You can prepare for an interview. And then you can REALLY prepare for an interview. It’s the latter that will land you the job.
Interview preparation includes a lot of givens. For example, planning to arrive on time. Too many candidates arrive late. Arriving late does not give your interviewer a great first impression. We suggest working out your trip to the interview, allowing yourself 30 minutes to sit down prior to the interview to organise yourself and review what you’re going to say.
Putting in the extra ground work can really pay off, so we have listed 3 ways to supercharge your interview preparation:
Research the Organisation. When your recruiter asks you to research to become familiar with the organisation, don’t just spend 5 minutes finding out a few main facts. Take a long hard look at the organisations presence, its website, blogs, and any other piece of information you can find. Analyse the language they use so that you can speak like you’ve already joined the organisation in the interview. This will help you to understand the culture of the organisation. The organisation may sponsor a charity you’re committed to, or may have a community activity that you have participated in. This type of synergy can be really powerful.
Video your interview practice. When you are practicing your interview answers with friends and family, sit down in front of a camera and try to do as lifelike interview as possible. It’s not just what you say. Review your body language in your video. Do you look confident, do you overuse hand movements, and is your eye contact good? Recording your interview gives you the chance to review your responses and body language and work on fixing any weakness before your interview.
Add colour: Put some thought into what you plan to wear and use some colour to add some vibrancy. You do want to be remembered and stand out from the other candidate's. Statement piece of jewellery or scarf if you are a woman and a tasteful shirt or tie for a male.. Make sure you avoid overdressing or dressing inappropriately.
If you have done the extra ground work, you’ll go in with your best foot forward.