How to Prepare for an Interview

Those butterflies in the stomach while preparing to attend an interview is relatively common. However, the sleepless nights and nervous chills due to anxiety build-up can be reduced by the confidence that comes when you know you are preparing for your next interview in the right direction.

Best Ways to Prepare for an Interview

Nobody wants to come across that dreadful sentence, “Unfortunately, we would not be able to proceed with your candidature ahead.” Therefore, let’s explore the sure-shot ways to excel in your upcoming interview.

Ensure having the most in-demand skills

The success of your interview is directly proportional to your overall personality; however, the most critical aspect of it is the skill sets you possess concerning the job role you are applying for. It takes into account the entire spectrum of the skills, from the most basic ones to niche-specific skills.

There is a probability of you mastering specific skills and not having a hands-on experience with the most in-demand skills of the domain. In this case, it is always advisable to ensure the most common skills, if not the expert-level of execution.

Research the Industry

You might be a Business Analyst, for instance, in the ed-tech industry where you have an experience of five years (let’s suppose). Now, if you want to switch your sector to healthcare and pharmaceuticals, the skills you would require would be significantly different; maybe not in terms of fundamentals but software, operations, etc.

Hence it would help if you always do some research about the industry beforehand, the execution of the said role in the industry, etc. This boosts your success rate and helps you effectively prepare for an interview.

A glance at the organisation

The most effective way to crack an interview is to anticipate the interview questions. You can do so when you know the organisation you are interviewing for. Quite often, it gets super-easy to ace the interview when you can envision a structure of the interview by brainstorming the most probable questions relevant to the role.

For example, the software, applications, and so on the company works on. Some might stick to the MS suite for their operations, while others may involve uncommon tools. Therefore, you can be prepared for the questions flung at you without being snappy.

Show what you got!

No matter how talented you are, if you fail to show what you got, you lose it! Presenting yourself in the best way possible is imperative for having success in your interview.

Your skills should be demonstrated in such a way that it speaks volumes for themselves. For this, you can have a crisp, concise pointer where you exhibited that ‘XYZ’ quality in the organisation (s) you had worked in the past. Not only does this show that you have a skill, but also an illustrious history associated with it.

Be honest; bluffing your interviewer won’t help you!

Never try to play it foul in front of your interviewer because even if you succeed in the interview, you will land up leading nowhere. While preparing for an interview, one of the essential tips for interviewees is to practice sounding integral and honest in your responses. If your interviewer asks you a question from the notes you haven’t ever hit in your life, don’t respond just because you want to be seen as intelligent.

Always remember, even if you wrap a crap in a linen cloth, it remains a crap. Answering all wrong with confidence won’t really be helpful. Hence, admit that you don’t know the answer to the question you know nothing about. This illustrates your personality.

Look professional, sound professional!

Believe it or not, how you look or act appeals to your interviewer. You don’t even have to utter a word, and your personality would be unfurled before your interviewer just by how you dress up or behave. It is excellent to practice how to sound professional and decent while giving an interview.

Consider saying, “May I say something?” rather than interrupting out of turn, or asking, “Could you please repeat yourself?” rather than “Repeat it.” This shows that you have fundamental decorum of the professional world.

Clothes, too, play a crucial role in structuring the depth of your personality before an interviewer, even if it is in an online interview. Never wear flashy clothes or jazzy shirts. Remember you are going to attend an interview and not a ballroom party.