How to Prepare for a Job Interview
Get the Job You Want With These Successful Tips

Lucky you. You’ve been invited to interview for a good job. Prepare for the job interview with these tips and put your best foot forward. You can get the job you want.

Think of the job interview as a theatrical audition. This meeting is not a time for improvisation. You need solid preparation to show yourself in your best light. Know what you are going to say before you go to the interview. Write a good script, learn your lines and rehearse them. Make your appearance count. At the job interview, it’s important to leave a strong, lasting impression. Whatever happens, keep a positive outlook on interview day. You’ll look and sound like a winner. Here's how you can prepare for a job interview.

1. To Prepare for a Job Interview Know the Company
2. To Prepare for a Job Interview Write a Commercial About Yourself
3. Prepare for a Job Interview Like a Stage Performance
4. Prepare for a Job Interview With a Video About Yourself
5. To Prepare for a Job Interview Have a Strategy
6. Prepare for a Job Interview with a Good Beginning
7. To Prepare for a Job Interview Know What the Employer Wants
8. To Prepare for a Job Interview Answer These Sample Questions
9. Prepare for a Job Interview Talk About Money
10. Prepare for Things That Can Go Wrong at a Job Interview
11. Prepare for a Job Interview With Sample Questions to Ask

To Prepare for a Job Interview Know the Company

To prepare for your job interview, research the company business. Get acquainted with its products and services, its competition, and changes on the horizon in the industry. Let the interviewer know you are serious about contributing to profitability.

To Prepare for a Job Interview Write a Commercial About Yourself

Prepare for your job interview by creating a brief commercial for yourself as a brand, the brand of YOU. Include your background, education and skills. Then talk about your curiosity, enthusiasm, commitment and drive. Indicate that you’ll do whatever it takes to succeed at the job. Many people have developed their personal brand. For example, Jay Leno is a comedian. Martha Stewart is a domestic goddess. Who are you? Develop your personal brand, your elevator speech and a summary of your profile.

Prepare for a Job Interview Like a Stage Performance

Prepare for the job interview as if it were a red-carpet appearance, and you are on the stage, front and center. Try to give the impression that you sincerely like the interviewer. Even more than your outfit and your answers, the unspoken clues to your personality speak volumes. Practice body language, facial expressions, posture and gestures. Watch how political candidates and news commentators perform on TV and mimic them. Allow your personality to shine. You don’t have to be the best candidate if you make yourself the most memorable one.

Prepare for a Job Interview With a Video About Yourself

Human resource managers rely on telephone interviews to screen a large group of contenders. More and more, employers often use an online video job interview rather than a face-to-face meeting. Set yourself up for a 30-minute video interview. Use your camcorder, or rent or borrow one. With your camcorder running, rehearse and practice your video interview. Ask a friend to critique your performance. Create and edit your video resume and post it on the Internet for prospective employers to access. Your mastery of this emerging technology speaks volumes about you.

To Prepare for a Job Interview Have a Strategy

Prepare and develop your strategy for the job interview. Focus on fitting in. Try to match the company culture by the way you dress. Personal chemistry is important, along with motivation, personality, style, energy and attitude. Take time to think before answering each question. It signals how important the job interview is to you. Show how you meet or exceed each of the job’s requirements. Show that you take the job seriously.

By law, there are questions that an employer cannot ask at an interview or on the job. These questions are about age, ethnic background, marital status, children you have, your health issues, handicaps, and so on. The employer can only ask if you have problems that would interfere with carrying out the duties of the job. None the less, you can volunteer this information if it is to your advantage in the job interview. You might indicate that you are in good health and seldom take sick days. You could say that you are available to work overtime because you have no family responsibilities. You can mention that you are physically fit and can regularly lift forty pounds or more on the job. If your age might be a drawback at the job interview, mention that you look forward to working many years.

The employer may ask you to pass a drug test, a driving test, a health examination, a test of your computer skills, a personality test, or an ethics test. Express your willingness to do so and be positive about your test results. The library has free practice tests for you to take as part of your preparation for the job interview.

Job interviewing is often a two-stage process. The first interview is with a screener, someone who is looking for reasons to reject you. The second interview is the “selection” interview when you are an approved candidate. The job of an interviewer depends on hiring someone who will perform well for the company. Your interviewer is concerned about making a hiring mistake. Show her or him that you’re a good fit for the company.

