hi everybody and welcome my name is jen
and i'm a career coach and indeed with
over 10 years of experience working in
career services
over the years i've worked with hundreds
of job seekers as they've prepared for
their next interviews
and today i want to share a little bit
of that advice with you so today in this
video we're going to talk about how you
can best prepare for your next interview
and be sure to stick around until the
end of the video where we're going to
cover an important tip that most people
forget about
it's a small step that can have a really
big payoff
so let's begin first up approach your
research from a big to small
mindset okay so what does that mean so
what i've noticed over the years is that
some people tend to focus on either
big concepts like focusing research on
the company
or they can focus on the small details
like looking into just the job
description or the interviewer
the truth is that good research is going
to ask you to do both
and everything in between this is a good
way to begin your interview preparation
because it's going to give you the
context to articulate your skills and
experience
and connect them to the company's
mission and goals let's break down
what you should be looking for as you're
conducting your research
you should make sure that you're
researching the company the job
description
and the interviewer if you're new to
researching be sure to allow at least
30 minutes to research each category
begin your research by starting with the
largest concept
the company and when researching the
company be sure to check out multiple
sources
start by visiting the company's website
and reading up on there about us
or their product or service offerings
pages here you can find information
about what their mission is and what
they value
you know that you've conducted really
good research when you can speak to how
your personal goals align with the goals
of the company
or how your skill set can be used to
support or even better enhance
the services that they offer to
customers once you've heard about the
company from their own perspective
do some research into what other people
are saying about them
companypagesonnd.com are are great place
to start
to find reviews from current and former
employees on hundreds of companies
if you check out this link right here
you can see reviews on what the
interview process is like
and you can also see pictures and videos
from the company's social media channels
you can highlight your research during
the interview by aligning your personal
goals to the goals of the company
for example if during the research you
see that the company is active in the
community
mention your desire to work with a
community focused organization when they
ask you
why do you want to work here next review
the job description
when reviewing a job description your
goal is to gain a better understanding
of the responsibilities and the
requirements of the position
this will ensure that you can articulate
how and why
you're qualified for this role use the
information you find in the job
description to help you prepare for
questions that could be asked to qualify
your skills
when you check out the job description
look at the requirements
and then think about questions that the
interviewer could ask you
think to yourself if i was looking to
find a candidate for this role
what skills would they need to have then
consider how you would answer that
question it can help to think of past
examples from your work experience
that demonstrated the skills required
for the role and then practice sharing
them succinctly
i'll go more in depth and how to do that
later in this video
now you'll want to get granular with
your research by focusing on the person
or people who will be conducting your
interview
to find out who you're interviewing with
first check to see if they're included
within the
email invite that was sent for the
interview or you can also see if they're
listed in the confirmation email that
the recruiter sent over
if your interview has already been
scheduled and you don't see this
information
it's completely appropriate to reach out
to the recruiter or the hiring manager
to see if they can provide the name or
names of the people that you're going to
be meeting with when researching your
interviewer
focus on looking at their professional
journey and see how they've managed to
reach their level of success
look for commonalities in your
background education
or even your interests check out
professional sources like the company
website to see if they have a
public-facing employee profile
or you can check out professional social
media sites as well this research will
pay off when you can casually mention
commonalities
in small talk or as appropriate during
the interview highlighting your
similarities can create a stronger human
connection
and it can create a positive feeling in
relation to your interviewer
after you've conducted your research the
next step in preparing for an interview
is to practice
common interview questions you'll want
to practice a variety of questions
including
general situational behavioral and if
applicable
technical questions that pertain to your
industry one of the first questions you
can expect to be asked during an
interview
is tell me about yourself this is your
opportunity to give a two to three
minute professional summary about who
you
are and where you are in your career we
covered this question more in depth in
this video right here
so be sure to check it out once you can
succinctly share who you are as a
professional
it's smart to practice answering some
common behavioral based interview
questions
not sure what a behavioral-based
interview question is if you've ever
been asked a question
that begins with give me an example of
or tell me about a time when you've just
been asked one
the goal of a behavioral based interview
question is to get a better
understanding about what your level of
experience experiences working in
certain situations
and how you behaved when answering a
behavioral based interview question
one of the best strategies for
formatting your answers is to follow the
star method
star stands for situation task
action result this format sets you up to
tell a complete and coherent story
while getting to the point quickly other
common questions you can practice
answering are
what are your greatest strengths and why
do you want to work for this company
your goal when answering these questions
is to sell yourself by sharing the most
