First thing to remember and probably the most important. They picked YOU to interview. So while you should never be too cocky it is key to remember this. It means they made the choice to look at you further. Meaning you already struck them as interesting and worth their time. So try to breath and take control of it. You got this!
Aside from the common tips of how to conduct an interview such as posture, eye contact, and don’t fidget. Also the general questions and answers such as What are some of your strengths and weaknesses. There is a few things I’d recommend to try to help prepare.
First check out the company via their website and learn about it’s current goals and achievements. Knowledge of the place you are planning to work for not only comes in handy in interviews but after as well so it doesn’t hurt to have that info.
Second check review sites such as http://www.glassdoor.com which is a site I also highly recommend for finding work as well, but as a tool depending on the company and it’s workforce you can get some incite into the company and how it treats the employees plus compare salaries to help with your own negotiation.
Utilizing social media you can also look for current employees. Try linkdin or even Facebook. I know it may seem awkward but if you find someone in a similar position you are looking to fill or even better the supervisor of that area try contacting them (as long as you can be sure it isn’t their job you are taking over!). Don’t be pushy just mention you are looking to work at their company and mention what position you are looking at. Inquire politely if they might have any tips for the interview. Express eagerness to work there but don’t try to hard as you don’t want to come off as fake.
If nothing else this will already give you a co-worker to talk to once hired, but it can also give you insight into the workplace and possibly the work environment depending if the person is willing to help and seems positive or just is negative.
Now with that in mind people have bad days and you cannot solely rely on this interaction, but if everything goes well not only will you have gained helpful information odds are (depending on company size and structure) the person you speak with may mention the interaction to your interviewer. Which would show you are eager and sincerely interested.
Now with those tools in hand you just need to remember you are not generally selling your skills in an interview you are selling yourself so depending on the company your appearance and ability to interact calmly but professionally with the person(s) conducting the interview is the key focus if there are multiple interviewers treat them equally. I always say go into it like you are already hired and this is just a formality. Treat them like you would co-workers/bosses.
Don’t think of it as your last chance think of it as your first step. If you go in confident you already have the job the body language and conversations you have will give that feeling and often can have the interviewer feeling that before you are even finished. I’ve used this method a lot and have had an interviewer say to me “I cannot say you are hired but you obviously already know that answer.” and I believe completely it was because I made them feel like I was already hired and it was just a formality. They see you how you want them to.
Will this work for everyone every time? Of course not, but I’ve interviewed for dozens of jobs over the years and only one time was I not offered a position. So I think it works and hope that me sharing this will help some of you also think about the process a bit differently. Again they already like YOU on paper, just sell them YOU in person.
