Interview Preparation Questions Guide

2 years ago by Trace Cohen 12

This interview preparation guide is a quick reference sheet to prepare for your next job interview. It will give you the confidence and kick in the butt you need. Before you start, check out this clip!

The interview is the make or break for most employers when it comes to hiring a potential employee. Your resume is very important, but this is just one piece of paper that helps the employer eliminate the competition. So lets get started to make sure you’re fully prepared.

How to prepare for War!

Obviously you’re not going to war, but you need to prepare yourself for anything! Just like any war movie you have seen, there are a lot of preparations you need to take care of before you march onto the front lines.

  1. You need to research your adversary:
    • You want this job, but that doesn’t mean that they’re on your side. Until you get the offer and accept it, they aren’t your friends. You need to research online and offline what makes them tick. If you’re lucky, you will know before hand who will be interviewing you because they have contacted you previously. This will give you the advantage during the interview because you will be able to research that specific person and be able to create conversation.
  2. Prepare for battle:
    • By now you should know what the job entails because you did your research and practiced answering questions. Now it’s time to look the part and have all the right materials.
    • “Clothes make the man, how can you take a naked man seriously.” Press your shirt and shine your shoes, feel like a million bucks. Everyone has that favorite pair of pants or a shirt combo that you know you look good in and increases your confidence. Wear it!
    • By now you should have sent over your resume but make sure you have a few extra copies of it printed it. A printed out copy always looks better than their online version. Know it backwards and forwards so that you can elaborate on it and talk about anything on it that might come up.
    • Everything is set up, you look good and are confident that you know everything you need to. Now get there on time and show off!
  3. The Front Lines:
    • It’s the big day, you’re dressed up and ready to go. You know the battle plans, the strategies and the ins and outs, there is nothing to be afraid of besides fear itself.
    • You arrive 8 minutes early and walk into that interview with the utmost confidence because you deserve this job and know it.
    • Your personal brand is like an aura surrounding you as you walk in and tell the secretary that you’re here to see so and so. HINT: Try to make friends with the secretary as they’re the ones that run the show behind the scenes.
    • When the interviewer comes out, you stand up, give them a firm handshake and smile :) .
    • Today is the beginning of the end… of this job search!

Check out our other great posts that relate to the interview!

Trace Cohen
Author: Trace Cohen

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About Trace Cohen

I am currently a senior at Syracuse University double majoring in Entrepreneurship and Marketing at the Whitman School of Management with a minor in Information Service Techology (IST) in the iSchool. I chose Syracuse for their business school which was brand new and state of the art when i applied and enrolled. The undergraduate entrepreneurship program in Whitman is ranked #2 nationally and the ischool is ranked #1 nationally which is something I am very proud to be apart of.
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  • http://www.collegerecruiter.com/career-counselors/2009/05/interview_preparation_guide.php CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Career Counselors Blog

    Interview preparation guide…

    Article provided by Brand-Yourself.com This interview preparation guide is a quick reference sheet to prepare for your next job interview. It will give you the confidence and kick in the butt you need. Before you start, check out this……

  • http://danklamm.blogspot.com Dan Klamm

    Very nice article, Trace. The one thing I would add – in addition to researching and knowing the employer – is knowing yourself. Candidates need to be prepared with specific and relevant examples from their past, so that they are not caught off guard during behavioral interviews. “Tell me about a time when you were faced with a challenge that required a creative solution” is not a particularly unique question, but you’d be surprised how many people stumble and stutter when they hear it. So what I usually tell students is – know yourself, know the employer, and know how the two connect.

  • http://Brand-Yourself.com Trace Cohen

    @Dan

    Always great to hear from you, I couldn’t agree more. Students shouldn’t just know their resumes back and front, but as you said they need to know themselves back and front. Questions like those can completely change the direction an interview is going if they cant come up with a “challenge” or a proper answer to any question like that.

    Trace

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  • http://www.tipsoninterview.com/ interview tips

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    Great insights,very interesting because you give hint that we can do in order to get the job.This preparation is a good reference to become ready for the goal that you want to achieve.

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