Preparing for an upcoming job interview is kind of a job itself. You’ve already managed to impress them on paper, but now it’s time to impress them face-to-face, which can be wildly intimidating.
Although it takes work, preparing for your upcoming interview is the best way to ace it. You need to come across as competent, likable, and confident. In an effort to help you have your best interview possible, here are a few out-of-the-box ways to prepare for an upcoming interview.
Practice Common Warm-Up Questions
Pretty much any job interview will involve the interviewer asking you to tell them about yourself, why you should be hired, or what your career goals are. Go ahead and practice these answers before you ever find yourself at the interview table.
Try not to sound rehearsed, and don’t just memorize your resume, either. You want it to sound as natural as it can. While this is basically just the info from your resume at times, you might want to add in key points or details to enhance what your resume already says.
Use Social Media to Your Advantage
By checking out the company’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other online presences, you can arm yourself with information and make yourself more prepared and confident for your interview. Don’t forget to read through the company’s website, if they have one!
I’m not just talking about facts and figures, either. You’re looking for information that you can use to your advantage. What’s the overall vibe of the company? Do they have a softball team? Are there photos of employees in the workplace dressed very professionally, or is it more of a business casual kind of place? All of these can help prepare you for your interview by giving you cues as to what to wear or even providing talking points.
Show Some Personality
Even though an interview is a professional environment, the hiring manager also wants to get to know you. They already have a copy of your resume, so they already know that you have what it takes to do the job. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t talk about your skills and experience at all (because you still should!), but it does mean that you should let them get to know you as a person.
There may be plenty of other candidates interviewing for the same position that all have the same skills and accomplishments as you, but only one will be hired. For most jobs, a hiring manager wants to know that you’ll be a good fit with the rest of the company.
So if they ask you about hobbies or interests outside of work, don’t be afraid to open up a little. Just make sure you do it in a professional way. For instance, it’s fine to tell them that you enjoy going to the club with friends, but it’s probably not a good idea to tell them that you always end up with a wicked hangover after!
