Before the Interview Tips
Prepare in advance. The better prepared you are, the less anxious you will be and the greater your chances for success.
- Find an objective person to role play the interview with you. Find a person who is knowledgeable about the business/job you are pursuing, preferably a person who will be honest with you and offer constructive criticism.
- Video/audio taping yourself provides you with an honest prospective of how others see you.
- Assess your interviewing skills. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Work on correcting your weaknesses, such as speaking rapidly, talking too loudly or softly and nervous habits such as shaking hands or inappropriate facial expressions.
- Practice brevity. Prepare answers to possible questions. Research your prospective employer.
- Decide what questions you would like to ask and practice politely interjecting them at different points in the interview.
- Evaluate your strengths. Evaluate your skills, abilities, and education as they relate to the type of job you are seeking.
- Practice tailoring your answers to show how you meet the company’s needs, if you have details about the specific job before the interview.
- Find out what clothing is appropriate for your industry. Although some industries such as fashion and advertising are more stylish, acceptable attire for most industries is conservative.
- Make sure your hair is neat, your nails clean, and you are generally well groomed.
- Have extra copies of your résumé available to take on the interview. The interviewer may ask you for extra copies.
- Make sure you bring along the same version of your résumé that you originally sent the company. You can also refer to your résumé to complete applications that ask for job history information (e.g., dates of employment, names of former employers and their telephone numbers, job responsibilities, and accomplishments).
- Arrive early at the interview. Plan to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early. Give yourself time to find a rest room so you can check your appearance.
- Make a good impression. Be cordial and polite to the receptionist or any personnel that leads you to the person who will be interviewing you.