How To Prepare For A Job Interview

You’ve been pounding the pavement (or… what’s the internet equivalent? Clicking the keys?) searching for a job. This might be your first job, or you might be looking for something better. Regardless, you’ve secured a job interview. Congratulations!

And now the preparation begins.

Standard Questions

In order to maximize your time with the interviewers, you’ll want to be as prepared as possible. There are multiple articles on the internet about what questions you’ll be asked, how to craft your answers, what might happen in an interview. And now, we’re going to talk about how to present yourself so well, they won’t be able to resist a second interview!

The first thing to do is pick the 5 questions you feel they are most likely to ask. These should align with the job you’re applying for, not from your personal experience. Next, write out your answers, word for word, in exactly the way you want to be able to say them. Go through the job description and find ways to talk about how qualified you are. Use their language (specific phrases and descriptions can be found in the job advertisement and description), and insert ample information about your experience while allowing your personality to shine through. Once you’ve got your 5 answers (they should be about 1/3 to 1/2 of a page typed out), mark them up using the Text Mapping process. Think about why you’re saying this - what do you want the interviewers to understand about you when you give them this information? What is motivating you to say this exact thing?

From there, practise. Memorize your answers. Get them so solid in your mind that you can recite half, and include half of another answer if that helps the question posed to you. Be so secure in these answers that you’re able to deliver with clarity and confidence. This is key and has worked for every interview client I’ve had. (By the way, my success rate for clients getting jobs is 100%.)

Hoped For Questions

The second thing to do is choose a few questions you want them to ask. This part is key, because if you are prepared, you will be able to lead them to ask you the questions that allow you to shine. What are your greatest achievements, and how can you insert this information into your Hoped For Questions? Is there a way that you can hint at these achievements while answering the Standard Questions so that they are led to ask further? What about you and your experience makes you perfect for this job, and how can you express this in a way that powerfully represents yourself? Practise these answers the same way you did for the Standard, above. Write them out exactly how you’d like to say them, and do the work to memorize and prepare.

Your Name

Practise saying your name. Make sure you’re inflecting downward and not using uptalk when you introduce yourself. Uptalking can sound like a question (inflecting upward), which can seem like you are asking permission to be there. This is really hard for some people, so practise it until it feels more comfortable. Hit me up with an email if you don’t understand what I mean here.

A Note About Memorizing

Don’t give up this opportunity by not doing the work. You could do everything right and they go with another person, but that’ll be nothing on you. Sometimes the hardest part is getting the interview, so don’t skip the important part of crafting your answers beforehand. The key to memorizing is repetition (I know that sounds hilariously simple and self evident but keep reading). Reading your answers out loud a few times before bed will absolutely help you in the memorization process, and creates muscle memory. This means that if you get tripped up in a question and forget what’s coming next, often the muscles in your face will automatically begin to form the next word (because they remember where to go from practising). This is happened to me many times, and I can’t stress the importance of practise and repetition enough. Make time for this.

Breathe

Give yourself a couple of minutes of controlled breathing while you’re waiting to go in. I do this every time. I pull up my animated gif on my phone and follow the instructions. People in the room with you have no idea what you’re doing, but you are getting your calm on and managing your stress levels.

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Preparing yourself well for your interview means that you make an exceptional impression. Worst case scenario, they go with somebody else (for a host of reasons you won’t have control over), but they’ll remember you as a talented interviewee and bring you back when another opportunity comes up. Best case scenario, you get the gig!

Want to work together to make sure you excel in your interview? Me, too! My 1:1 coaching packages live here.

If this post helps you, I want to know! Leave a comment below, or email me to let me know.

GOOD LUCK! YOU GOT THIS!