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[lava]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to prepare for a job interview?  I have been to a few and I never know what to expect.  Sometimes I go online to find information on the company. Other times I role play with someone till I feel confident that I can answer any tough questions they throw at me. Any other suggestions?

[HRManager]

Hi Lava

You sound remarkably prepared - well done!  Definitely you should go on line and check out some of the company stuff.  Whilst employers do not expect you to necessarily be able to repeat their last years report and accounts verbatim they do expect candidates to have shown some interest.  Also sometimes they might ask you a question to see if you have any knowledge of the company and I note you are a recent MBA, so it might be financial.

Another thing to do is to have highlighted and think through some examples to illustrate the sort of thing they might ask - for example, I time you had to persuade someone to do something, a time you had to finish a task under time pressure etc. When you are thinking through these think about which competencies (behaviours) that you adopted which were helpful to the outcome.  You should also think about something you did that was less successful (but allowed you to learn etc) since this is a favourite question

[Lisette]

You might also like to have a quick look at an article in the HireScores.com Knowledge Centre - preparing for questions asked at interview.  And there is also an article which provides some common interview questions.

[Top Boss]

You seem to have yourself in good order already, but I think the main points are :-

- Research your potential employer in detail.

- Research your potential employment market in detail.

- Prepare some questions (they will always ask if you have any questions).

- Relax!

One other tip :-

When you feel yourself getting nervous, just think that your interviewer(s) does not know your personality, you could act like the most confident person in the world and your interviewer(s) would not know that you are really nervous.

Above all, do not be afraid to ask any questions and have no regrets after you leave the interview.

[HireScoresMark]

I agree with the above statements and it's good to hear you're taking steps to prep yourself.

Definitely do your research and some role play - but confidence and demeanor are often more important than having the 'right' answer.

Two simple tips:

1. Always back up your statements about yourself with examples - if you say you're confident, mention the public speaking you do etc....
2. Have intelligent questions to ask - not 'how much holiday time do I get' but rather questions about the opportunities to progress or where the company is heading

[netpal]

From my own experience I feel they look the confidence level of the candidate. The point is you (not you in person, you in general) should know at a good level about the job which you are applying. If you do not know an answer it is always better to say you don't know.

[freeform]

If you do not know an answer it is always better to say you don't know.

I completely agree

I'd also say the most useful thing about good preparation is your won self-econfidence as opposed to having the 'right' answer. So, do prepare but don't go so far as to start worrying about how unprepared you are - you'll never get it all right

[netpal]

From my experience I have learned that it is always better to look at the positives of your career and stress upon that but at times it will not be bad if you also mention some negatives as well. I think future employers feel happy to know in detail about you. But do not open the floodgates of questions which you can't defend .