Although getting ready to face a slew of job interviews can sound a little overwhelming, there are actually a few basic interview tips for recent graduates that can make the whole process much less daunting. By preparing yourself before you walk into your prospective employer's office, you can drastically improve the odds that you will stand out from the other applicants in a positive way and be the one to land the job. Related:Smart Job Interview Advice No One Ever Tells You Here are a few interview tips for recent graduates:
1. Do some research
Do a little bit of reconnaissance work on both the company itself and the industry that you are looking to enter into. The industry-wide research will pay off no matter where you are interviewing and you're going to want to know some basic information about any company that you are hoping to work for anyway. Look into the marketplace as a whole and see where your interviewer's company stands in it, find out the names of the big players in the business and within the industry as a whole. These are topics of conversation that often come up in interviews and this kind of knowledge is a good show of initiative to a potential employer.2. Know your
Create an inventory of your best qualities and some real-world examples of them. If you have exceedingly good time-management skills, be prepared to discuss how that could be beneficial to the company you're interviewing with and how you've used it to complete projects early in the past. Whatever your strong suits are, it's important that you're able to communicate them to your interviewer in a clear and concise manner. Outright bragging is a bad idea, but being aware of and able to sell your best qualities is imperative in a job interview.
3. Do a practice run
A practice run-through with friends can be a great way to work out the kinks in your interviewing skills. Get a couple of your other job-seeking friends from school together and put one another through some mock interviews. It may feel a little silly at first, but this exercise can really help job candidates relax and be more prepared for a real interview. Job interviewers will try to get a grasp on how well you work with others, as well as how you face difficulties in general. Some questions that you might be asked are:- "What made you decide on your college?"
- "What was your favorite/least favorite part of that experience?"
- "Describe your major challenges there and how you worked to meet them."
- "What are your career goals for the long-term? How do you plant to meet them?"
- "Tell us what your ideal job/boss would be like and why?"
