There are several important steps that you can take to get ready for your interview:
1. Know your prospective employer It is important for you to find out as much background information as you can about your prospective employer's business. This could be done using any available literature that you can find (financial statements, booklets, newspaper articles etc), refer to the company website if they have one, talk to any current employees you already know etc. Once you have this information, think about what attracts you to this particular firm. How does it differ from where you are currently? How easily do you think that you will adapt to their way of working?
2. Know yourself Re-read your CV. It is important that you try to assess where you are currently in your life, how you got there and why you made the decisions that you made in the past. More importantly, where would you like to be in,say, 5 years time? How are you going to make this hope come true and how does the role you are being interviewed for fit in with this plan?
3.Know the job you are applying for It is important that you try to understand as much as you can about the exact role you are applying for. Re-read the job advert that you applied for. What exactly is the job, in detail? What skills do you think you will need? You could find out more about this by asking people you already know who are, or who have been in a similar role.
4.Be clear about the interview Where is it due to be held? Do you know how to find the building? Have you allowed yourself enough time to arrive calmly and focused? Do you know the proposed format of the interview? How long is it likely to take? Do you need to prepare anything in advance?
5.Prepare questions that you would like to ask In the stressful environment of an interview it is easy to forget that you are interviewing the employer at the same time as they are interviewing you. You need to be sure that this role is one in which you would feel happy and that it would help you to achieve your personal goals. So ask how they would help you to do this. For example, if you feel that you currently do not have the knowledge or experience necessary of the role, but you are keen and eager to learn, ask about the training you would receive. If you are unsure of anything regarding the role, this is an ideal opportunity to ask. Write the questions down in advance whilst you are calm and in control of your thoughts and remember to take the piece of paper with you to refer to in the interview if you need to.
6.Practise your interview technique Do you have anyone you would feel happy to practise your interview technique with? (If not, you could even try practising in front of a mirror.) Remember that a significant proportion of the messages that we give to others is non-verbal. Concentrate on your body language (including eye-contact), together with the tone of voice that you use. Try to think of the kind of questions that you would ask if you were in the position of the interviewer, then prepare your answers to these questions. Remember, interviewers are not necessarily looking for you to know all of the answers to all of their questions. They often look to see how you react to the unexpected, the kind of thought processes that you use and to see that hopefully, when under potential pressure, you do not panic and go to pieces! Sometimes it's ok to say "I don't know the answer to that, but in that situation I'd find someone who does!"
