An interview is one of the most drawn-out and threatening ways of making the first impression. However, it’s also your chance to get on a good employer side, which can give you a definite edge over even those applicants whose credentials are better than yours. To prepare for an interview, use these pointers.
Table of Contents
Part 1 Before the Interview
1. Respond promptly and adequately to the invitation to interview
While it may not feel like a great opportunity, replying to an invitation to interview already forms a part of your interview impression. Most interview invitation is sent via email, and it is both careful and polite to reply by email, in a brief, pleasant and respectful manner. Thanks to the sender for their time and for the opportunity to undertake the interview, verifying that you will be available at the fixed time.
- If you need more information regarding parking, what to bring, etc., this is the time to ask them.
2. Research the company's profile and background
Start by looking into their plans and goals. Conduct the interview with this in mind will make you look like an excellent long term investment. You should ready to talk in depth about the organization, the industry, and the position you are applying for.
Learn your interviewers’ name and job position. You may need to call the organization to find out.
- Talk to current employees. Know as much about the organization as possible. You can’t change your qualifications or your employment history, but you can work diligently than every other candidate by being supremely knowledgeable about the organization. Use the organization website, their annual report, and business/ newspaper magazine to gather as much information as possible.
3. Think of questions to ask your interviewer
Ask questions that reflect your interest in prospects. “What are the chances for career growth in this job chance?” or Which are new markets the company is planning to explore in the next couple of years?”.
Ask ques to bond with the interviewer and project you’re interested in. Ask about his/her position and background or how long (s)he has been with the organization.
4. Practice with your friend
If you have any friend who is also preparing for a job interview, think preparing together. It will help you get appropriate job interview preparation. Make sure you aren’t speaking too fast and too slow that your responses are affirmed with full confidence. Get feedback from a friend. Even if you think their feedback is not on the mark, it’s something to consider.
5. Common questions asked by interviewers
It is best to prepare for a wide variety of questions by thinking about your long-term plans, career goals, work strengths, and past successes but you should also encourage yourself for the deceptively common questions that most employers like to throw at their interviewees.
What’s your biggest weakness? Is an excellent preserved interview question that many people creepy. Answers this question is a bit of a tight rein walk: While you don’t want to be too honest. You won’t fool anyone by trying to turn a good quality into a weakness.
Why do you want this job? Is so straightforward question it can throw you for a circle. If you are going into a field you care about; you will have a much easier time answering this. However, if, like many candidates, you’re trying to make ends meet, you can answer the question by using it as a way to highlight your skills.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? It is another common question asked in the interview. Yours lose it reaction might be to disclose, “Working diligently for you, of course!” but unless you are trying to get a job in your chosen career, this probably isn’t a good strategy.
Why did you leave your last job? Is a common question that should not be hard to answer provided that you didn’t have a significant blowout with your previous employer. If you did, be honest and try to put positive things.
Don’t be afraid to accept that you don’t know anything. While you want to seem knowledgeable, don’t lie to make it look like you know something you don’t.
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Part 2 The Day of the Interview
1. How to dress up for an Interview
In any organization, your wardrobe is a sign of your professionalism and is sometimes used to estimate your level of competence. When your customers and coworkers look at you, they should immediately feel comfortable working with you. Both men and women should choose colors (blues, grays, browns, black) which make a professional impression. If the job is unusually casual wear, however, you might want to show up in business casual clothes, but it is always better to be formal. Make sure that your clothes are wrinkle-free and lint. Avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, or scented lotion (but do wear deodorant)
a) For women
Dressing means wearing a smart knee-length skirt suit in a dark color, along with sheer, nonpatterned hosiery, closed toe shoes, and subtle makeup.
b) For men
Wear a white shirt, dark-colored suit and tie, and dark-colored shoes.
Candidate in the service sector may sometimes be invited to wear casual to an interview, although business formal is optional and usually best. For women, this means a simple, knee-length dress with traditional shoes. For men, this means dark or khaki color pants with a collared button-up and formal shoes.
If you’re doubtful of the customary interview clothing expected by the company, ask the HR rep or interview liaison. There’s no shame in it. There is shame in feeling under-dressed when you show up for an interview.
2. Show respect to everyone during the interview
This means everyone from the office staff to the interviewer herself. You never know who has input in a hiring manner, and you can only make a first impression once.
Look everyone in the eye and smile. Speak and say “thank you” and “please.”Talking with proper pronunciation, tells people you’re confident, while good manners tell them you are considerate of other people.
Don’t look around on your phone or electronic device while waiting. Stalk with a book or review your notes while waiting.
3. Be Honest
Many candidates think that an interview is a perfect time to adorn. While you want to formation your answers so that your best, most qualified aspects take center stage, you don’t want to deceive or an outright lie. Organization perform background checks, and lying about your experience is not worth it.
4. Keep things short and straightforward
Talking about yourself can be very hard to do well: You’re trying to influence someone you don’t know that you are qualified for a position without sounding too pompous or cocky. Hold to what you know well, and keep things sweet and short.
Structure your answers so that you are talking in 30-90 second lump. Any less and you’re likely to look unqualified; any more and your interviewer is possible to lose interest in what you’re saying.
5. Personable
Try to come off as a genuine, likable person if you can. If you’re sarcastic, pessimistic, and disabused of any faith in kindness, try to tone it down during the interview. Employers don’t always hire the applicants most qualified for the job, but rather the applicants they like the best.
Part 3 After the Interview
1. Handshake with the interviewer
Try to Invest some emotions into the handshake and pleasantry, even if you think you bombed the interview. The interviewer should give you a lapse fo time for when to expect to get a callback if suitable.
Hold your head high and keep you relaxed. Your feeling is probably teetering at the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, but try to stay measured. Project cool confidence — not eagerness — and walk out of the interview hold your head high.
If an interviewer does not tell you when they will contact you if you’re a good fit for the job, it’s appropriate to ask, “When can I expect to hear back from you about the position?”
2. Send a Thank you letter to your interviewers and liaison
Now is an excellent time to thank the person you interviewed with, even if it’s just a formality. You can say something like
“Dear (interviewers name), Thank you for the chance to discuss my qualifications with you. I remain very impressed by [interviewer’s organization] and invite you to contact me if you have any other questions.
If you missed any essential points in your interview you wanted to stress; you may include one or two in the thank you in the letter. Keep the points brief, and attach them into a discussion time that you or the interviewer made during the interview.
- If you received any guidance in getting the interview, follow up with relevant parts of your network. Inform them that you got an interview, are thankful they helped you in your career search and would be hoping to help them in the future.
3. Follow up with the interviewer at the proper time.
Follow up with the interviewer at the proper time. You should have got some information about when you could wait to hear back from the employer. The standard time is about ten days, but it can depend. If you’ve expected past the designated callback date — or the callback date wasn’t set, and it’s been ten days — follow up with the interviewer in a short mail. You can say something like:
“Dear (interviewers name), I interviewed at your company [at such and such date], and am still interested in the job if it hasn’t yet been filled. I’m hugely grateful for any information you might have about my application.I look forward to hearing from you.”
While you can’t control your experience or the way someone holds you against someone else, you can control only how much of your time you devote to giving the interviewer you want the position. Don’t be needy, and don’t be selfish, but be courteous and persistent. You’ll work hard then at least half the other applicants, and it could be the decisive factor in getting a job offer.
I hope it will help you and keeps prepare well.
All the best !