Interview Preparation Ideas.

Some interview invitations come with a few days notification and most job seekers get thrown off balance due to inadequate preparation time.

Image: Interview preparation ideas for job seekers.

Using your time wisely by  getting the important things done first, will reduce chances of failure. These are some ideas on the necessary things to do within the available but limited preparation time:

Visit the company’s website (if any) and read up on all the latest news. You may be asked questions on the organization’s projects, businesses, hierarchy, meetings and more. These information is readily available on every company’s website. Find the company’s web address by googling it online.

Do you know what skills the company values? It’ll be an advantage if you visit the company’s career page to gain knowledge of the specific skills required for the job. This will help you prepare on how to emphasize those skills in your career history.

Do a research on the company’s missions and goals. There’ll always be a section on their website that shows its mission statement. Memorize it if you can.

Know your interviewer. Oftentimes, the company provides information about your interviewer in the email requesting you to come in for assessment. If not, you may politely ask, and research on the name through LinkedIn and Twitter. You’ll get to know him/her more for a better connection which, in turn, facilitates your chance of landing the job.

Still ahead of the interview, you are advised to prepare stories that perfectly illustrate your skill-set. “Concrete is better that abstract,” they say, when it comes to wowing your employer. People tend to remember stories easier that direct information. Tell a short and precise story rather than talk about experience.

Preparing the stories demand that you rehearse them by listening to yourself. If you do it without stuttering or forgetting the points, you stand a better chance at passing the interview. You may also record yourself speaking so as to discover where you need an improvement.

Work on your social media profiles. This should be done by every job seeker as employers are known to track potential employees through these outlets, most times, before giving interview invitations. Delete tweets that can put you off the employer’s whitelist like: political fanaticism, violence, gangsterism, sex, alcoholism or hate. To be on a safer side, delete your social media profiles a short time before the interview if you can’t change the privacy settings on some tweets away from public view.