The Best Job Interview Tips How to Prepare

The Best Job Interview Tips â€" How to Prepare The Best Job Interview Tips â€" How to Prepare The Best Job Interview Tips â€" How to Prepare How to Prepare for and Nail an Interview in 6 Steps There are 6 major components to nailing an interview. We break them down into the 6 ‘Gets’: 1. Get Ready To pass the interview process, you must prepare and do research. The deeper your knowledge about the company and the role you’d be playing, the more you will impress your interviewer with incisive and pertinent questions throughout the interview. Ready Part 1: Research the company Find out when the company was founded. Is it an old company, or new, or somewhere in between? Find out what their mission statement is. It can give you a small understanding of the overall company vision and culture, and will help you to fine-tune some of your responses. Read the “about us” on the company website. It’s possible the interviewer hasn’t even read it before, so if you manage to work in some knowledge you’ve gleaned from it, you’re sure to make an impression. If the company has staff profiles online, read them. Pay close attention to the profile of the person who will be running your unit, and your potential co-workers’ profiles, too. Read online reviews about the company, if there are any. What do customers think about the company? If the company is getting good reviews, you can explain how you’ll match and exceed standards. If the company is getting bad reviews, don’t be afraid to ask why. Be prepared to explain how you can help. Has the company been in the news recently? Use Google News, type in the company’s name, and do a search. Use “Search Tools” to expand the range of your search beyond “recent.” Do a little digging and you might find some press releases from the company itself, or news stories about the company. Ideally, you can find out what the company’s goals are, particularly with relation to the job role you’d be performing. You can then explain how you could help the company forward those goals. You can use major industry research services like Hoovers to find out how many people the company employs, their annual sales, competition, top industries, without paying for the full service. What if you can’t find any information? Don’t worry, the company is likely aware that their website is either non-existent or anemic, and won’t knock you any points for not knowing about them. Use it as an opportunity to ask to learn about the company, and then make your points about how you can help. Ready Part 2: Research your role Read the hiring manager’s job description over carefully, if they wrote one. It will act as an excellent guide for what is expected of you on a daily basis, but it might not reveal the company’s overall goal. Research the specific position online. This may not work in all cases, but Quora, Yahoo Answers, and simple Google searches can offer up a wealth of information from people who have performed in the same position, or a similar one. Bonus: You can find out if the job is terrible and you should actually not even interview for it! What has the team you’re planning on joining been working on lately? Try to identify the direction they are taking, and how you’d fit in. Ready Part 3: Research and rehearse answers to common interview questions First, you’re going to need to look at common interview questions and answers. We recommend our list, as it’s comprehensive and organized, but there are many others online you can look at too. Part of answering these questions well is researching yourself and your own achievements. And that’s all for Get Ready. If that seems like a lot of work, I have a simple question: do you want a job or not? 2. Get Dressed Now that you’re ready for the interview, it’s time to get dressed. Your best bet will be to follow company culture. For smaller companies and startups, or companies you are not familiar with, you could always contact the office anonymously and ask what people tend to wear to interviews. For both men and women, previous taboos are becoming more acceptable. For instance, if you have a tattoo peeking out from under your cuff, it will likely be ignored. Just dont show off the whole sleeve. Again, that depends on the company youre applying for. All dressing and grooming advice comes with caveats, but a simple business casual outfit is likely your best bet when deciding what to wear to an interview. Overall, follow these three rules, and youll be set: Be Crisp Be Conservative Use Common Sense For Men Interview dressing habits havent changed much for men, but grooming habits are trending towards casual. Grooming Facial hair the safest course is to do a close shave. However, having extensive facial hair is definitely in and acceptable, (depending on the job!) At the very least, trim it, clean it, wax it, oil it, do what you need to do to keep it under control. Appearance:   Suit and tie  dont wear wacky colors or patterns (stick with solid navy and dark grey), you can skip the jacket if its hot out or the company is less conservative; khakis and a button down collared shirt; polished dress shoes and belt that match your suit colors. For Women The amount of choices for women can be bewildering, and as usual women live with more arbitrary rules than men. Sorry, ladies. Grooming Fresh manicure, light makeup, keep roots colored if you dye your hair. Appearance Pantsuit or dress suit with a knit top or blouse that compliments conservative coloring (navy, grey, black); pencil skirt; polished closed or open-toed shoes; heels no longer than 3 inches; handbag and belt are in good shape. If you wish to add color, include it in your accessories conservative necklace, earrings, watch, or bracelet. Again, all dressing advice has to be taken in context. For instance, you shouldnt wear open-toed shoes to a manufacturing plant. 