Interview Tips

Pick out your interview outfit

What you wear to a job interview helps to make a great first impression. Pick something that looks quite formal. People expect you to be more formal at an interview, so don’t worry that you are coming across as over-dressed.

Make sure your outfit is clean and doesn’t have any creases in it.

Try it on in advance so you know it fits and makes you look good and feel great.

Check the weather. On hot days you might get sticky and sweaty on public transport, and on cold or wet days you might need an extra coat or umbrella. Whatever the weather, be prepared and keep your cool.

Know what, if any, hairstyles or accessories you want on the day of the interview so you can fix them quickly and easily. The general guide is to keep it simple.

Study your CV

You wrote your CV and already know what’s in it. However, your interviewer only knows you from your CV, and may ask you questions about it.

Can you give positive, honest reasons about why you left your last job or have a gap in your CV when you weren’t working? Can you say what you achieved in each job you put down in your CV?

This is not an exam, so you don’t need to know your CV word for word. You just need to be familiar with it.

You may want to print a copy out or save it to your phone so that you can read it through on the way to the interview.

Research the company and the job you have applied for

You are going to make the best impression if you show you care about the job you have applied for and are keen to do it well and learn new things. The interviewer may ask you what you know of the company and what the job involves, so have some answers ready that show your enthusiasm for the job and employer.

Prepare some questions to ask in advance

Your interview might ask if you have any questions. If you have one or two genuine questions to ask, make sure they show you care about getting the job and becoming part of the team. Don’t ask about salary! Instead, you could ask where you might expect to be in a year’s time if you work hard, or you could ask what the interview likes about working at the company.

Make sure you know when and where to go for your interview

Double-check the date and time of your interview, and note it down somewhere safe (like your mobile phone calendar if you have one) so it is easy to remember.

Find the directions to where you need to go in advance. It might help you to print them out. Yes, you can check them on an app like Google maps, but something might go wrong – your phone might go missing, or get broken, or run out of juice. Before the day of the interview, make sure you know what route you are going to take and how long it will take to get there.

It’s always better to plan to get there in advance. That way, if something goes wrong with your travel plans, you can still make it to the interview on time.

Practice your answers to common interview questions

There are some questions that interviewers often ask. They include:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What made you apply for the job?
• What do you know about the company?
• Why do you think you would be a great fit for the job?

Have some answers ready that show why you want this job, not just any job.

If you follow these tips, you will feel more relaxed and prepared for your job interview. Your interviewer will see the efforts you’ve made, and that is sure to help your great skills and qualities come across!