positive and relevant experience from
your work history
an interview is not the time to be
modest about sharing your
accomplishments
your potential employer wants to know
that you're the right fit
and can deliver something to the company
so you want to share examples that
demonstrate how you've been able to
deliver results in the past
in addition to some of these more
straightforward interview questions
be sure to practice a few high pressure
questions as well
try to think of a few things that you
would be uncomfortable being asked
and prepare on how you would answer them
some common high pressure questions that
you could be asked
include explaining a gap on your resume
if you have one
it could also include asking why you're
looking to leave your current company or
why you're looking to switch industries
and it can also include being asked what
your salary expectations are
these questions intimidate almost
everyone but they don't have to throw
you off in an interview
if you've practiced how to answer them
this can happen to any one of us but
it's easy
to keep the interview on track if you
just ask for some time to think
practice saying that's a great question
give me a moment to think about that
take the time to gather your thoughts
before sharing your answer a momentary
pause can be a powerful tool
to stay in control and feel confident
about the information you're sharing
before i move on to the next tip let me
know if this information is helpful by
liking and subscribing for more advice
once you've prepared to answer questions
that are directed to you
it's smart to also take a moment to
practice some questions that you can ask
in return
when there's about five to ten minutes
left at the end of an interview
it's really likely for the interviewer
to ask if you have any questions for
them
in this case it's smart to come prepared
with two to three questions that you can
ask
that will help you learn more about the
company for example you can ask what
does the typical day look like for
somebody in this role
or ask how would my performance be
measured
if you're struggling to think of
questions that you could ask it also
helps to think about
what information would you need to know
to start this job tomorrow
an additional benefit to asking
questions during the interview is that
it helps to clarify
any concerns that you might have as to
whether or not the company or the role
could be a good fit for you and as a
general rule
be sure to keep your questions
professional and focus on the company in
the position if you'd like some more
information about questions that you can
ask at the end of an interview
be sure to check out this career guide
article right here once you've prepared
for what you're going to say during an
interview
you can now turn to considering how
you're going to present yourself as the
best possible candidate
this can include focusing on details
like clothing punctuality and
application materials
in terms of what you're going to wear
take clues as to how their employees are
dressing when you're doing your company
research
and aim to dress one level above that as
a best practice
choose business casual attire next plan
to be on time
i know this can be easier said than done
but the key is to expect the unexpected
for example if you're going to be
interviewing by video
be sure to check your camera microphone
audio and your internet at least one day
before the interview
if you're planning on interviewing on
site be sure to arrive at least 15
minutes early
finally plan to come to the interview
with the materials that you need to be
successful
this can include printing out extra
copies of your resume to have on hand
or to bring a pen and notebook just in
case you'd like to take notes
now it's time to put your preparation to
the test by conducting a mock interview
a mock interview is a great tool to help
you feel more prepared
because it's going to give you the
opportunity to practice your responses
and get feedback on how you can improve
the best mock interviewers
are going to be career coaches or
professionals in your industry or field
but really anybody can be a mock
interviewer as long as they have a list
of related interview questions
and they're willing to give you honest
feedback about how you can improve your
answers
to take your mock interview to the next
level try to mimic the interviewing
environment as closely as possible
this includes dressing in the clothes
that you would wear the day of the
actual interview
bringing those extra copies of your
resume or the appended notebook we
talked about
and it can also include imitating the
interview setting
for example if your interview is going
to be on site
try to meet with your mock interviewer
in person if you're preparing for a
virtual interview
try setting up a phone or video
interview if possible
record your mock interview so that you
can review it afterward
and see how confidently you're sharing
your experience and skills
and now for the bonus tip that i
mentioned at the beginning of this video
convey confidence in what you say and do
pay attention to how you're presenting
yourself with your body language and
with your tone of voice
to ensure that you're coming across
confident poised and prepared for the
role
if you're really interested in taking a
critical look at how you're
demonstrating confidence
try to record and review your mock
interviews however in my opinion
confidence is all about a mindset
remember
interviewing is not a one-way street you
should be evaluating employers
just as much as they're evaluating you
and that's the built-in benefit of
thorough preparation
it empowers you to walk into an
interview assured of your
unique value so there you have it to
recap
my advice to help you prepare for your
next interview includes
researching the company job description
and the interviewer
then practice answers to common
interview questions
prepare two to three questions that you
can ask at the end of an interview
consider your day of presentation
conduct a mock interview
and convey confidence in what you say
and do
so that's how you can prepare for your
next interview i hope you found this
information to be helpful
and that you're able to apply it to your
next interview prep or maybe just pass
it along to somebody else who might need
it
if you like this video and you'd like to
see more like it be sure to hit the
notification bell to stay updated thank
you so much for watching
and we'll see you next time