How to interview with confidence!

One of the most common fears job seekers face is how to interview with confidence for the new job. The assumption when you go into the room is you are the only one who is nervous.

This isn’t necessarily true. While some companies use trained interviewers, other interviewers only are part of the hiring process occasionally. It is just as unnerving to interview and wonder if you are making the right decision.

Now that we have determined other people may be nervous too, you can take a deep breath and get started on your interview preparation.

Interview with Confidence Step #1 – Understand the company

You have easier access to tools today than job seekers did prior to the information age. You have Google.

• Start with familiarizing yourself with the company website, reading information on the products and services, company leadership, history, and any press releases.
• Build an understanding of their marketing so you know what they think is important for their customers to know.
• Find the company on LinkedIn and review the profiles of employees. Find out what they are promoting on their company page.
• Study them on Glassdoor.com and learn what are the salary levels, the interview process, and overall the company.
• Review other pages you find through Googling the company name. Is there a merger or acquisition coming up? Has there been positive press or negative press?
• Use CNN Money to check if they are publicly traded and find out about the company performance.

Interview with Confidence Step #2 – Understand the job

Read that job description carefully and learn what the company says this position does. Usually there is a job description that speaks specifically to that position and then there are Required Qualifications and Preferred Qualifications. Study the Required Qualifications and make yourself a list of questions and answers based on what those qualifications are. You need to be able to share information that makes you a prime candidate. Determine what other qualifications you bring to the table that would make you more valuable that the next person.

Interview with Confidence Step # 3 – Understand the Interviewers

Hopefully, the company informed you as to who will be in the room for the interview.

Go back to LinkedIn and conduct some research on the parties that will be interviewing you. Google them too.

Learn whatever you can about their background and write things that come to mind. You won’t necessarily reveal this during the interview but whenever we write something down, it is easier to recall.

Interview with Confidence Step #4 – Practice the interview

You can role play with a friend. If you go to the interview without a practice session, you may not be as well prepared as if you did some role play with someone else. Learn more about my packages (two of which include interview coaching)

Preparation is key to how you interview with confidence. Exuding confidence in an interview makes you much more capable of handling whatever they throw at you in the interview. Don’t forget to collect business cards so you can send thank you notes to everyone in the room.

Need help? Hire me, Julie Walraven, Certified Master Resume Writer. I can take the pain out of writing your resume and even make it fun. We work together to discover those forgotten contributions and position you to win your next role. Learn more.