3. Get Pumped Nerves, butterflies, jitters, whatever you want to call them, there’s now a lot of science around how to harness these feelings and use them to fire you up. I wrote an article for The Muse called 3 Sneaky Mind Tricks That Will Help You Ace the Interview  which you should read in full. However, if you want the bite size pieces for how to trick yourself into getting pumped for an interview, here they are: Trick 1: Do not try to calm down! Research from Harvard indicates that to combat the jitters, all you need to do is convince yourself that you are excited, not nervous.  By throwing a positive spin on those butterflies, you can put yourself into a better frame of mind for the interview. Trick 2:  Read about how others in your position succeeded A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology  found that consumers of literature begin to think and behave like the protagonists they are reading about. In other words, if you read biographies about successful people and their personal career struggles and breakthroughs, you will literally begin to frame your own mindset in a similar success-minded manner, without even really trying. Trick 3: Get a grip Worrywarts, nervous  Nellies, Cassandras we have a lot of words for worriers! and its because  we all fall into the trap of being overly self-critical and anxious. The trick to combating this psychological pitfall is known as cognitive restructuring. Essentially, be aware of your self-critical habit and remind yourself that your situation isnt really as bad as you think. Use these psychological  methods to nix your worries and pump yourself up before the interview, and walk in with confidence and poise. 4. Get Smart Now you’re in the interview, and it’s time to put on the show. You’ve prepared yourself well, you’ve researched the company and you’ve rehearsed your answers to common interview questions. Bring in two copies of your resume.  The interviewers will definitely need to reference it, and youd be surprised at how unprepared interviewers can be. bringing in your resume helps lubricate the process and makes you look professional. Sit up straight.  Slouching looks unprofessional and demonstrate a lack of confidence. Shake their hand firmly.  Do not provide a dead fish, give the other person a full grip and a firm shake. Nothing is weirder than receiving a dead fish handshake. Look them in the eye when speaking.  Looking around the room and down at the table anxiously will make you come off as unprepared or worse, untrustworthy. Dont mumble.  Speak up and speak confidently. If you dont know the answer to a question, be humble and ask.  Showing genuine interest and humility will prove that youre genial and easy to work with. Provided you remain confident and well prepared, youll come off  to come off as  sharp and intelligent. 5. Get  Dirty Many people forget that the interview isn’t just for the company to learn about you, it’s also for you to learn about them. There are several pointed questions you can ask that will reveal critical details about the company and in turn help you make a smarter career decision. Dirty Question 1: What do you enjoy most about working here? What it reveals If the interviewer struggles to respond to this question, you can make a safe bet that they dont enjoy their job. Dirty Question 2: Who held the position previously, and what happened to them? What it reveals From this question, you can find out: If  previous person was fired (company turmoil?) or promoted (room for advancement!) Why they were fired or promoted how can you also succeed, or avoid the same fate? Potential obstacles you may find yourself facing, either professionally (do you have enough skills?) or from management (personality conflicts?) Dirty Question 3: Is there room for advancement? What does it take? What it reveals Find out if youre entering a dead-end job before getting stuck. Sometimes getting a dead-end job is necessary, and it can act as a stepping-stone into a better career option. The important thing is to find out before you spend too long in the job wondering when youll finally be recognized. Want other ideas on what questions to ask your interviewer? Check out our 24 Best Questions to Ask in an Interview guide, and see if your target company is right for you. 6. Get Out Congratulations, you nailed the interview and blew some minds! You’ve made it clear you’re a valuable addition to the company, so theyll be calling you in for a second interview. Finally, you’re going to have to handle salary negotiations  in the second or third  interviews. Wait! You arent done yet. Make sure you follow up after your interview! Check out our comprehensive Thank You Letter Follow Up Guide for more info.