How to Prepare for an Interview – 8 Critical Steps – Part A
Learning how to prepare for an interview is not about applying a magic formula that will result in a job offer every time. Preparing for an interview is following a series of proven steps that if implemented well will provide a competitive advantage over other job candidates. The reason that these techniques work is that most people put in minimal preparation and are in react mode during the interview. Those that take the time to prepare will clearly stand out above the rest. Master the following eight steps and you will be well on your way to improving your interview success rate.
Once you have gotten an interview (no easy task) its time to prepare. Today let’s look at the first four steps.
Step 1 – Research the Company. Find out about the company and position you are interested in. Learn about the company’s culture, its products and services. How well are they doing financially and who is the competition. Don’t just visit the company’s website, search for articles and news items about the company. Visit a financial site to get relevant data. Talk with people who work there, former employees or with customers. This is the foundation for the doing the other steps effectively and it is often totally ignored or done haphazardly.
Step 2 – Know the Interview Logistics. This is knowing the who, what, when and where of the interview. Learning who you will be interviewing is the most important. Many times you will interview with multiple people during one visit. In order to prepare effectively you need to know their title, role in the company and role in the hiring process. Ask what the format of the interview will be. Is it a group interview or a series of one on one interviews. The when and where might seem obvious, but many companies have multiple locations or multiple buildings in a campus location. Not knowing exactly where to be at the stated time could cause you to be late. You don’t want tardiness to be your first impression.
Step 3 – Analyze Your Resume. Your resume will be the basis that the interviewer will use to formulate questions to ask you. You need to be able to answer in detail any questions about the information that is on your resume. Also review your resume for questions that may come up, i.e. gaps in your employment history, a short job stint or a job change that may appear to be a demotion. You should be able to provide answers to these types of questions without hesitation. Uncertainty will raise red flags in the interviewers mind.
Step 4 – Prepare Answers to Common Questions. Most hiring managers have received no training on how to get the most out of an interview. They are also very busy with their jobs and put little effort in preparing for an interview. Because of this they tend to ask a series of common interview questions, such as “tell me about yourself?” Preparing creative answers to these stock questions will differentiate you from other candidates. A good reference resource to help formulate your own answers is The Ultimate Guide to Job Interview Answers.
Remember, it’s not usually the most qualified candidate who gets the offer, it is the one who has interviewed the best. So thorough interview preparation can set you apart from the competition and land you the job offer you want.
In the next post we will review the remaining four steps necessary in how to prepare for an interview.
[...] these steps along with the steps learned in Part A to increase your interview success rate. Learning how to prepare for an interview is a competitive [...]
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