Before the interview

Managing to get an interview is a great achievement by itself, and it means you are one step closer to getting the job you applied for. Of course, there are no guarantees, but getting to the interview stage means that the recruiter has deemed you interesting enough to be a serious contender for the job.

You should feel a sense of accomplishment as once you are consistently managing to get yourself to job interviews, it is only a matter of time until you land the job that you want.

The interview itself presents many challenges and may, at first, seem very intimidating, but with the right mindset and strategy, it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Throughout the following steps, you will learn about how you go about that.

Let us begin by looking at what you should do before the interview.

Prepare for the interview

Before you even arrive to the location of your interview (or enter the call if it’s online) you should consider the following aspects:

Think about how to make a good first impression

Your clothes and non-verbal cues will have a huge impact when it comes to giving a first impression. Dress professionally and think about your body language. It could be a good idea to do a mock-interview with friends or family in order to find out if you do any kind of fidgeting that could appear strange or distracting in an interview.

Do your homework

Read up as much as you can about the company and what is expected of you in that role. But don’t fall into the trap of only looking at a company’s own website. Do some research about what other sources are saying about them. This will give you a more nuanced perspective. Re-read your CV and cover letter and remind yourself of how your skills match up with the job requirement. Prepare an elevator pitch and learn as much as you can about how to answer common interview questions.

Ask questions

Asking questions when you get called to the interview is a good way to help you prepare. You could, for example, ask how the interview will be structured, who you will meet, whether you should bring anything with you, and approximately how long it will last.

Doing these things in preparation for your interview will help you become more familiar with how you can market yourself correctly for the job, and it will also remove some of the stress that might come with feeling unprepared. It’s always better to prepare too much rather than too little.