Interviews are an unavoidable part of the recruitment process and are the source of a huge amount of stress for a lot of candidates. Interview preparation can go a long way to reducing your nerves, improving your confidence and increasing your chance of landing a job! Here are 7 preparation tips that will help you ace your next interview!
Practise Your Answers
It’s really helpful to practise answers to potential questions before your interview. Practising for an interview will help you answer questions more confidently, the more practise you get the less nervous you’ll be and the better you’ll come across.
Keep Calm
It’s really important that you try and stay calm during your interview. It’s really important that you try and get your nerves under control before entering the interview room. Steady breathing, avoiding excess caffeine and positive thinking can help you remain calm and appear more confident.
Research the Company
Carrying out some research on the company before you attend an interview will allow you to tailor your answers to the business and help you appear more suitable for the role. Personalising your answers will demonstrate to a hiring manager that you’ve put effort into your interview preparation and shows that you have a genuine interest in the job.
Review Your CV
Take another look at your CV before your interview, this will allow you to respond more effectively if a hiring manager refers directly to something you’ve written in your CV. Reviewing your CV will also help you to identify relevant skills and experiences that aren’t included in the document that could be brought up during the interview to demonstrate your suitability for the role.
Get Directions
Make sure that you know where your interview is being held before the interview date. Its always a good idea to do a test run and go to the venue beforehand to ensure you know how to get there and how long it will take. This will ensure you’re on time and will help to reduce your nerves on the day, as you won’t have to worry about getting lost!
Re-read the Job Description
It’s important to re-read the job description before the interview, to make sure you know what is involved and that you answer questions as effectively as possible. Failing to re-read a job description can lead to awkward situations if you’re asked why you were attracted to the job and why you think the role is right for you.
Complete Set Tasks in Plenty of Time
If you’re given an activity to complete before the interview, give yourself enough time, to ensure you produce high quality work. Starting the tasks early will give you time to clear up any confusion about the activity. Contacting a hiring manager 24 hours before the interview with questions about a task that was supposed to take a week will reflect badly on your character and it’ll be extremely obvious that you’ve left it until the last minute!
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