Step Five Interview: Prepare

Going to an interview without preparing is like showing up for a test without studying beforehand. Sure, the subject is you and Steps One through Four have helped you brush up on the topic. Few people, however, can think on their feet well enough to ace an interview. Preparing makes you comfortable enough to be yourself. It also shows your interest to employers. If you use the simple strategies below, you will increase the likelihood that your interview will lead to a job offer.

Stories

Telling short stories about your experience makes you memorable and believable to the interviewer. Follow these guidelines:

• Write 2-3 recent sample stories that demonstrate each relevant skill.
  
  
• Make the stories about recent experiences.
  
  
• Take the stories mainly from work but also from other areas of your life.
  
  
• Make half the stories about your accomplishments.
  
  
• Make half the stories about negative situations that you turned around or coped with well.
  
  
• Quantify your results if possible using dollars, time, percentages or amounts.
  
  
• Use the CAR format, breaking the stories into three parts: Challenge, Action and Results (see Résumé Achievement Statements for more details).
  
  
• Practice telling the stories until they feel as natural as talking about a recent vacation or TV show.
  

Questions

Interviews involve questions and answers on both sides, so prepare what to ask and how to respond:

• Plan and rehearse your answers to questions, especially technical ones, that the employer may ask. See Employer Questions, the "Super Seven" Questions, and Interview Questions Identification Exercise for suggestions.
  
  
• Develop a list of questions to ask the interviewer yourself (see Your Questions).

And More

Preparing for the interview also requires you to take certain actions.

• Define why you want the position.
  
  
• Identify how you can help the organization meet its goals.
  
  
• Define your own career goals.
  
  
• Prioritize the contents of your career portfolio so that it highlights the items that relate closely to the job requirements.
  
  
• Tell your references to expect a call from the employer. Describe the job and mention the skills and characteristics you want them to stress.
  
  
• Review the notes you took from your first interview if the upcoming interview is a follow-up.