Interview Preparedness Guide

An interview can cause stress and panic. You may spend hours on Google searching for what to wear, what to ask during the interview or what to do after the interview. Here’s a guide to help you prepare for an interview and reduce your stress level.

By preparing your interview outfit in advance, you can help ease the morning stress of worrying about what you’re going to wear. Also, this gives you the opportunity to iron, hem, sew on buttons or lint roll your outfit. What you’re wearing to the interview should correlate with the organization you’re interviewing at. A corporate law firm is going to have a very professional dress code and you should wear a neat suit. However, for a more relaxed organization you may consider losing the tie. If you’re unsure about what the company dress code is, do some research on its web site or social media sites. It’s always safer to dress more professional than casual.

The most important part of an interview is doing your homework. You should research the organization: its products/services, competitors, recent news, etc. Try to learn a broad spectrum of information about the organization. Another homework assignment is to research the interviewer(s) as well. Look at their biography on the organization’s website and their LinkedIn profile(s). You can try to find things you have common: school/employment background, hobbies or interests.

Always ask questions! You should prepare questions ahead of time, but also be ready to ask about topics that come up in the conversation. There are many internet resources that have questions you should consider asking during the interview. A few common questions you could ask are:

• “How would you define success in this role?”
• “What does a typical day look like in this role?”
• “What are the next steps in the hiring process?”
• “Do you have any questions about my background or qualifications?”

After the interview, take a breath! If you were nervous or stressed, take a few minutes to relax. Gather your thoughts about the interview and write down a few notes to remember for your next interview. Next, you should complete any tasks the interviewer(s) might have requested. This could be sending writing samples, references or any other information/materials. Within 48 hours of the interview, be sure to send a thank you email or card to the interviewer(s). If you need help with the wording, there are plenty of sample thank you notes on the internet. Avoid writing from the example word for word, make sure it sounds like you and addresses any pertinent details from the interview.

Now go land your dream internship!