The Right And Wrong Things to Do When You Go Into A Job Interview
If you find yourself among the majority of people who become anxious about job interviews, it is particularly important for you to prepare yourself for a successful interview. You can go into your interviews feeling confident if you go through this list of some of the right and wrong things to say and do.
1. Know the employer before the interview. If you do not show you have some interest in what the company is about, the company is unlikely to see you as someone who will go about your job with diligent enthusiasm. You should know the main purpose of the company, the current market conditions the company is facing, and be aware of current marketing being done by the company. The company website is a great place to begin your research. Don’t expect the employer to spend much time considering you as an employee if you show no interest in the company’s goals.
2. Get as much information as you can about the specific position you’re seeking. You should read any job descriptions given carefully. Then when asked how you see yourself fitting into the job or the company, ask the interviewer questions to get more detailed information about the job while also showing in your questions that you have read the job description carefully. You’ll need to align what you do well with the job description whenever you’re asked questions about how you think you can help the company.
3. Focus on your accomplishments. You need to make it clear to your interviewers that you are a unique person with a specific set of traits. You can do this by focusing your responses on how those traits have helped you to be successful in the past.
4. Ask questions that impress your interviewer. This may be the hardest part of a job interview. While it is okay to ask questions with yes or no answers, at least a few of your questions should require the interviewer to think. Typically you’ll get good response from questions that center around the company culture and how the company is addressing current market conditions as they relate to the job you’re seeking.
5. Dress as closely as you can to what is dictated by the company culture. If you can figure out what people in the company with a similar position title usually wear, that is probably the best thing for you to wear. If you have any doubts, overdress. You want to make it clear that you fit in with the company and that you’re a professional who takes this employment opportunity seriously.
If you’re like most people, a job interview is one of the most anxiety filled activities you’ll ever take part in. You need to make sure you’ve prepared yourself well enough for your interview to ensure success. If you follow the tips below, you should have greater confidence in your abilities as you go into each job interview.
1. Don’t wing it during the interview. You can gain a lot of confidence for an interview that you can display to your interviewer, if you’ve carefully practiced answers for most of the questions the interviewer will ask. You should record your practices to video so you can review and improve on them.
2. Be a unique person, not the person you think the interviewer wants. You need to stand out for what you can provide to a company in your own way. If you try to pass yourself off as something you’re not or to give answers you think the interviewer wants, you’ll be seen through by any experience interviewer. Or worse, you might be seen as exactly like everyone else interviewing for the job.
3. Pay attention to your interviewer. Make sure you understand and answer the questions being asked. Poor communication skills are generally what will cost you the job. You should get an idea of the types of information the interviewer wants if you ask the right questions yourself and listen carefully to the questions the interviewer asks. Sometimes you’ll get an idea of what the interviewer is looking for directly from the words the interviewer uses.
4. Give detailed answers when detailed questions are asked. Many people lose out on jobs they’re very qualified for simply by being too generic or providing too much of an overview in their answers without getting into the specifics. Interviewers are not just asking questions to get the information contained in your answers, but also to see how you think through problems and communicate answers.
5. Be enthusiastic about the interview, job, and your career. If you’re not enthusiastic, this is the one case where you need to fake it. The bottom line is that you won’t get the job unless either you have no competition or you show that you can’t wait to give everything you’ve got to be successful in the position being offered.