“I have inter­views com­ing up. What’s the best way for me to pre­pare?“
- Amina Yamusah ‘13

Great ques­tion, Amina! I am so glad that you asked this ques­tion.  Prepar­ing for inter­views is an absolute must!  You never want to go into an inter­view unpre­pared. Inter­view­ers will pick up on this and will cer­tainly not be impressed.  Even the most qual­i­fied job appli­cants can be turned down because of their lack of pre­pared­ness for what the inter­view will entail. Here are some impor­tant steps that you can take so that you will be ade­quately pre­pared and feel con­fi­dent on the day of your interview!

Research the orga­ni­za­tion.  You should walk into an inter­view with some basic knowl­edge of what the orga­ni­za­tion does, how well it is doing, and its stand­ing within the indus­try. Look for inter­est­ing facts about the com­pany as well cur­rent news, recent press releases, and stock trends.  It will be ben­e­fi­cial for you to find out about the company’s newest prod­ucts, projects or ser­vices. I also rec­om­mend con­nect­ing with the com­pany via Face­book and Twit­ter. This is an easy way to find out how the orga­ni­za­tion is engag­ing with the pub­lic. After you do this, iden­tify two key facts you can bring up dur­ing the inter­view and at least two ques­tions you have for the com­pany. Make sure to write them down on a piece of paper that you can bring into the inter­view. Don’t try to mem­o­rize them (you may be ner­vous and for­get all the cool stuff you learned dur­ing your research).  Finally, you should know why you want to work for the orga­ni­za­tion you are inter­view­ing for. Many inter­views often start with the ques­tion “Why do you want to work here?” Take some time to syn­the­size all that you have learned about the com­pany. What inter­ests you the most? Cre­ate a two– liner that encap­su­lates how your skills, tal­ents, and expe­ri­ence will ulti­mately serve as a future asset to the organization. 

Be pre­pared to talk about your­self.  Employ­ers want to know about you–as a per­son! Take a few moments to jot down infor­ma­tion about your edu­ca­tion, work expe­ri­ence, and key strengths that really make you unique.  When talk­ing about your edu­ca­tion, high­light some of your aca­d­e­mic expe­ri­ences, men­tion mem­ber­ships, extracur­ric­u­lar activ­i­ties, and lead­er­ship roles you might have held. Talk about a topic that you are pas­sion­ate about. Show how your expe­ri­ence thus far has helped you grow this pas­sion.  Remem­ber to let your per­son­al­ity shine through!

Know how you fit in.  Employ­ers are look­ing for the best fit for their orga­ni­za­tions. Some of the ways that you can find out how your per­sonal qual­i­ties might align with that of the com­pany you are inter­view­ing for is by eval­u­at­ing the employer’s mis­sion state­ment.  Think of per­sonal qual­i­ties in your­self that match their com­pany val­ues. Make a list of three per­son­al­ity traits that you will be sure to high­light in the inter­view. Often­times, inter­view­ers ask inter­vie­wees how they will be an asset to the orga­ni­za­tion. If you already have a list, you’ll be one step ahead.

Match skills with job descrip­tion. Make sure to review the job descrip­tion for the posi­tion you are apply­ing for before you inter­view. Reflect on the desired knowl­edge, skills, and abil­i­ties that the employer is look­ing for you. Comb your resume and past expe­ri­ence for exam­ples that show how you are qual­i­fied for the posi­tion. An easy way to do this is by cre­at­ing a list of employer require­ments, fol­lowed by a “prove– it” state­ment that high­lights your unique sell­ing points for each employer require­ment. Make sure these exam­ples are spe­cific. Also, you might want to pre­pare sto­ries that show­case how you han­dled a unique sit­u­a­tion, prob­lem, or objec­tive. Be sure to include the actions you took to resolve this prob­lem and the results accom­plished. Accom­plish­ments should be quan­ti­fied when­ever pos­si­ble. Also, remem­ber to note any spe­cial recog­ni­tion or award you received because of your work!

Set up a mock inter­view.  The career coun­selors at Career Ser­vices are a great resource for you to prac­tice all of the above.  Our coun­selors will meet with you and con­duct a “mock” inter­view. After­wards, they will give you feed­back and advice on what steps you can take to sharpen your inter­view skills. Make sure you set up an appoint­ment with one of our coun­selors, if you haven’t already.

I hope you find this infor­ma­tion use­ful, Amina. Good luck with your upcom­ing interviews!

(The infor­ma­tion above con­tains excerpts from the Pre-Interview Work­sheet writ­ten by Eva Kubu.)