When you did all well and on time – find appealing ad, assess your education and work experience as appropriate for the job, carefully write cover letter, you can only arm yourself with patience and wait for an invitation to the interview for a job when the employers start their selection of candidates. What follows is preparing for that…Before you go to an interview, it is necessary to pay attention to several things:
Get as more information as you can about the company where you are applying for a job
On company’s website you can find the mission and vision of the company, information about the products and services that are offered, social responsibility and possibly new projects they are entering. The employer must have the impression that you are here because you want to do in the company, instead that you don’t care where you work.
Here are some sources that you can use to find out more:
– Your search and selection advisor
– Internet
– Newspapers and professional journals
– The annual financial statements
– Friends and business associations
Find out more about the specific job you are applying for. Find out what knowledge, skills and abilities are needed to perform certain tasks. Consider the conditions that you have. Be honest and objective if it’s possible in the self-assessment.
Think about what else you want to know about the job you are applying for
Think specific questions to ask during a job interview. By placing additional questions you leave an impression of interest and motivation for a particular position. You can ask more about job, their problems, business engagement or something else.
Familiarize yourself with your CV
Before the departure to the agreed interview you should read your CV that you cannot be put in an awkward situation by making incorrect date or not remembering the details that you have mentioned in the biography, which should be emphasized during the interview.
Repeat your ‘2-minute presentation’
Often you will be in a position to say something about yourself in a minute or two. Do not leave it to the current inspiration! Develop and rehearse your “two-minute presentation.” Come up with a short and clear presentation of yourself. Be sure that your presentation includes:
– Data of Education (where you were educated, what, titles …)
– Description of the last job (the company, what you did, what’s your position, what you are doing now…)
– A description of past jobs where you have gained experience that might help you in your new job (where, when, how and why you believe it could be benefit for this new job)
– Special skills (this part adjusts the specific job you are applying for)
– Foreign languages (if your knowledge is excellent / good, indicate a possible stay abroad, the ways in which you studied)
– Why are you looking for a new job and what you expect from it?
Rehearse your “two-minute presentation.” Write briefly what you want to mention and say aloud as many times as you need to keep your exposure fluent. Your answers should be thoughtful, but not learned by heart. Don’t sound like a slot machine, be natural. You need to feel good in your own skin and a person across you will feel the same. Don’t say anything bad of the previous employers. Every experience can be presented in an appropriate manner. Ask others for help. Consider and accordingly modify what was not good. Highlight the skills and knowledge you have gained in previous jobs, which are important for the job which you are applying for. If you are expected to know a foreign language, prepare your “two-minute presentation” in that language, there is a good chance that you will seek and present that one you specify you know.
Repeat frequently asked questions and answers on business interviews
There are certain questions that are repeated in almost all selection interviews. Prepare answers to these questions. On the internet you can find numerous articles in which you can find information about the issues that are most often asked during the interview. With secure replying you will act confidently and competently, and you will leave a good impression on the interviewer.
Prepare phone numbers of the people that may make your recommendations
It is useful to think in advance about the persons who could give you a recommendation. Record their phone numbers that you can give it to the examiner, if he/she asks. Source recommendations can be former employer, associate, professor…
Think about what to wear
There is no written rule about dress code. However, your clothes make first impression the examiner creates about you. Find out does the company have a policy of dressing, and wear accordingly to that. Dressing in a company depends on the activity they are engaged to. Be neat and clean, dress up decently and professionally, in accordance with the position you are applying for. You will not get wrong if you choose the classic cuts and colors.
Prepare required documents
Prepare in one place all the documents that you might be needed to the interview:
– Biography
– Certificate of citizenship
– Certificate of secondary education
– Diplomas
– Certificates of completed courses (foreign languages, computer courses, typing…)
– Recommendations
– Prizes and awards
Photocopy all the documents and put them in new, for example, “spare presentation material” folder.
Take a rest and get some sleep
To make your presentation and overall impression as good as possible, it is important to be rested and fresh. Before going to an interview for a new job, organize your time so you can prepare adequately and thus reduce sources of unnecessary stress.
Come to exactly the appointed time on the interview
Too early or too late! Keep in mind that the employer has a variety of daily duties and that premature or delay to the interview, distorting his schedule and leave the impression of carelessness. So, do your best to come at exactly the appointed time.
Do not smoke or drink alcohol before the interview
Cigarette smoke will be into your cloths and hair, which certainly does not leave a positive impression on anybody! Even if you take only one lightly alcoholic drink, the employer could feel the breath in the conversation.
If you really want that job insert the extra effort and time and prepare yourself. Try to leave a great first impression. Offer something different and better than others. Be energetic and self-confident; arm yourself with your best weapon. Change your behavior and beliefs. Allow yourself to succeed. Celebrate your success!
