With the current economic climate in its current state, interviews, let alone job offers, are a little on the rare side. Because of this, when you’re called in to discuss your suitability for a position, you can’t afford not to put on a good show.
Though the interview itself is of course important, what you do before the interview is equally so. When it comes to effective interviewing, preparation is key.
An hour spent preparing for an interview can not only save you a lot of awkward silences and regretful rambling, it can also greatly increase the chances of you actually landing the job. Here are six things that you should do before every job interview.
Research the Company
The first thing that you should do upon landing an interview is to spend a few minutes researching the company in question. Many job candidates arrive at interviews knowing little other than the companies name and this sends a very bad message.
A little bit of research about both the company and the industry in which it operates will allow you to illustrate that you are serious the position.
Ask Yourself What they Want
If you’ve been called in for an interview, you probably meet the positions requirements in terms of both qualifications and experience. The interview is your chance to illustrate that you also meet the positions requirements in terms of personality.
To do this, you need to ask yourself what they are looking for. What specific personality traits would allow you to perform the job well?
Think of Examples
Once you’ve established what personality traits the employer is looking for, you then need to figure out how you are going to demonstrate them. Unfortunately, listing them is isn’t going to work.
You need to come with specific examples in your past employment when you demonstrated said traits. Specific examples speak volumes, general adjectives say very little.
Decide What to Ask
Unprepared job applicants are often stumped at the end of job interviews when they are asked if they have any questions. You can save yourself a lot of stuttering by coming up with a few questions to ask before hand.
Avoid asking about the salary. Instead ask about working conditions and specifics of the role. Doing so allows you to demonstrate that you won’t work just anywhere.
Choose the Right Clothes
Regardless of what position you are applying for, you can’t go wrong with a suit. Some people question the suitability of such attire when they are applying to work somewhere with a casual dress code. Ignore such thoughts.
There is no such thing as a casual dress code when it comes to job interviews. When you wear a suit, you are demonstrating that you are both a professional and somebody that genuinely cares about landing the position.
Map Your Route
Finally, we have the small matter of deciding how you’re going to get to the interview. Many people don’t make a trial run and this is why so many people arrive at job interviews late.
When you go somewhere that you haven’t been before, traffic is difficult to predict and wrong turns are easy to make. And just because you know where the building is, that does not mean that you know where the actual interview room is. Always do a trial run.
Peter Johnson is an established career consultant who offers professional assistance to students seeking designer jobs.