Preparing for an interview - 10 top tips

Plan ahead to succeed

1. Find out about the company, the people you are going to meet and the job you are applying for. The more you know the better prepared you will be, it helps to relax you too.

2. Prepare some questions in advance, it shows you have thought about the role and that it is important to you

3. Think about what you might be asked. The easiest way to prepare is to get a friend or family member to go through the job description/candidate specification and ask you ‘to give an example’ to show you have that skill or can do that task.

4. Think about what you have done out of work as well as in a previous or current role, sometimes being part of a team, caring for someone else or having studied something new can really impress the interviewer.

5. Make some notes if you find that helpful, you can look at them before you go in or use them to jog your memory if you are nervous

6. Make sure you have lots of nice examples to support your application – recruiters don’t like getting answers that feel like they have been read in a book, they are more interested in what you have done

7. Show that you are interested by thanking the interviewer for the opportunity. Tell them why the role is of interest to you – everyone likes good feedback about their organisation.

8. You want to be true to yourself but try to create the right first impression. For some roles it may be important to look smart so it’s worth checking out the dress code. Little things like cleaning your shoes can really help and show that you have made an effort

9. Interviews are important to you so you may feel a bit more nervous than normal. To make you more relaxed try to arrive a little early, visit the loo or grab a drink of water so that you are at your best when its time for your interview.

10. If you know you are going to need some support or if at any point you need the recruiter to stop, slow down or repeat a question then ask them to, its never a good idea to just try and guess what they want or to struggle on if you are uncomfortable in any way.