Secure Your Dream Job With These Interview Tips

Summary: As you prepare for a job search, you must be able to ace the interview process in order to secure an offer of employment.

If you are looking for a new job, one of the most important aspects of the search is the interview. No matter how many open jobs you apply for, if you cannot ace the interview, you will not receive an offer of employment from the company. This means that you will forever be searching for a job. You will know it the minute you ace a job interview, but it comes with plenty of preparation and experience.

Interview Prep

There is plenty to take care of prior to the interview. If this is your first job interview in more than five years, invest in a new suit. Make sure your shoes are either brand new or have been shined recently. Men, shave your scruff and trim your hair. Women, plan a trip to the salon.

Once your outfit is acquired, continue your preparation by performing a couple of very important tasks. These include researching the company, learning about the interviewer, rehearsing the answers to potential questions and understand the job description so you can relate your skills to the job.

Immediately Before the Interview

Days and even hours before the job interview, there are some tasks you must perform if you want to secure an offer of employment. Always bring a notebook to a job interview with multiple writing utensils. When you come without a notebook, you look unprepared and disinterested. Another important task to perform is printing out multiple copies of your resume and cover letter. You might meet more than just the interviewer and everyone should be handed copies of your documents.

Plan for plenty of travel time when heading to the company in case there is traffic, an accident, or you get lost looking for the place. Arriving on-time means you are late, but do not walk into the building more than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled interview. You do not want to come across as desperate.

When introduced to the interviewer, make eye contact and always shake hands. It is a great idea to be nice to every person you meet at the office because you have no idea what position they hold within the company.

The Interview

Body language is very important during the job interview. Make sure you are alert, listening intently, sitting up straight and making eye contact.

Keep your answers short, but not too short that you leave out pertinent information. Your answers should not be very personal, but they should let the company know what you can bring to the table.

During the interview, never talk poorly about your former boss or former co-workers. Even if you were working in a bad situation, you still need to talk positively about prior jobs.

Tell the truth with each answer. Even a little white lie will come back to bite you because an interviewer will be able to check your stories.

Never ask the interviewer about vacation time, salary, benefits or other perks during the first interview. This will give the impression that you are only concerned about the compensation offered and not the job itself.

Ask other questions during the interview that can inform you about the culture, the work environment, the requirements of the job and which type of candidate is most successful in the position.

Always Follow-Up

It is imperative that you follow-up with interviewers first via a thank-you email that same day or the next and then a handwritten thank-you note. Both of these notes must reiterate what you told the interviewer about your excitement for the job, about the company and what interests you about the job. Make sure you do not call the interviewer or send multiple emails when following-up. This will only hurt your chances at landing the job.