You just graduated college you earned your degree and now what? It’s time to go on a job hunt and this means preparing yourself for job interviews and networking events. You send out your resume to numerous places, you get a call from an employer who is available to interview you next day. How do you prepare in such short notice? Interviews are a skill and are as important as your college degree so you must handle with care and treat it as critical. I’ve interviewed many potential employees throughout my career so it’s important to know what we are looking for as a job seeker.
Below are 8 things you should do before a job interview:
1. Research. Research. Research: I can’t stress this enough. You don’t know how many people I’ve interviewed who tell me they don’t know about the company. *Hint if you are interviewing at a company you’ve never heard about research it before your interview. Go online, check out their facebook pages, twitter handles, research their CEO’s, ask around. There are so many ways of finding information online today, use it, learn it and study it! The more you know about the company the easier your interview will turn out to be.
2. Study your position. Now that you researched the company it is important to study the position you are applying for. It doesn’t matter what position it is, study it and figure out what strengths you have that will help out the department or the position you are working for. Employers don’t just want to know that you graduated college, they also want to know your ideas, what you have accomplished, how you can help increase sales, bring awareness and how you are going to execute it.
3. Get enough sleep. Even if your interview is not until noon get a good night’s sleep. No one wants to talk to someone who is tired and not enthusiastic.
4. Get your nails done. Ladies I can not stress this enough if there is one thing that makes me crazy is bitten, dirty or undone nails. Remember you are going to be a reflection
5. Create a proposal. Applying for a position is not just talking about what you’ve done in the past or how many degrees you have. We want to know what you can do for us? Create a presentation tell me how you can improve my sales, enlighten me with things you think I don’t know, show me your skills and prove to me you have talent. Point out what I’m doing wrong and how you can fix it.
6. Practice. Interviewing is a skill like any other and practice makes perfect. Practice the interview in front of your husband, friends or in front of the mirror. Ask yourself why you feel you should work for the company, your strengths, weakness all those things you’ve heard they will ask you at an interview.
7. Brush your teeth. Bad breath is never good especially when you’re at a job interview, make sure your teeth at their best and your breath is too!
8. Always be on time. Don’t just drive to the location day of the interview instead take some time the night before to look for the location. Program your clock 10 minutes early and make sure to leave your house 20 minutes earlier. It’s always better to be early than to be on time.
