Your Go-To Guide for Interview Prep
By Molly Gilarde
Practicing your interview with a family member can be very helpful to simulate the real experience and get feedback to improve your skills!
Jobs and internships are very important experiences to have, especially as you make your way through college. However, they can be hard to get. In order to put your best foot forward and set yourself up for success in the job and internship market, it is important to develop good interview skills. Many students have little experience interviewing and may not know how to best prepare. Here are four tips on how to prepare for a successful interview:
Examine the job description
It may seem silly to read the job description again if you know you want the position already, but it can actually be very helpful. The job description helps you know exactly what an employer is looking for in a certain role. Once you know the candidate characteristics and qualifications they are looking for, you can tailor your answers in your interview to them. Looking over the job description can also help you come up with questions for the employer about the position that are not made clear in the description.
Prepare answers to common interview questions and formulate your own questions
Although there’s no way to know exactly what you’ll be asked in any given interview, it can’t hurt to have a few answers prepared for questions you are likely to be asked. You can find lists of common interview questions online or come up with ones that you feel are relevant yourself. Having pre-planned answers for some questions can help you feel more at ease and can make you appear more confident, since you’re not struggling to come up with an answer in the moment. It is also important to prepare relevant questions to ask the interviewer, so you’re not panicking when they ask for one!
Be ready to expand upon your resume
When you have applied for a job, you have most likely already submitted a resume that the hiring manager has looked at in order to take the next step of scheduling an interview. When you’re in an interview, you want to make sure that you can talk about all the different experiences and qualifications that you have listed on your resume. Do not simply just repeat what your resume says; explain how these experiences have helped you and shaped you into a young professional that is a perfect fit for the candidate they are looking for. By expanding upon your resume, you are giving them more information about yourself and supporting why you are qualified for the position.
Practice interviewing
Once you’ve prepared answers to some common questions, it can be helpful to practice saying them out loud! Having a family member or friend mock interview you is one of the best ways to get a feel for what it is actually like to be in the interview itself. In addition to getting the practice of saying your answers out loud, you can get feedback on what works and what doesn’t before it actually counts.
Interviews can seem daunting, but there are many ways to make yourself feel more confident and prepared heading in. These are just a few tips to prepare for interviews, but there are many more! Figuring out what works for you to feel the best is what is most important!
