10 Tips to Prepare for a Successful Job Interview

A successful job interview begins long before the first question is answered. You must spend time preparing yourself for the interview to ensure that you present yourself confidently and perform well. In the time of a shrinking job market, there is more competition than ever before so even the smallest mistake or mishap may prevent you from landing the position that you have applied for. This is why attention to detail and proper preparation is essential.

1 Do your homework

Your job interview process begins once you have scheduled an interview. Hopefully this allows you a few days to prepare, but the majority of these tasks can be completed within a few hours before a job interview. Begin by studying the history, product, mission statement, leadership and recent news regarding the company. Dig deeper than just the overview available on the home page of the company's web site and find up to date and relevant information that will reflect that you have truly researched the company if you are asked.

2 Prepare to be questioned

Prepare yourself to answer questions. I have found that there are always a few general questions that you should prepare yourself for. These questions almost always seem to be asked in an interview in some form or another. Choose at least three solid strengths about yourself to answer these questions with and be prepared for the questions to be asked in any number of different ways.

• What do you know about the company?
• Why are you applying for this job?
• What did you like about your previous employer?
• What didn't you like about your previous employer?
• Why should we choose you for this position?

In addition, there are many other questions and forms of questions that can be asked during an interview. Take some time to search the internet and review a few web sites for some additional questions. Try to narrow the scope of your search by being specific about the field that the job is in. A position in the information technology field will be more technically oriented than a position in a customer service field. Likewise is true for an accounting position or an engineering position.

3 Practice what you preach

Once you have a list of questions and your list of answers, practice your answers several times. This does not mean that you should memorize the answers, but you should be able to list the three key points of each answer without fumbling. Practice your answers out loud - if you do not do this before the interview, the sound of your own voice may "scare" or "surprise" you. Better yet, practice with a friend or family member and have them mix up the questions. Don't practice them in the same order every time, this also helps to prepare your brain to be flexible and adaptable to any situation. Finally, don't just answer each question immediately. Take your time and practice a rhythm of pause, breathe, and then answer. This will help to buy you time to think about an answer if the interviewer throws you a curb ball. It also helps to steady your voice and calm you - even on the questions that you have practiced.

Practice "closing" an answer. This can be more difficult than it sounds and nervousness makes it easy to fall in the trap of closing every answer the same way which is repetitive. It helps to restate the question as the closing sentence of your answer such as, "...which is why I am interested in this position" or "which is what I like the most about my previous employer."

4 Any questions?

Formulate questions about the position, training or company before the interview. There almost always seems to be a "question and answer period" in an interview that allows the interviewee an opportunity to ask questions, however this is seldom used. More often than not, the interviewee is only interested in surviving the interview and minimizing their time under pressure so they tend to ask few if any questions. Try to formulate a few questions about the company, position or training and be aware if these questions are answered during the interview. In addition, I prefer to avoid questions about things such as benefits and vacation and concentrate only on the job itself.

5 Nose jungles, ear crops and the uni-brow

Grooming and personal appearance are important in the interview process. While you may not be applying for a modeling job, you certainly don't want to show up with mussed up hair and broccoli in your teeth. One or two days before the interview get a haircut. The one to two days before allows you time to recover from a bad haircut if necessary and won't allow too much growth before the interview. In addition, the day before the interview, spend a few minutes in the mirror to groom any facial hair, eyebrows, ear and nose hair. Spend a few minutes clipping and cleaning your fingernails and filing off any hangnails or jagged edges. Moisturize your hands as well. This may all sound a bit strange, but you don't want the interviewers staring at dangling nose hair or a uni-brow and you don't want to present a cracked, dry and dirty hand to shake if you're trying to impress your potential future employee.

6 Holy jeans? Holy cow!

The night before the interview, choose the appropriate clothing for the position. For any professional environment, a tie is considered the minimum with a jacket being the norm. Ensure that the jacket, slacks, shirt and tie are clean and pressed. Use a steam iron to remove any wrinkles and to freshen up the creases. Go over the suit with a lint brush. Don't over accessorize, choose a modest watch and limit rings to only one. Clean and polish your shoes and check to make sure that your socks match (not only in color but to the rest of your clothes - black pants make blue socks stick out like a sore thumb). Colors can be important, if interviewing for a professional office job, I prefer gray, black or navy blue suit, white shirt and a subdued tie. If the position is more of a sales or public relations job, blue with an bright tie and colorful shirt or pinstripes (if you can pull this off) can be effective as well. Finally, place a hanky in your front right pocket. A hanky can come in handy for any number of things from a runny nose to some spilled coffee and often impress people when you present one. The purpose for placing it in your front right pocket is to give it a quick squeeze before you shake someone's hand - this helps prevent presenting them a balmy, tacky hand.

7 What to take

Organize your papers before the interview. I like to bring a folder with me and in this folder I include:

• A pad of paper for taking notes
• A pen (that I test to make sure it writes)
• Extra copies of my resume
• Extra copies of my cover letter
• Extra business cards with my name, phone number and e-mail address
• A full list of my previous job history including addresses, salary and job description
• A full list of references
• A full list of my education history including addresses, area of study and degree obtained
• Appropriate supporting documentation such as diplomas, degrees, or certifications

8 Final prep

Before the interview, eat something light such as toast or crackers. Don't eat something that will overfill you and make you drowsy or that is spicy or strong (like onions or garlic) but something to quell a growling, nervous stomach. Be sure to brush your teeth and carry some breath mints. Take it easy on cologne, this is not the 5:00 cocktail hour on Friday night, so as a general rule, use ½ a spritz of cologne. Try to use the restroom before you enter the office of the interview. Finally, turn off your cell phone or pager. Don't put it on silent, don't put it on vibrate, just turn it off. Better yet, leave it in the car and then you will have one less distraction and one less thing to fool with.

9 Introducing the contestants

As you enter the interview room, greet and shake hands with each person on the interview panel before you sit down. Ensure that your handshake is a firm grasp, pump the hand once or twice and then loosen your grip and withdraw your hand slowly. This is the same for people of either sex. Look each person in the eyes as you shake their hand and present a warm smile and a brief verbal greeting. After you greet the interview panel, position your folder and pen off to one side and take your seat. Sit in the chair with both feet firmly on the ground and place your left hand on your left knee and your right hand on your right knee. Body language is important so sit your shoulders back and your back straight. Try to keep your hands on your knees throughout the interview as this will help prevent nervous twitches such as bouncing a leg or tapping fingers.

10 I'll take job interview questions for 1,000 please

When someone is talking, either presenting information to you or asking you a question, face that person and make eye contact with them. If they ask you a question, even if you know the answer, pause briefly, breathe and then answer the question. This will set up a rhythm and afford you time to think should you come across a question that you haven't practiced or that requires thought. Think about the question and your answer and be sure that you are answering the question and not just rambling on. Be careful of talking too much as this will tend to take you off the topic and make it difficult to close your answer.

Keep your answers succinct, detailed and precise. Speak in a loud, clear voice, this is part of the reason that you practice. You don't want to have the listeners strain to hear your answer.

When you have completed the interview, take the time to thank each person for their time and for the opportunity to interview. Be sure that you have identified the time period that the employer will be making the decision and insure that they have your correct contact information. Now comes the hard part...waiting for the call back.