How to Prepare For Your Interview Employment

Finding a new job has always been difficult. These days it’s more difficult than ever — or even to land an interview. But even though you’ve managed to secure that all-important interview you’ve still got a lot of work to do. Now you’ve got to prepare for your interview.

It can be difficult (and maybe even a little frustrating) to prepare for the interview — especially if you haven’t had an interview for a long time. It can be even more stressful if you feel very passionate about the opportunity. But while it’s stressful, preparing for an interview doesn’t have to be hard. There are some quick steps you can take that will put you ahead of the competition and get you properly prepared for meeting with your interviewer. 

At Building Better Opportunities, we specialise in providing our clients with employment advice designed to help them feel safe and secure in their jobs. As part of that, we’ve put together this article with some key steps for preparing for your interview. Follow them and you’ll be well on your way.

Research

Make sure you take some time to research the company you’re interviewing with. Take a look at their website and make some notes. 

Start with the About Us page and try to get a feel for the company’s history. Try to find out when they were founded and any important dates. If you can quote important dates and facts about the company back to your hiring manager during the interview, they’re more likely to remember you and invite you to the next stage of the process.

If you can’t find any of that information on the company’s website, take a look at Companies House. This is a registry that all companies in the UK have to sign up to. Here, you’ll find information such as the company’s upper management and date of incorporation. Even if you’ve managed to find out some information about the company, you should still take a look at Companies House and other sources. By using more than one source for your research, you’re showing your hiring manager that you’re willing to put extra effort into things — which they love to see!

From there, take a look at the company’s social media pages. Most companies these days maintain some form of social media presence, whether it be on Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin, and you can learn a lot by taking a look at their pages. For example, you can learn about the company’s recent history and the company’s work culture. You can also find out about your future co-workers and see if you have anything in common — maybe you used to play football with your hiring manager’s brother? 

You’ll only learn this information by doing research, and it really can help you during the interview. At the very least, it’ll put a face on the company, and make the interview less stressful.

Learn How To Answer Their Questions

Most hiring managers tend to ask variations of the same questions. They’ll ask about your work history, about you, about why you left your previous job etc. These questions have become so common they’re almost cliche at this point. But that’s good for you. Because these questions are so common, it’s easy to prepare for them ahead of time. All you have to do is a quick google search for common interview questions. Then you should take some time — 2 to 3 hours — and run through them, either by yourself or with someone you trust.

Your hiring manager might ask you a question about your work history or ask you to describe a specific example from your life. For this specific kind of question, you should be ready with a list of prepared examples and stories – preferably one that you’ve already gone over with someone you trust. By having these prepared, you’ll be showing your hiring manager that you’ve dealt with similar situations in the past, that you can deal with them in the future, and that you’re ready to jump into the role now.

Remember though: your answers shouldn’t be robotic, and you’re not reading from a script. Be prepared to go on a tangent, and don’t be afraid if your answers are long. As long as you can back up your answers, you shouldn’t have a problem.

Think About Your Questions

At the end of the interview, the hiring manager will ask you if you have any questions. Always ask questions here. Not only does it show that you’re engaged with the company and the hiring manager, but it also gives you further insight into the company.

As with the previous section, your questions should be prepared ahead of time. You should have more than one prepared, just in case one of your questions is answered during the interview. Generally speaking, it’s best to prepare 3 – 5 beforehand, with an additional 2 as substitutes. Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with your hiring manager after they’ve answered your questions — your hiring manager will be more likely to remember you if they’ve had an engaging conversation with you.

Dress For The Job You Want

The days of automatically wearing your formal best for an interview are long gone. While you should dress professionally for your interview, it’s important to keep in mind that this means different things for different industries.

For some industries, you should still wear your most formal clothes. But this isn’t universal. For some industries, you should wear something less formal – a suit without a tie, a bright dress, jeans and a t-shirt. An interview in the finance industry, for example, would probably require a very formal dress code — a suit or a conservative dress. But wearing something that formal for an interview for a job working retail would just come off as stuffy.

To find out what clothes you should wear, make sure to take some time to do some research. If you’re applying through an agency, speak to your recruiter and ask for their opinion. They’ll have a lot of experience with this type of thing and know just how you should dress.

Relax

Interviews can be very stressful, but you shouldn’t let yourself get out of shape about it. It’s important that you go into your interview well-rested and as relaxed as possible. To do this, make sure you go to sleep early the night before and take a few minutes before the interview to centre yourself. By doing this, you’ll be able to go into the interview with confidence.

Contact Building Better Opportunities Today 

We specialise in providing bespoke employment and welfare advice in Stoke-On-Trent, and we can help you with preparing for interviews, claiming benefits and much more. 

To find out more about what we can do to help, contact Building Better Opportunities today and book your one-to-one appointment.