Almost every single person is nervous going into an interview. This is totally normal and expected by your interviewer, so don’t sweat it. What you should be worried about is whether or not you’re fully prepared. Candidates may be given detailed instructions and information about the interview, read advice on interviewing or have insider knowledge from a contact and still not be truly ready to go. Are you?
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Did you ask for complete information from the employer? You’ll lower your anxiety level substantially if you are equipped with basic information. Make sure you know the exact address, suite number, closest subway or parking garage. Put the phone number and name of the person who will greet you in your phone. Ask who you will be interviewing with and their titles. Ask about the interview format so you know how long you are expected to be there and if you’ll be doing skill assessments or exercises. Leave ample time to get there in case unexpected things occur, such as a delay with your taxi, traffic or long waits for the subway.
How’s your attitude? It’s impossible to know how you’ll sleep the night before or what kind of mood you’ll be in on the day of the interview, but some situations you can better control. If you’ve been searching for a long time, you may be desperate for a job. Try to put yourself in a different mindset: This is not just about the company interviewing you, it’s equally your chance to interview them and see if it’s a good fit for you. If the requested day of the interview is a really bad one for you in terms of work or life circumstances, ask for a different day. You cannot focus with your mind on something else. Most importantly, you need to be careful to come across as a positive rather than a negative person. What employer wants to hire someone with a very clear glass-half-empty attitude?
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Did you research the company? Taking a quick glance at the company website is not enough. You’re not expected to be an expert on the organization, but you should know enough so you can ask intelligent questions that are not immediately discoverable online. While you don’t need to sit there and spout off all the things you know about the company — and shouldn’t because you will look silly trying to tell a person who works there what it’s like — you should be able to speak to one or two things that intrigue you about the business.
Have you practiced answering potential employer questions beforehand? If you neglect to consider your answers beforehand, you’re at a disadvantage and more likely to get stumped on interview day. The employer will likely ask general interview questions and others specific to the job requirements in the posting. If one is the ability to juggle multiple projects at once, you better be prepared to give an example of how you’ve done that in the past. While you can’t prepare for every question, you can be ready for obvious ones.
[See: 8 Important Questions to Ask a Job Interviewer — And Yourself.]
Did you prepare questions to ask the interviewer? It is absolutely a dead end for you when you ask zero questions at the end of an interview. Write three thoughtful questions down in advance on a notepad that you will take with you to the interview. Be careful about what you ask. Do not ask about basic company information readily available on the website, salary, benefits or other questions that will be answered later should you advance in the recruiting process. Bring the notepad and a pen so you don’t forget your questions and in case you need to jot down a thought or spontaneous question during the interview.
You may think you’re well-prepared to interview or good at interviewing and don’t need to prep. Going in armed with as much information as possible and a positive attitude will get you far, but you’ll go even further if you’ve done your homework and prepared ahead of time. When you’re ready for what the interviewer throws at you, it will show.
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Are You Really Prepared to Interview? originally appeared on usnews.com
