For a lot of people, preparing for a Job Interview can be a grueling process.  This is unfortunate because it does not have to be.  By following a few basic steps, you can streamline your interview process and focus the lion’s share of your time and energy on the actual interview.  Here, are our tips on preparing for a job interview.  

1.  Research the company.  Do a search on the web to find out what you can about the company.  Use Hoover’s, Vault and other services to get more specific information.  Then, compare this with what you can find on the company’s website and annual reports.  

2.  Review your credentials for the Job.  Take a look at your resume and the job description.  Start making notes on how you match up and be sure to be able to talk about how everything on your resume.  Where appropriate, make the explanation have a connection to the current job. 

3.  Get your papers together.  Send out requests for college transcripts, firm up your references, proofread your writing sample, and bring copies of everything to the interview. 

4.  Go shopping.  A new shirt, tie or pants suit can help you in your interview by giving you more confidence.  Take a look at your current clothes and see if you need an upgrade.  Also, check to see if you have additional dress shirts.  It is a good idea to have a number of dress shirts already pressed that you will use only for interviews.  This will reduce the need for any last minute ironing or shopping. 

5. Practice answering interview questions. Practice, Practice, Practice. There is no substitute for practicing answering interview questions. While practicing, you want to get to a point where you are giving natural answers and not just giving off your memorized response. Once you get to the point where you feel natural talking about a question like you would telling a friend a story that happened over the weekend, it will be time to move on to other questions. 

6.  Have a friend interview you.  When you are done practicing the interview questions, have a friend interview you.  Choose a friend who will give you honest and helpful advice on the interview.  This will help you reshape some of your answers by seeing how they react to your responses. 

7.  Create a take-away for the interviewers.  By using the job description, make a bulleted list (supplemental narrative) detailing how certain aspects in your background help you meet each area of the job description.  This will give you the opportunity to provide them with additional examples that were not discussed during the interview.  In addition, it adds further credibility to you because it shows you came prepared.   

8.  All documents handed to interviewers must be on top quality paper.  Make your copies of your resume, writing sample, supplemental narrative, and references on a high quality paper.  Choose a conservative paper color of either white or off-white.  This can be found at any number of copy stores. 

9.  Plan your schedule so it lightens up the day before the interview.  Basically you want to ensure you are not burning the midnight oil the day before the interview.  Plan your schedule so all your work will be done before the final day before the interview.  This last day should be used to simply relax.  Any work that is done should be only to tie up any loose ends. 

After you have gone through this list and the actual interview, be sure to plan some time to review how it went and to take a little time for yourself.  It is tempting to start preparing for the next interview immediately; however, it is wiser to take some time for reflection of the first interview and to get away from the process for an evening.  This will allow you to learn from your interview and make you a better interviewee for future interviews.  In addition, it will let you come back rejuvenated for the next step of the interview process.

*To find out what is the most important job interview tip of all, take a look at job interview tip.