How To Prepare For a Job Interview (With Samples And Templates)

“Have you seen our website?”

It is shocking that less than 5% of interviewees answer in the affirmative to this simple enough, inevitable (and easy-to-do) ice-breaker, in most job interviews. This means that most job interviewees start on the wrong foot. Are you one of these? Are you anxious about that big job interview tomorrow? Will you be able to do well?

Yes, indeed, you can do it. Cracking a job interview can be easy, provided you understand what it means, what it is trying to see in you, and HOW you maintain calm and a quiet self-confidence that radiates authority.

Essentially, an interview is meant to test a candidate’s views and whether these align with the company’s outlook of, and experience with the world. That is all there is to any job interview.

The first tip to do this well is:

T1. Keep the use of ‘I’ to a minimum. Use ‘We’ or ‘Us.’

This blog proposes to establish a clear link between job interview performance and the ability to clearly get your viewpoint across. It helps, of course, if your worldview and perceptions of issues match that of the interviewer but this is not a necessary condition to bag that coveted job.

Interviews are also necessary because these allow the recruiter to gauge your response to stress and the ability to handle the unknown. An ideal candidate would make it a point to exhibit these traits, at some point, during the interview. A tip to exhibit this serene trait is:

T2. Never answer a question without pausing for a second or two to understand what it means.

At this point, be aware that you need to frame an engaging job application that will, first, get you that interview call. Download SlideTeam’s best-in-class job application templates with a click here.

Another key to cracking the interview is to take it as a conversation where you can never lose. At the most, you risk losing a job that you never had in the first place. This ‘Nothing to lose’ mindset will make you fearless and allow you to be more authentic.

There are five major domain areas, where this blog is the ultimate guide in (works for both in-person and remote versions) helping you get through the toughest of job interviews. These are:

Showcasing technical skills required for the job
How to transmit the ‘can-do’ attitude to the interviewers or the panel of interviewers
Proving that you have the rare, but much-valued, skill of following instructions without taxing the mind of the instructor or making them feel that they would be better off doing the work themselves.
The ability to mold yourself according to the people and things around you.
The willingness to face tough questions at any stage during the interview, or at the workplace from any of the stakeholders.

THREE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BLOG

R1: Know the 11 mistakes/tips (marked with Ts) to avoid during a job interview. Two have been shared already (text in green).

R2: Learn that to say, “I don’t know,” is a huge PLUS in getting you that job. Internalize ways to doing it well, with a smile.

R3: Commit fully to using three must-have sentences (marked as Ss in the blog) during your job interview (text in orange).

The elaboration of the R1, R2, and R3 is interspersed in the blog itself (as your treasure trail). Find it, cherish it, and internalize it to add that X-factor to your job interview preparation. You’ll crack it at the first chance you get, or ace the Nth career change within minutes of the interview’s beginning. It is not wizardry, just years of experience guiding you.

More formally, here’s the Table of Contents that the blog follows:

Introduction
Professional Experience
Education, Personal Interests, and Hobbies
Research the company and the job position
Skills and Qualities
Practice common interview questions
Conclusion: Well Begun is Half Done

1. INTRODUCTION: HANDLING ‘ABOUT ME’ WITH CARE

This comprehensive resource on Job Interview provides you with the agenda and the training to actualize your potential, communicate your commitment, and crack that job interview. Click here to access these templates.

There are millions of ways to introduce yourself, but the key thing is, always, to not sound too pompous and full of yourself. The idea is to make sure you showcase how you are aligned to the vision of the company or the person interviewing you.

S1. It is a pleasure to have the chance to interview with you; something, a lot of individuals will envy me for. If nothing else, that makes me feel like a winner already.

As evidence of your preparation, please make sure that the introduction is fresh, and has an element of spontaneity in it. Have several versions prepared, and decide on one, minutes before you enter the interview hall.