Looking for a new career? Want to ace your job interview? You only get one chance to make a first impression at a job interview, so what you wear, how you carry yourself, and the image you present to a possible future employer are critical. Of course, what is appropriate for one job interview may not be appropriate for another, so you need to customize your approach depending on the kind of job you are applying for.
Besides dressing for success, preparing for your interview in advance is really important. There are many common questions asked of interviewees at standard job interviews. Knowing what to expect-and planning how you will answer-will make the actual question-and-answer session less stressful and help you prepare better responses so you can ace your job interview. Many top job interview books can provide lists of common questions asked so you can practice answering them ahead of time or even role play with a friend to get you more comfortable.
It's helpful to get advice from someone who's been on the other side of the interviewing desk-someone who is usually responsible for conducting interviews, pre-screening applications, or selecting new employees. The valuable information they provide may just be the vital piece of information that helps you ace your job interview the first time around. They can tell you some of the things they, specifically, and you might be surprised to find that some of your speech patterns contribute to the impression you make in an interview. Knowing what these are and how you can adjust them are a helpful tip to interview more favorably.
There are specific things you can do to impress at the interview and then in your follow-up, such as sending a thank you letter following the interview and responding to any requests for additional information in a timely manner.
Of course, not all interviews are created equal. There can be variances to your expected behaviors and responses depending on whether you are being interviewed via telephone, over lunch, by an individual, or by a team or panel of interviewers. There are also special circumstances that can be difficult to handle. How do you handle your first interview right after you graduate from college-when you have no prior relevant job experience to reference? Or what about after you've been laid off?
Did you know there are some specific questions an interviewer may not legally ask you? You should know what those are-including the topics the interviewer may not directly broach-and how some interviewers try to dodge the specific questions while eliciting the same information from you in a sort of side-stepping way.
Discussing money is always a touchy thing-especially at an interview. You're dying to know, but you don't want to bring it up lest you appear overly eager or greedy. And if the interviewer asks you about money, you want to know what to say so that you don't price yourself right out of the job but you also don't get hired at less than you're worth.
Doing your homework about the company can also help you be better prepared and sell yourself in an interview-if you know what to research. And there are certain things you should bring along to an interview that can help better sell you as the right person for the job, too.
If you want to ace your job interview and increase your chances of getting the job you desire, you should spend time studying how to interview successfully. There are definite do's and don't's that could impact the outcome and make a difference. Don't go into a interview unprepared. If you spend your valuable time studying the classifieds looking for the job and all your time preparing for the career you want, you should also devote significant time and effort to doing what it will take to ace the job interview and land the job.