Basic research interview
Get as much information as possible on the interview.
- Try to know who will be interviewing you, the manager with whom you will be working or a HR rep and what do they expect from you.
- Get the dress code. Dress yourself better than what is suggested. A professional suit is always preferred. Don't attend an interview as if you are going to a class.
- Know the directions to the interview location. Start a bit early. Keep a contact number with you to tell the interviewers if you are stuck in the traffic. If you arrive late and look stressful, don't expect your interview to go well.
- If you don't know the job description, call them to know the job responsibilities.
A fast Web search of about an hour helps you field well any questions in the interview. You may get the job description as well. Search the company's Web site or any other usual corporate Web sites and get information such as:
- How big is the company? Find out its annual sales and number of employees etc.
- Know the company's products or services
- Search for recent news about the company such as launch of its new product, a press release, a media interview with its CEO. All this will prepare you well for any discussion in the interview.
- If the prospective company is a public one, look at the boilerplate at the bottom of its press release and you can get a lot from it.
You must be able to answer usual interview questions. Your answers can be articulated better by a story about yourself. Write down and remember three or four achievement stories. Don't hesitate to tell them how you are proud of a particular accomplishment at school or work. These stories should be able to showcase qualities of judgment, initiative, teamwork or leadership. Better to quantify what you have achieved—such as increase in sales by say 20 per cent or so, cutting the customer call time, cutting the delivery time so that customers get their job done in two days instead of earlier four or five days.
Accomplishment stories not related to your work are good and sometimes better even; talk about how you volunteered for a local body or say about how you overcame a challenge there.
Achievement stories make the interviewers remember you. You can turn them into compelling sales points
Go to bed early
After arranging your briefcase you carry with you for the interview, go to sleep and get good rest. Start early; you don't want to waste your time to get a place for parking and arrive tense for the interview.
