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If you’re reading this then, chances are, you’ve landed yourself an interview, which means you deserve to congratulate yourself. Just getting as far as the interview means you delivered a great resume and showed some serious grit and determination. Basically, it isn’t easy landing an interview. Now comes the next challenge, though.

Interviews are notoriously terrifying; you’ll be face to face with your potential future employer, and they’ll be out to test you, to see if you are going to be the best candidate for their company and the role at hand.

As such, here is some advice to help you succeed:

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Success Is In The Preparation

As soon as that confirmation email lands in your inbox, your focus should be on learning everything you can about the company. They will expect this of you. This isn’t so much because they will want you to know about their history, or exactly what year they were founded, but because they will want to know why you believe you’ll be a good fit, something that can only be understood if you know about them in depth. So focus on the about us sections, learn about the senior management, what interests they have, what the company ethos is and if they have an causes that they work alongside. The more ammo you have the better.

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Remember It Isn’t All About Qualifications

A lot of candidates think that their CV is what is important, and so they tailor their answers around what they have achieved in their career up to this point and what qualifications they have. This is important, but it isn’t everything. Yes, explain how your last job saw you learn all about the best maintenance management systems, and how your degree in History and Politics allows you to better analyze information, but don’t forget who you are as a person. Employers want someone that will fit into their company and get along with the other people there. Skills can be taught, personality can’t so be polite, be a pleasure to be around and make yourself known to other employees there. They could be the influence you need.

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Always Dress To Impress

Research has shown that potential employers have made a judgment on you within the first 8 seconds. Yup, it can be won or lost quicker than Bolt can run the 100m. That is why it is important to make that initial impression a great one. So make sure you dress to your best. They may be a creative company, where everyone wears t-shirts and ripped jeans, but it wouldn’t hurt to wear a suit to the interview. After all, you wouldn’t want to lose the job because you didn’t and another candidate did. Basically, it is better to dress smarter than you need.

Stay Calm And Carry On

Interviews are stressful, but most of that stress you feel is piled on by your own projections of fear, so be as calm as possible, and be yourself. The people there liked what they saw on your resume, now they want to see if they like who you are, which means it is less about what you say and more about the manner in which you say it. They will also like it if they know you’re being yourself. And remember, it is perfectly okay to take a pause before you answer each question. They’ll want to know that you are really thinking about your answers.

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