Guide to Interview Preparation

F eeling nervous during an interview is normal since you want to give the interview your best. But being too anxious can be a reason for failure, so adequate interview preparation is critical. You should do self-assessment to gauge your candidature and update your resume, but is just the first phase of preparation for a job interview. Since interviewing is a learned skill, you should practice in advance to enhance your acumen and style. One approach is practicing in front of a mirror, with a career coach or a friend. Your career coach or friend will give your feedback on how you look and sound. You can scrutinize inflection of your voice, facial expressions, enthusiasm, mannerism, and poise energy in your answers and body language. Apart from improving your communication skills, practicing for an interview is also essential assuaging your fears. Nonetheless, a manageable level of tension is useful for maintaining a high degree of attentiveness. Interview preparation also involves making ready questions to ask. You cannot only have a great question after doing research on the company and position. Prepare interview questions that reflect your research but do not include issues that have already been addressed by in company literature or website. Besides, you should avoid asking questions about salary and benefits. The final stage of preparation for a job interview should focus on making a great first impression on the interview day. Long before the day, select appropriate attire, possibly a business suit and ensure the clothing is well pressed, fitting, and clean. It is prudent to note that it is better to over dress than under dress. Also, plan to minimize jewelry and accessories. Also, when preparing for an interview, find out about the location of the exercise in advance. If possible, visit that place and plan to be at the designated office ten minutes early. The right way to achieve this is to allow some reasonable time for traffic and the chances of getting lost. Notably, there is no single way for preparing for an interview. The above strategies are, however, necessary to improve your likelihood of success. Learning that takes place during interview preparation is useful for both present and future interviews. [Photo: huffingtonpost.com]