Preparing for interview
In this lesson, you will look at what you should do before the day of your interview.
Apart from selecting a position that properly suits your competencies and experience, there are other important steps you should take before the day of the interview.
It seems unlikely that anyone accepted for an interview would merely sit and wait for the day to come around, but there are numerous ways of preparing for the event. Some of these are included in the Practice section below.
After you made your last job application, how did you prepare before the day of the interview?
The answer to the warm-up question will indicate how thoroughly your student prepared for the interview. Make a note of the preparation they did, and comment accordingly. Even if the student’s preparation was exhaustive, get them to use the given language to evaluate the advice.
Evaluating opinions and advice is a common element of business interaction. Here are some ways in which you can do this:
- That sounds like good advice because…
- Yes, definitely, because…
- This is important because…
- That doesn’t seem like a particularly good idea.
- I don’t think this is very good advice.
- I don’t think this is worth doing.
- I definitely wouldn’t do that.
- No, that would be a mistake.
Ask your student if there is anything that they are not familiar with or have difficulty in using. Offer some examples of these to aid understanding.
After applying for a job, which of the following should you do before the day of the interview? Why? Which of them should you not do under any circumstances?
Use the evaluating language presented above. Justify your answers with some of the language you covered in Lesson 1.1.
- Look at the organization’s website and read about its culture and values, as well as any recent news.
- Research the company and senior staff on Facebook and LinkedIn.
- Research the company on Comparably.com and Glassdoor.com to find out about salaries and conditions, and to read employee reviews.
- Make sure your online social media profile matches the information you gave in your CV.
- Research the company’s main competitors.
- Find out how to get to the interview location. Do a dry run before the interview.
- Research the company’s products, services and main clients.
- Research the current state of the company’s market, and its performance in that market.
- Read the company’s annual report, if available.
- Get your hair cut.
- Anticipate the kind of questions you will be asked in the interview and prepare answers.
- Think of some questions to ask the interviewer.
- Try to connect with the company CEO via LinkedIn.
- Find out who your interviewer will be and research him/her.
- Send a Facebook friend request to the company CEO and your interviewer.
- Phone the company and speak to your interviewer. Introduce yourself and tell him/her you are excited about the upcoming meeting.
- Take a few copies of your CV with you to the interview.
- Write down answers to common questions and learn them by heart.
- Practice answering questions in front of a mirror, or, even better, with a colleague or friend.
- Decide what your target salary and what your "walk-away number" (your minimum acceptable salary) are.
Can you think of any other tips to add to this list?