Ace the job interview - A checklist

Everyone wants to do well in the interview. Some don’t know how to do it and some are over confident. When one does not prepare, the end result in both the cases is an outcome based on chance. If we need to increase our chance to succeed in the interview game, then we need to know, learn, prepare and play this game well. The interview is also like any other game. The better get at this game, the chances of success increase. Good thing about interviews is that we can strengthen our skills with practice and improve our ability to present ourselves confidently.

If you are early in your career stage then you need to know what questions will be asked and how to prepare. What is the right approach and avoid common mistakes. You will need to learn what makes a right or wrong response? Know the questions and learn dos’ and don’ts. If you are able to do this step then you have moved up the ladder in the interview game.

Knowing is good but not enough! Career experts point out that very few candidates take the process seriously, they do not prepare at all. They simply lack preparation. Hiring is not only about job knowledge skills or your education. The job skills, education and your background does matter but how you present yourself, your responses matter more than anything else in the interview situation. This fact is surprising to most of the candidates. How can something matter more than the job skills? The good thing about responses is that we can learn correct responses and these can be improved to be more impactful. The key to improvement is to practice your responses.

In fact there is no substitute to good practice. Practice requires discipline and determination. Allocate a dedicated time slot to learn and practice the questions on a regular basis. This effort will help you hone your interview skills. This will help you know what are the common questions, how to answer well, know the dos and don’ts.