Career Coach News: How to be Prepared for an Interview

Have an interview coming up soon, but you’re not ready? Don’t worry. We know interviewing can be a stressful and daunting process, but it doesn’t have to be. With these tips, you’ll learn how to be prepared for an interview, become more confident and assertive and land the job you want.

The interviewing process is important because it gives the interviewer a chance to get to know you and assess if you’re the right candidate for the position. What most people fail to remember is if you’ve gotten to the interview, you’ve done something right and the interviewer is interested in you. So really an interview is just you having a conversation about you and why you’re the right person for the job.

With that said, there are many important things to remember when preparing for an interview. For this article, we’ve given you three of the most important tips on how to be prepared for an interview that many candidates fail to do and could make you stand out if you follow them:

1. Review the company and position you are applying for:

When learning about how to be prepared for an interview, you need to find out more about the company you are applying to and the position you are applying for. You should review the company website, look for any news about them and pick some interesting things to bring up during your interview. This way, when the company asks you questions about what you know about them or why you want to work there, you can sound knowledgeable and competent. Also, it gives you an opportunity to determine the skills and qualities the company wants in a future employee. As a result, you can answer their questions better and have a better chance of meeting their expectations.

2. Practice answering interview questions:

The number one piece of advice given when learning how to be prepared for an interview is to practice answering interview questions. Many interviews deal with learning more about your work behavior and how your personality may fit into the greater organizational culture. The interviewer wants to know how you’ve acted in your past employment situations to assess how you will perform at the company. It is important to review the different types of interview questions and prepare to answer them intelligently. You want to avoid plain yes or no responses; instead, try to be more thoughtful and tell them why you are the number one candidate for the position.

The Degrees in Business Blog states the following top five questions used in interviews:

• How would you describe yourself?
• What are your goals?
• Why do you think that you’re the right fit for this particular position?
• What are your greatest weaknesses?
• How do you deal with conflict?

You should practice the responses to these questions both with friends or family as well as in front of a mirror.

However, when we say practice these answers, we mean just that. Practice. You should not memorize answers and feel robotic when you are answering questions.

3. Prepare everything that you need to bring to the interview:

A professional certified coach, Deborah Sakelaris suggests that you “assemble a survival kit,” which includes a map, water, breath mints, tissues, business cards, resumes, and pen and paper. Also, make sure that your dress or suit is clean, unwrinkled, and ready to go. Different companies may have different dress codes and if you’re unsure, always go with business professional.