost on the way over. It would really, really suck to arrive late or a few minutes before the interview has begun. Arriving early allows you to go over everything one last time. Perhaps, it could also relieve some of the pre-interview jitters some have before the fun begins.
Remember, the majority of the interview process is what you make of it. If you want it to be good, it will be good. You just have to be prepared and believe that you deserve this job. Then you will be able to convince your future employers as well. Good luck!