You did it, your resume was selected, you have passed the phone interview and now the recruiter would like to meet you face to face to further discuss the job offer and your candidacy. Congrats! Now you need to woo them in person and to do so here are 6 steps that you can follow to be prepared on your big day.
- Be sure to mark the correct date, time, and address
As soon as you get off the phone with the recruiter mark down the time and date for the interview somewhere you will be able to find it (your phone, agenda, notebook…) I also like to add to that list the name of the person I will be meeting as well as their phone number. You never know if you will have a delay on the day of the interview (illness, traffic …) and fussing around to find their contact information is unnecessary additional stress. Often times, recruiters will send you an email with all of the information, once you receive it check to see that what you have the same date and time as they do.
As for the location, if the offices are in a part of town that you are unfamiliar with it is best to do a “test drive” there to locate the facilities and also to see how long it will take you to get there from your home to not be stressed on the day of.
- Find an outfit and make sure it’s clean!
First impressions are key in recruitment and whether we like to admit it or not, a lot of that first impression is based on looks. Especially if you are a student and not used to dressing professionally, be sure to try on the outfit you plan to wear to see if you need to take it to the cleaners or buy a new tie or skirt.
The night before it is a good idea to put your outfit out and iron what needs to be to not have to worry about doing it in the morning. It goes without saying that you should also take a shower, wear deodorant, clean your nails and hair (for ladies have fresh nail polish or none at all) and wear a light perfume (or none at all) on the day of the interview. 😉
- Research the company
Your first point of research should be your interviewer – most people are on LinkedIn nowadays and it is a great tool to get access to someone’s work experience. Look at where they went to school, their past work experiences, it might even turn out that you know someone in common or were in the same university program – this will be valuable information to use during the interview. Some of you might be wondering if it is not “stalker-ish” to look at someone’s LinkedIn profile before the interview. The truth is that most recruiters will look at yours, so why not you look at theirs as well? It also shows interest and that you have prepared for the interview and are therefore taking the process seriously.
Your second point of research should be the company itself – while reading the company website is a good start, do not limit yourself to just that. You can also look at all the social media outlets we all use (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube…). If the company is big enough, chances are they will also use all of these websites. Wikipedia is also a good place to find information about the history of the company. Glassdoor is also a good website to check out that will give you insights on what it is like to work for the company by showcasing employee and candidate testimonial and rankings on various subjects (from salary ranges to company culture).
The best option would be, of course, to contact someone from the company prior to the interview that you might have some sort of common ground with. With LinkedIn you can easily have access to the people that are present employees and that, for example, went to the same school as you. Why not try to reach out to them and see if they are willing to give you some insider tips before your big meet?
- Prepare yourself for common interview questions
You know that some questions that are bound to come up: “Tell me about yourself”, “Why do you want to come work for us?”, “Why are you a good candidate for this role” etc… If you type into Google “common interview questions” you will come up with a list of websites explaining what questions to prepare and how to answer them. Here is an example of such a list.
- Prepare questions to ask the recruiter at the end of the interview
Another thing to prepare beforehand are the questions that you would like to ask at the end of the interview. Asking questions at the end is a necessity, it shows motivation and genuine interest in the role and the company. You can ask about the position, for example: “What would be a typical day in this position?” or about the company: “Would you say that departments interact often or not?” Remember to keep the questions as close to the position at hand as possible. If you want to ask a more personal question, like “Why did you choose to come work for this company?” try to make this the last question you ask as a way to finish on a more personal note. Also, judge beforehand if your interviewer will be receptive to this sort of questions – some people will love it others not so much. If you feel that the person is a bit “uptight” best not to ask.
- Print your resume and bring it with you the day of the interview
Although it is very likely that the recruiter will have your resume with him, you never know and it shows that you are prepared to bring a copy of your resume printed. If you made adjustments to your resume between when you first applied and the day of the interview (especially if the process has been a long one and that you have started a new volunteering gig for example), make sure to bring a copy and to mention that you have updated it.
What do you do when you are preparing for an interview?
Please let me know below 🙂
-Pauline
Originally published on the Parisian interview coach on March 15th 2016.
My HR Thoughts 