10 Crucial Steps To Prepare For The Interview
You’ve secured an
interview, congratulations, all your hard work has paid off. But you are
not out of the woods yet! It is time to prepare for the interview!
I’ve worked
with numerous job seekers who have made assumptions about the
interview process which ended up biting them. The more prepared you are, the
more confident you’ll appear. This checklist will ensure you’re prepared to ace
your upcoming interview.
10 Steps to
Prepare for the Interview
Know the Format and the Players
Be sure
you find out how long the interview will last and what the format will be.
In other words, will you meet with interviewers one-on-one or on a panel? Also
find out the names and job titles of the people you’ll meet. It’s really
OK to ask these questions, and it shows you know how to prepare for new
situations. It’s possible that the company may not be able or willing to
answer, and it’s also possible the company hasn’t yet determined who will be
interviewing you yet. Or, the company may want to assess how well you respond
and react to the element of surprise. Still, the more details you gather, the
better you can anticipate preparing for the interview.
Know the Job
Get a copy of the
most current and/or in-depth job description. If you know someone inside the
company, ask if they can forward you a copy of the internal job posting.
Sometimes the internal job description has more detail than what was posted
online. Talk to people who currently work in the company or who used to work
for the company to learn about how the company operates. You may uncover some
interesting information. Read and re-read the job description. If you don’t
have some of the experience required, know how you will respond to that
question during the interview.
Know the Company
Research the
company website, LinkedIn account, social media streams and searching for the
company name in recent news. If you have difficulty, don’t hesitate to visit
your local library and speak to a reference librarian who has access to tools
and resources you may not know about. Researching the company will allow you to
formulate a solid answer to the question, “what do you know about our company?”
Your answer helps set you apart from job seekers who do not research. You can
also formulate questions you want answered about culture, changes or other news
you learned.
Know the Interviewers
Know something
about the people who will interview you. Research them via LinkedIn and Google.
You can decrease some of the stress associated with meeting people you don’t
know by learning about their backgrounds, such as schools they attended,
previous jobs held or maybe even outside interests. And if you have anything in
common with them, it makes it easier to build rapport.
Prepare your Answers
Prepare a STAR story for every
requirement listed in the job posting. For example, if the job requires you
have the ability to communicate across divisions, recall a time when you had to
interact with a cross-functional team and document the STAR story associated
with that.
Know exactly what
you will say when asked, “tell me about yourself.” While reviewing the job
description, you should have noticed what skills and experience seem to be most
important to the company. You may also have conducted informational meetings
with company insiders to uncover the skills and experience necessary for the
role. Remember, your answer should take less than a minute, so you won’t have
time to tell the interviewer everything. Highlight your three to five most
relevant qualifications. Then, practice stringing them together cohesively.
Prepare answers to
typical questions about your greatest strength and greatest weakness, and why
you left your past positions. There are hundreds of potential questions you
could be asked. While there is no way for you to prepare for all of them,
preparing STAR stories and thinking about your answer in advance will help.
Practice Out Loud
Writing your
answers out on paper will help. Answering questions aloud, either in front of a
mirror or video camera, also helps. Sometimes the answer you’ve written doesn’t
sound genuine or make sense when spoken. When you take time to rehearse your
answers, you have the opportunity to assess how they sound.
Craft Your Questions
Prepare questions
that you want answered. You should have 10 or so prepared, and you don’t have
to wait until the end of the interview to ask them. Insert your questions
DURING the interview to make it more conversational. Your questions can be
about the job, your future team or the company. Don’t wait until the end
of the interview. And please, don’t ask about money, vacation or benefits
during your first interview. Wait for the company to bring up those topics.
What to Bring
Bring copies of
your resume for each person you’ll interview with, just in case. Never assume
they all have copies. And if you haven’t completed an application yet, be sure
you have the exact dates and information to complete the application.
Before You Leave
Always ask what the
next steps in the process are and when you should follow-up before you
exit the interview. This is your one shot to get these important questions
answered.
Do You Want This Job?
The one and only
question you need to walk away from the interview knowing the answer to is
… Do you want this job?
Have you gathered enough information about the position to answer this
question?
Hannah Morgan
http://careersherpa.net/10-crucial-steps-to-prepare-for-the-interview/#.WULtCV-tz88.linkedin
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