Interview Tips - 5 Tips for Prep

Interviewing. Its scary if you are not prepared. Here are some quick tips to help you prep before the big day.

1. Appearance & Hygiene. - Make sure that you are clean, well dressed, and smell nice before an interview. This may seem like a no brainer, but you would be surprised at how much a shotty appearance can ruin the start of an interview. On top of making sure that you look professional to your future employer, dressing nice can help you with confidence in an interview. Remember your prom? That wedding? How did you feel all dressed up and dapper?
2. Practice, Practice, Practice. - Grab a friend, your recruiter, your mom, your barista and practice talking to them about what you do. Have them ask you some questions about your experience and also ask you questions that you think you will expect in the interview. Make sure that when you practice, you stay in character and take your time to explain your answers.
3. Research the company & anyone that you are meeting. - One of the most common mistakes is not doing enough research on the company that you are interviewing for. Make sure that you look at any press releases that they have, check out LinkedIn to see if you can find the person that you are interviewing with, look for commonalities between you and the company values/mission. This is a great way to prepare for the infamous, "Why should WE hire you here?". **NOTE: Do not save this for the night before the interview and if you are interviewing at multiple places, bring a couple notes with you so that you do not mix anything up.
4. Ask Questions/Bring Questions. - Always bring questions. You should have questions. I always tell people that are interviewing, that not only are they interviewing you, you are interviewing them as well. Think about what you would like to know about the company, culture, potential manager styles, the people that you would work with, why is the position available, etc. After you leave the interview, you should always feel satisfied that you had your questions answered and you should feel more informed that when you arrived.
5. Close It With A Thank You. - Okay, this last tip is more of a #5/6 tip. You need to close the interview. Most people forget to ask what the next steps are. If you are really interested in getting an offer after the interview, then ask what the next step is. Showing this eagerness is not too pushy, it shows that you want the position. Second, when you wrap things up, make sure that you get someone's contact information to send a follow up 'thank you' message and tie something back into each of the thank you notes. (Maybe Joe Shmoe also enjoys hiking and he is the direct line manager to your potential boss). Whatever it maybe, make each of them personal.

Not everyone is going to land the job of their dreams, and interviewing is an art, it does take practice and it does take preparation. Make sure that you are doing everything that you can to land that next big job.

If you have any tips to add, please feel free to comment.