Prepare for a Job Interview with a Good Beginning

Prepare for an on-site job interview by arriving early. Stay calm and confident. Make eye contact with everyone and be friendly to the receptionist. Be sure to turn off your cell phone, put out your cigarette and throw away the chewing gum. Don’t interrupt and don’t use profanity. Do everything you can to improve your personal appearance. Introduce yourself by name to the interviewer. Smile often. Don’t contradict people. Speak well of your previous employers. Allow the interviewer to control the meeting.

You’ll be asked to take pre-employment tests, so express your willingness when the subject comes up. Make a few notes, which flatters the speaker. If the interviewer looks bored, ask if they would like to hear more about your topic A or topic B. Ask if they have any reservations about you and try to rebut them.

Prepare for a Job Interview Know What the Employer Wants

Employers want three things from a new hire, skills, skills and more skills. As you prepare for the job interview, review the job description line by line and show that you have each required skill. The company is using the job description as a filter to weed out prospects. Make it easy for the company to choose you. Repeat your qualifications several times, to reinforce the interviewer’s impression. If your experience is skimpy in one area, show how it was developed in an overlapping or similar area.

• As you say, my hotel experience is only three years, but I have five more years of experience in the hospitality industry.
I notice that one of your requirements is service experience with foreign customers. Would you like to hear about my project in Germany?
• Although I have not worked in corporate marketing, I have experience with marketing on campus and as a volunteer.

At the job interview, the interviewers want to learn what you can do for the company today. Tell them what they want to hear, that in this job you will hit the ground running. Be calm and show confidence. Do not undercut yourself.

• I can jump right in and relieve your immediate workload.
• I am good with technology.
• I write clearly and spell well.
• I have strong people skills. As a team player, I share credit and shoulder more than my share of responsibility.
• My keyboard skills are excellent.
• I am reliable and trustworthy

To Prepare for a Job Interview Answer These Sample Questions

For your job interview prepare answers to these standard questions. There are common questions that surface at most interviews. Prepare and memorize your answers ahead of time. If you can't think of an answer to a question, reply that you would always follow company policy. For example:

• Why do you want to work here? You can answer about how you like the work, how you enjoy challenges, how you want to use your skills and talents.
• Tell us about a problem you were able to solve.
• Were you able to put changes in place?
• What kinds of risks did you take?
• How did you close a difficult sale?
• Why did you choose business as your college major?
• What do you do when you can’t turn to a supervisor?
• What are your shortcomings?
• How would your neighbors describe you?

Prepare for the job interview by collecting examples of your skills in leadership, problem solving, taking the initiative, negotiating, dealing with stress, work ethic, company commitment, and ability to handle personnel problems. Look back on your work experience, school projects and extracurricular activities for praiseworthy examples. Tell the story of your work experience in each area. At the job interview, you’ll be asked how you handled a difficult situation. You’ll be asked to describe a significant achievement.

Prepare for a Job Interview Talk About Money

Do not talk about the money at the job interview. Wait to discuss pay until you know they want you. It is difficult to avoid the subject at the job interview, because some employers like to hire on the cheap. If they put you on the spot about the salary expectations, answer them with “I need to know first what the job is worth, the extent of responsibilities and the scope of the position.

Prepare for Things That Can Go Wrong at a Job Interview

Before the job interview, the company may ask you for samples of your work, and then appropriate your work for its own use. This unethical behavior has been known to happen before. Do not forward your portfolio to everyone who asks for it. A small business may treat you as an unwitting consultant and take advantage of your ideas on company projects, without your knowledge. You can protect your intellectual property by copywriting any materials you submit to the company.

Watch for the surprise event or trick interview question, which is planted to show how well you think on your feet. If the job interview goes awry, if the interviewer is difficult or rude, you should ignore the problem and focus on your accomplishments. When the questions are obscure, you will want to have a few all-purpose remarks in your repertoire.

• Do you think so?
• That bears watching.
• That’s an interesting observation.
• It reminds me to ask you what role I would play in the year-end audits.
• In a instance like this, I would always follow company policy and guidelines.
• Could you clarify the question?
• Does that answer your question?
• Great idea.

Be enthusiastic, but don’t dominate the conversation.

Prepare for a Job Interview With Sample Questions to Ask

Prepare for the job interview with sample questions to ask. It is standard to give the candidate a chance to ask questions sometime before the close of the job interview. Here are sample questions for your use. Ask what is the next step in the hiring process. Ask when the company expects to make a decision. Ask if you can call to check on new developments.

Now’s the time to say thank you for the opportunity to interview. Remind them that you are a good fit for the position and that you are very interested in the job. “I would be happy to work with the company. I enjoyed meeting you.”

I hope life brings you much success.
I wish you a very happy day.

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