First Job Interview: How to Prepare

In this day and age, jobs are scarce. You may find yourself looking for work for many months before something comes up. If and when an interview opportunity does come up many people make the mistake of not preparing enough. What you need to realise is that with the current economic situation there will be highly qualified professionals seeking low qualified jobs, it won’t be uncommon to see highly qualified and experienced individuals applying for low level graduate jobs, competition will be fierce.

You really do need to do everything possible to impress the interviewee. Remind yourself of all the work you’ve put in with your job search and don’t let the interview opportunity go to waste by being unprepared. The more interviews you have the more confident you’ll become; you’ll get familiar with the process and the type of questions you can expect to be asked. Your first interview is always nerve-racking and preparation is essential.

There are numerous ways to prepare for an interview.

• First and foremost you need to prepare yourself for contact with the employer. It’s common that in the week before the interview you’ll be in contact quite a few times. They may choose to call you or email you. If you don’t already, get used to having your phone with you all the time, you never know when an employer’s going to contact you. Missing calls will not look good, whereas answering first time shows you’re well organised. You may also want to have a pen and pad at hand so you can take essential notes, for example interview times and locations etc.
• Your email also needs to be on top form, you can see a lot about someone’s language skills via their emails. Again with emails you need to be prompt, if it means leaving your email open all day, so be it. Getting back to your employer a day late will show that you’re unorganised and perhaps uninterested. Your email structure is important, it’s advised that you do some research on the internet into formal email structures. Also try and take an intellectual approach and use as many ‘big words’ as possible.
• Your appearance is key. It’s always advised that you wear a well fitted suit to an interview; even if you’re told that the dress code is casual I’d still wear a suit, you need to do everything possible to impress the interviewee. As well as a suit, you need to make sure you style your hair smartly as to look professional.
• Prepare answers for those predictable questions. For example:
  • Why are you good for this job?
  • What do you know about the role?
  • What are your strong points/weaknesses?
  • How will you use your skills in this role?
• Do as much background research on the company/industry as possible. Find out if they have a website, if they do, read as much as possible. Research the role on the internet and speak to friends/family that are in a similar industry. This is crucial.

When attending the interview there are many things you need to do, they may seem obvious but are essential and can’t be overlooked.

• Manners are key, you need to remain polite from the moment you step foot in the building to the moment you leave. Greet the interviewee with a smile and a firm hand shake, tell them it’s nice to meet them and when they ask how you are remember to ask them how they are. Sit down when told to do, don’t slouch, and make eye contact – but not too much eye contact.
• You need to answer questions confidently, speak loud and clearly throughout. There is however a fine link between confidence and arrogance so be careful.
• Most importantly (you’ll hear this a lot), be yourself, don’t be too robotic and don’t be fake. Nobody likes someone who’s fake, the interviewee will know that you’re nervous, there’s no need put on an act.