How to Prepare for an Interview

Being invited to a job interview and coming out successful from that interview are two separate things. Your good CV may have landed you a great job interview but you need an extra step to ensure that you shine during the interview. Most people make the mistake of taking things lightly especially after receiving a call for the job interview. They assume that they will automatically be accepted. Contrary to that, the aim of a job interview is to legitimize the applicant. You therefore need to be well synchronized with every detail in your Resume because the employer might want to test your trustworthiness. You should even be more careful especially if you hired someone else to write the CV for you.

Now you have received an invitation for an interview, what next? The first thing you should do is to try and find as much information as possible about that particular organization, company or institution. You may probably start by visiting their website and find out what exactly they deal with. This will definitely help you have a rough idea about their operations. Some people make the mistake of trying to memorize the contents of their Resume and forgetting the most important thing. It will be very unfortunate for you to be asked a question about that organization and appear not to have any idea. Ensure you do a thorough research to at least have adequate information.

Prepare your success stories:

Hiring managers usually look for people who can perfectly fit for the post advertised. They do not necessarily look for nice people. Their objective is to determine if you have what it takes to handle the post advertised. As you therefore prepare for the interview, ensure you create in your mind result-oriented stories that will convince the panel that you are an extraordinary person. A good success story should have 3 basic elements namely; try to describe the situation, describe how you got involved and identify the specific results that were achieved. The story will probably position as the right individual for the job.

Prepare answers for general questions:

There are few hiring managers that will take their time to come up with creative questions rather they will ask you typical interview questions such as, “tell us something about yourself” and so on and so forth. There are several publications which you can find that address numerous interview questions and answers. The most important thing therefore is to make sure you are ready for such kind of questions such that you do not get confused.

Prepare a few questions to ask:

This is one area that most interviewees overlook. And when I say questions, they are not questions about remuneration, overtime charges and so forth rather though provoking questions about the company for instance the mission and vision of the company, its products and services etc. this will definitely put you above other competitors for the post.

Lastly ensure you dress modestly, something that will not distract the attention of the panel interviewing you.   

Posted in: employment today