In applying for a job, interviews are one of the most nerve-wracking parts, at least for many people. An interview determines whether you’re good enough for a company to hire or not. If you’re someone who’s just starting their career, everything depends on your interview skills.
It’s crucial to have concrete knowledge on how to prepare for an interview, especially if it’s a job you truly want. Your interview is a combination of your body language, skills, confidence, attire, and attitude. In this article, we’ll be talking about job interview success 101.
1. Research the company
A piece of interview advice would be to research the company before going into an interview. You can’t go into an interview blindly as the interviewer will see right through you. They’ll often ask what you know about the company and where you see yourself in their company.
Without any prior research and knowledge, you can’t answer these questions impressively. Even if they don’t ask this, it greatly helps to tell your interviewer what you know about the company. Research on their history, mission and vision, values, culture, and what it is they do — this research will come in handy.
2. Wear proper attire
It isn’t advisable to wait for the last minute before choosing an interview outfit. First impressions last and believe it or not, poor grooming and attire choice may reflect on your character. Days before your interview, make sure you’re ready for everything this interview throws to you.
Semi-formal or formal attire is often best in choosing an attire. The answer to the question on how to prepare for a job interview relies on your outfit and everything should be ready, from your grooming, attire, and shoes. While having clean attire is important, you shouldn’t overdo yourself either.
3. Get your questions ready
It isn’t just the interviewer that gets to ask questions, but the same goes for you. One of the crucial interview tips is you need to be ready for the questions you’ll ask — this will reflect your interest in being hired.
It doesn’t have to be a lot of questions, but you need to be ready with at least one or two questions for the interview. Otherwise, you may be perceived as someone with a lack of interest in being hired. It’s also best to stick to questions on their company as a whole and not so much on the salary offer. This can be perceived as greedy and entitled by certain interviewers.
4. Send a thank you note afterward
Once the interview is done, it’s recommended that you send a thank you note to the interviewer or the company as a whole. This will show your appreciation and again, it shows a positive reflection of your character and personality. Even without the assurance that you’ll be hired, thank them for the opportunity of being interviewed and tell them it was a pleasing experience to meet them. Whether or not you were hired, you can say wholeheartedly you left things on a good note. In fact, this is one of the job interview tips people often forget but is an essential one nonetheless.
5. Try to stay calm
Body language and confidence means everything in an interview. Out of all the interview tips and tricks in this list, your ability to stay calm can make or break your interview. Your interviewer can immediately sense when you’re feeling anxious or nervous and this may affect how well you do. In fact, being nervous may even make you forget everything you’ve prepared for in this interview. Whenever you’re feeling all over the place, remember to just be yourself and you’ll be fine. No interviewer wants someone who can’t be their true self so if you’re afraid, stay authentic on who you are and you’ll get through your interview. No matter how much you prepared your answers, always stick to an answer that feels genuine and authentic — interviews appreciate that.
6. Always be on time
Being punctual is extremely important if you want to do well in an interview. One of the good interview tips is always to arrive early — not on time. This gives you adjustment to mentally and emotionally prepare for your interview. By getting their right on time, you’ll be rushing on everything you need to remember for your interview — and this never works for the best. Similar to any big event, always arrive at your interview a few minutes before. This also gives your interviewer a good lasting impression on your character as punctuality is an admirable trait. After all, there are certain companies that don’t hire individuals who arrive late on their interview — some don’t even let them have their interview.
7. Be prepared
This may seem obvious and redundant, but it’s crucial to just be prepared with every aspect of an interview. One of the tips for virtual interviews means testing your laptop or monitor, whether or not it runs smoothly. It’s important to test beforehand as you never know when occurring issues may be present such as your internet connection, audio and sound controls, and other technical aspects. Another tip for online interviews is to have a backup if technical difficulties occur because it’s better to come prepared than not at all. No matter how sure you are of everything, it’s best to have a backup plan when things go wrong in an online interview.
Final Thoughts
Interviews are never easy — they’re one of the most nerve-wracking experiencing in your career. However, interviews are necessary to ace if you want to get hired for your ideal job. The purpose of an interview is so a company can get a sense of who you are and if you’re fit to their values. It’s important to stay authentic, no matter how nervous and anxious you get during the interview, and you’ll do fine.
