The following job interview tips will help you feel more comfortable and impress any hiring manager.
10 Job interview tips to help you succeed and land a job offer
1. Know the job description well
Many candidates do not pay enough attention to the job description, meaning they can’t prepare well for what the potential employer is looking for.
Kowing well the job description is one of the most important job interview tips and it’s what your preparation should always start with
Make sure you read the job description several times if needed and after you understand what the requirements are, you write down several accomplishments or work experiences that are relevant to those requirements.
2. Know the company well
Although for many people this tip is a no-brainer, there are still so many candidates that show up to a job interview without knowing anything about the company.
Your research should start with the company’s website. Check the “About” page, mission and vision and take notes of some of the most important values to this company and if you have any experience to showcases that you have the same values.
It might be something as simple as having worked for a company in the past that shares the same values.
After you are done with checking the company website inside and out, it’s time to check the company’s presence on social media.
If the company is active on social media, you can find pretty much anything there, from which are the most important services or products that it is selling, which events is the company attending, etc.
After that, a simple Google search will show you any press mentions of the company, its achievements or announcements from the CEO.
3. Know the person/s who will be interviewing you
There is nothing more awkward than not knowing the person that you are going to meet.
This person, in many cases, might be the person you will be reporting to, should you get the job.
This is why it is mandatory to know this person’s name.
Usually, when invited to a job interview you should be informed about the name and position of the person/s who will be interviewing you.
If the invitation includes just the person’s name, you can easily find their position by searching their name on LinkedIn or even Google directly.
It is very important to check your interviewer’s profile on LinkedIn because you might find common interests or common experiences, such as having studied at the same university or having worked for the same company in the past.
This makes for a great icebreaker and gives you a topic to warm up before the actual interview.
4. Prepare answers to the most common job interview questions
Even if you have a great background with many years of professional experience, you need to prepare for some of the most common job interview questions.
Whether your interview will be face to face or it will be a phone interview, you need to prepare your answers beforehand.
This will help you feel comfortable with the information that you are giving away while making sure that you are providing the interviewer with the best possible answers which showcase how your past experience is relevant to the job that you are interviewing for.
Whether you will be asked “Why do you want to work for us?”, “Tell me about yourself“, “Why should we hire you?”, “Sell me this pen” or “What are your salary expectations?”, make sure you are not caught off-guard.
5. Prepare answer to situational questions
While usually hiring managers or recruiters don’t ask situational questions during the initial stages of the recruitment process, it’s better to be prepared.
There are no 2 companies that have the exact same recruitment process, therefore it’s better to be prepared than underprepared, should your interviewer ask you situational questions.
6. Know what is your added value
This is probably one of the most important job interview tips, as this is where many candidates fail to prepare.
The main reason why a company interviews candidates is to find out what is the value that one brings to their company and how can the candidate solve the company’s pain points.
If you have thoroughly researched the company and the role, you should be able to know where you fit in and what exactly is your added value.
For example, if you are going to interview for a Marketing position, checking out the company’s website, social media presence and its overall online presence, should enable you to find some pain points (weak social media presence, no branding, etc.).
If you have experience in these areas and find that the company’s Marketing is not aligned with what their business is trying to achieve, this is where you bring value.
7. Know your weaknesses
While this is something that everybody dreads, it’s important to know your weaknesses and to have a list of weaknesses prepared before the interview.
8. Prepare questions to ask at the end of the job interview
Before you accept any job offer from a company, normally you want to know everything possible about it and if you will be happy working for that company or in that role.
That is why it’s important to prepare questions to ask an interviewer, as usually, this is the last question that he or she will ask: “Do you have any questions for us?”.
9. Always Follow up after the job interview
One of the biggest mistakes the majority of candidates do is not following up after a job interview.
It’s imperative to send a thank you email after an interview, as it can make the difference between getting the job or not.
In fact, many hiring managers or recruiters say that they make a hiring decision based on receiving or not a follow-up email.
You should always follow up after a job interview.
These job interview tips are meant to help you prepare better for your next job interview and have an advantage even when you don’t fit all the requirements.
Job interview tips key takeaway
Preparing for a job interview can give you a competitive advantage as other candidates might be better qualified than you, however, if they are underprepared and they just bet on their qualifications, this will not get them the job.
Good luck!
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