Congratulations! You applied to a job and stood out on paper from hundreds of candidates. Now it’s time to show your future employer why you are the perfect candidate for the job.
Here is your ultimate guide to curshing your next interview:
Do your research
Research the company and the role before the interview. Make sure you are able to answer simple questions about the company like, “why do you want to work here”. Your interviewers will be testing your knowledge of the company and its culture. Your interviewer will be impressed when you can connect the company’s mission, values, or work to your experiences.
Prepare for the typical questions
Be prepared for personal questions (Why should we hire you?, why this job?), behavioral questions (tell me about a time when…), and competency questions about skills that help interviewers understand if you are qualified. You should also come prepared to show off your skills and experiences. If you have projects that neatly showcase your skills, bring a copy. It is also a good idea to bring at least three copies of your resume.
Practice
Grab a friend and practice your answers. Don’t worry about sounding rehearsed, it’s better to be prepared than to forget to mention something important in the interview. There are plenty of lists of typical interview questions to go off of, like this list of 31 questions. If you get nervous during an interview, bring a small sheet of points you want to reference during your interview so you don’t forget to mention something important.
Plan your route
It’s good practice to arrive at least 10 minutes early to your interview. Before the big day, consider visiting the location and familiarizing yourself with the surroundings so you don’t have a hard time locating the building or finding a parking spot. First impressions are important, and arriving late to your interview will start you off on a bad note.
Dress for success
For interviews, it is usually safe to dress business formal. If you’re not familiar with business formal dress, read our blog post on how to dress to impress for an interview. If you think that you may be overdressing for your interview, email your point of contact and ask for the dress code.
Send thank you notes
Hand-written thank you notes are not a thing of the past. In fact, they show strong initiative and interviewers are more likely to remember you! After you have completed your interview, send your interviewers thank-you notes to your interviewer. You should show gratitude for their consideration and it is best to do this prior to their meeting to discuss your candidacy.
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