It is obviously very exciting to receive a job interview call or email after you have been distributing your resume around like newspapers. Your heart jumps with a mixture of joy, expectation and apprehension. This is a good time to professionally prepare for that interview. There are some useful steps that you may take to make this preparation and that will infuse a certain confidence in you to face the interview.
Let’s examine what first steps we should take when that phone call bears the good news:
1. Write down day/ time:
As soon as you receive the notification for an interview call, make a point to note down the exact day and time immediately. If it’s an email, you should separate it away in your ‘important’ folder so that it is not lost in your other emails by your friends telling you about their extended vacation in the Bahamas. Mark the day and date on a kitchen calendar if possible. It’s not unheard of about people mixing up their dentist’s appointment with a job interview. As an added insurance, tell someone close to you about the schedule. They might be able to remind you of it in the unlikely event of your overlooking the event.
2. Look up the location on a map:
Unless you are already familiar with the place of interview, please look it up as soon as possible on a map. It is a good idea to look it up on Google Maps and I would go as far as visiting Google’s street view, if available in your country, to have a look at the office building. Not only this view gives you an idea of the place you will be going to, but you can also calculate the exact distance and time required to reach the place on the interview day. These simple steps give a physical shape to the whole interview process and are helpful in your preparation.
3. Set up transport:
Never leave your transport arrangements to the last moment. If you’ll be driving to the interview location in your car, make sure it is in good running condition and you have that oil leak fixed that you have been putting off recently. Cars have a knack of going down on the most crucial of times.
If you’ll be using public transport, make sure to check the schedule of the bus or train you’ll be taking as your city’s transport company might have readjusted them since the last time you rode them. Check the start times for public transport and how much time it takes to reach your venue. The research done in the previous step (Google Maps) would come in handy here. Try to ride the train/bus that would leave one scheduled time earlier than the one that would reach your destination at the exact time. Road constructions may also prove to be an obstacle in your time schedules.
Finally, always make sure to arrange alternative transport in advance in case your car breaks down or the transit employees decide to go on strike on your dream day.
4. Files and folders:
Now that all arrangements have been made to reach your destination in time smoothly, you should turn to other important preparations. At first opportunity, go through that pile of papers on your desk or drawer and pull out all the relevant papers related to that particular interview. That includes the job ad, your certifications and relevant documents. Put them all in a file or folder and neatly arrange them in order.
Do not leave this to the last day, as you may find out on the day before the interview that your mom cleaned your drawer out for you and you can’t find the relevant papers. Now she is away to your cousin’s for overnight, and when you call her she doesn’t seem to remember where she put away your ‘pile’ of papers!
5. Clothes:
It is only when you receive your job interview call that you realize you have only two days or two weeks to prepare. So the first preference always is to keep a set of interview worthy formal clothes ready at all times when you start job hunting. If you don’t have them ready, dive into your closet as soon as you finish the call informing you about the interview and start arranging the required set of clothes.
If a piece of clothing is to be given to the dry-cleaner, make double sure about the delivery times. The owner of the laundry may suddenly decide to go away to Ukraine to visit his sick brother and the untrained caretaker might misplace your clothes. At home, never assume that nice tie to be in its place in the drawer as your three year old might have used it to polish his dirty fire truck clean!
6. Employer research:
Finally to the most important part after you receive your interview call. Pull out all the information about the company that has invited you for a job interview, including the job ad. Visit their website, if any, to learn as much about them as possible. Look up their staff page, if any, as many of them have pictures and designations posted. Make a mental note of them. You will be surprised how much this research is going to help you calm your nerves on D day; also, you will score high with the interview panel once they find out that you know a lot about their organization. It will bring forth your passion to work for them and may well lend you that coveted position.
It is extremely important to quickly start preparing for the upcoming job interview. Everyone already realizes what a life changing event it may become for them. Therefore, taking these 6 immediate steps after receiving a job interview call will bring you closer to success and increase your chances to land that job.
Related: You may now visit: 4 Interview Day Preparations.
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