If you’ve landed on this article, then it’s likely you’re looking for interview preparation tips. In that case, we want you to crush that job interview and we have compiled interview preparation tips – even how to mentally prepare for an interview.
Before we get to that step, let’s first rewind. If you’re interviewing at a company, you need to ask yourself, what is your dream job?
Now, this opportunity may not be your exact dream job, but in order to get yourself to the job of your dreams, it’s important to understand your motivations. What makes a job attractive to you? What are your motivations? What motivates you in life?
You may get this question in your interview but we are looking for priorities that will shake out from this question.
Interview Prep Tip – Reflect on your Dream Job. What is it?
Ask yourself this question and then follow up with a few why questions. Maybe you want to be a teacher who teaches children how to read and write because you want kids of all backgrounds to have a wonderful opportunity to shape their future.
Maybe you want to be a chef because you love being creative and making meals for others because food connects people. Maybe it’s a firefighter, speaker, lyft driver, or software engineer.
It’s important that you understand your priorities. Why is this important you might ask? Well, in order to shape your questions and answers to align with the company’s goals and values, you’ll want to understand yours.
Do Your Research – Narrow Down a Few of your Top Companies
You’ve made it to the first interview, congrats! But now you need to spend some time on interview preparation. When interviewing at a company, here are a few pointers:
- Understand the role and job that you’re interviewing for. A recruiter should supply a job description so you can review the qualifications.
- It’s likely the questions will be focused on the job qualifications and responsibilities of the role so if you’re unfamiliar with anything in the job description, it’s a good idea to utilize google and research these topics.
- Read about the company! Check out glassdoor.com, linkedin.com, read the About page on the company and google any news regarding the company.
- Ask for a sample of the company values and mission if they are not listed online.
- Review the employees at the company – do you know anyone or do you have any common connections? If you have an old friend or colleague at the company, reach out and ask them about their experience at the company.
- Look up the interviewer who will be meeting you. You do not have to disclose that you reviewed their Linkedin but you may have a common connection or you may have similar interests which are great talking points.
- Ask the recruiter for possible questions or areas of focus that could be asked during the interview.
Practice Makes Perfect – Spend time Writing Down or Talking Through your Answers
This might seem funny but you might not know how to talk about yourself. Maybe you’re shy and humble or maybe you just haven’t been asked questions where you’re talking about yourself and your professional accomplishments.
- Think about possible questions you might be asked and look up questions online for your specific role
- Write down these questions and try to write out your answers
- Use the S.T.A.R. format to frame up your answers (infographic below)
- Think about accomplishments that you are proud of
- It would also be beneficial to have your resume with you (print) or on your computer
- Think about examples of a time you went above and beyond
- Be prepared to answer questions you may not know. This might catch you off guard but if there is a question you do not know, feel free to be open with the interviewer and share problem-solving methods that you would utilize.
- Review the company values and think about situations where you embodied these values
- Build up a list of great questions to ask at the end of the interview. You will answer their question with follow-up questions of your own.
Now that we have covered the specifics, let’s chat about some fun tips to help you mentally prepare for an interview
How to Mentally Prepare for an Interview
On the day of the interview, you might experience some interview jitters and we are here to tell you how you can get rid of nerves before an interview. These Interview Preparation Tips might not completely reduce interview nervousness but we hope it will help.
- Spend extra time in the morning to follow any morning habits you love (maybe working out, or cooking a solid breakfast), and make sure you are not rushed as you get yourself ready for the interview.
- Put on your best interview outfit, and perfume/cologne, and always dress for success even if you’re only meeting people through zoom. This will help you get into the zone mentally.
- Block your calendar 30 minutes before your interview, use this time to decompress and add positivity to your life
- Put on your favorite song or dance around. You might not be a dancer but your favorite song will put you in a great mood!
- Review all your accomplishments and career history, this will help you remember that you can face any adversity in your life.
- Turn off notifications on your phone and computer – Slack, email, text, instagram, tik-tok, etc.
- Try some calming activities if you can – meditate, breath-work, or use some positive affirmations.
- Make sure your interview space is clean, your internet is working, and if you’re connecting via zoom, etc. that you have tested out this tool.
- If you are comfortable sharing with friends and family, let them know that you’re interviewing. They will definitely cheer you on and this will be a confidence boost.
- Know that everyone gets jitters. Getting nervous during an interview is totally normal. If you want, you can even tell the interviewer that you are a bit nervous. It’s likely they will know if you are showing signs of nervousness,
- The person you are interviewing with was once in your shoes. Even CEO’s have to go through interviews. This should be a very human experience. The interviewer should also be mindful of your experience.
- Be yourself! You do your best work when you embrace your authentic self and that will shine through in an interview!
Bonus Tips
Congrats! You have read to the end of our Interview Preparation Tips article, then we want to provide you an interview checklist PDF! Hopefully you learned a few tips for preparing for interviews and you ace your next interview!
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