How to Prepare for an Interview

The interview is scheduled!  You are ecstatic, and you should be!  But now what?  What will you do to prepare for your job interview so you feel confident and prepared?   Now that the job interview is scheduled, you can really begin preparing and practicing! Your goal is to have a conversation with the interviewer […]

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The interview is scheduled!  You are ecstatic, and you should be!  But now what?  What will you do to prepare for your job interview so you feel confident and prepared?

Now that the job interview is scheduled, you can really begin preparing and practicing!

Your goal is to have a conversation with the interviewer so they learn why you are qualified for the role and so that you can learn more about what the role entails and what the company culture is all about.

Here are 10 of the most important steps you can take to prepare for an interview:

1. Get a copy of the most current job description or job posting

Here’s why you need to ask someone in the company for the job description.

What they’ve posted online may not be the full description or even the most recent version of the job requirements. It isn’t unusual for a company to have a different version of the job description for internal use. It may be more descriptive.

There’s nothing wrong with asking the person scheduling the interview if they can send you the full job description. You may even reach out to someone you know inside the company and ask what they can find on the internal job posting site.

As you analyze the job posting or description, you should look for the skills, technology, work processes and soft skills mentioned and compare these against your own set of qualifications.

2. Prepare a STAR story for each of the job requirements.

Go through each requirement listed in the job posting and develop an answer for how you meet that specific requirement. A  STAR story is a concise and thorough way of mapping out what you did and what the outcome was. Read more here.

If you don’t have the exact skills the company is asking for, chances are you have done something similar. Develop that story!

3. Prepare answers to the most common interview questions and practice out loud

Here is a list of the most popular questions.

It is so important to practice each answer out loud.

You not only want to use positive, assertive language, you also want to sound confident. You also want your answer to be thorough yet concise (under 2 minutes) This can only happen if you prepare and practice. Consider recording yourself to evaluate your answer.

Keep refining your answer until you own it. It shouldn’t sound rehearsed. It should sound natural! This takes practice!

4. Craft your opening statement or the answer to ̶