Jul 25, 2013

We’ve all heard the saying “practice makes perfect” but when was the last time you practiced a job interview? If you’re like most people, it was probably DURING your last job interview and you were sweating the entire time because you felt you were out of practice.

Don’t let that happen again. If you’re on the hunt for a new job and see yourself interviewing in the near future, set some time aside to do some practice interviews. It doesn’t have to be anything too structured. Ask a trusted friend or mentor to be the interviewer and generate 5-10 sample questions. Make sure it’s someone that will not go easy on you since the actual interviewers sure won’t.

Practice this even if you are only looking at a phone interview to start with. Having possible answers lined up for questions that might come your way will make a better impression on the interviewer whether you are meeting with the face to face or just speaking with them over the phone. When you’re on the phone, you can also use any notes that you may have made prior to the interview. (I recommend NOT bringing a list of notes to a face to face interview however)

Finally, regardless of the interview being in person or over the phone, do jot down some questions to ask the interviewer. Keep them specific to the job and definitely avoid asking about benefits of the position like pay rate, vacation, and sick time. Those are questions for when you are signing a job offer or even when you start a training period. Asking what challenges the company or department face, the specific types of work that you’ll be doing, and what the goals are for the position are all good starting points.
Don’t forget to read part 1 and part 2 of this series.

Continue on to part four.