Speaker 1: Hi everybody and welcome. My name is Jen and I'm a career coach at Indeed with over 10 years of experience working in career services. Over the years I've worked with hundreds of job seekers as they've prepared for their next interviews and today I want to share a little bit of that advice with you. So today in this video we're going to talk about how you can best prepare for your next interview. And be sure to stick around until the end of the video where we're going to cover an important tip that most people forget about. It's a small step that can have a really big payoff. So let's begin. First up, approach your research from a big to small mindset. Okay so what does that mean? So what I've noticed over the years is that some people tend to focus on either big concepts like focusing research on the company or they can focus on the small details like looking into just the job description or the interviewer. The truth is that good research is going to ask you to do both and everything in between. This is a good way to begin your interview preparation because it's going to give you the context to articulate your skills and experience and connect them to the company's mission and goals. Let's break down what you should be looking for as you're conducting your research. You should make sure that you're researching the company, the job description, and the interviewer. If you're new to researching be sure to allot at least 30 minutes to research each category. Begin your research by starting with the largest concept, the company. And when researching the company be sure to check out multiple sources. Start by visiting the company's website and reading up on their about us or their product or service offerings pages. Here you can find information about what their mission is and what they value. You know that you've conducted really good research when you can speak to how your personal goals align with the goals of the company or how your skill set can be used to support or even better enhance the services that they offer to customers. Once you've heard about the company from their own perspective do some research into what other people are saying about them. Company pages on indeed.com are a great place to start to find reviews from current and former employees on hundreds of companies. If you check out this link right here you can see reviews on what the interview process is like and you can also see pictures and videos from the company's social media channels. You can highlight your research during the interview by aligning your personal goals to the goals of the company. For example, if during the research you see that the company is active in the community mention your desire to work with a community-focused organization when they ask you why do you want to work here. Next, review the job description. When reviewing a job description your goal is to gain a better understanding of the responsibilities and the requirements of the position. This will ensure that you can articulate how and why you're qualified for this role. Use the information you find in the job description to help you prepare for questions that could be asked to qualify your skills. When you check out the job description look at the requirements and then think about questions that the interviewer could ask you. Think to yourself if I was looking to find a candidate for this role what skills would they need to have? Then consider how you would answer that question. It can help to think of past examples from your work experience that demonstrate the skills required for the role and then practice sharing them succinctly. I'll go more in depth on how to do that later in this video. Now you'll want to get granular with your research by focusing on the person or people who will be conducting your interview. To find out who you're interviewing with first check to see if they're included within the email invite that was sent for the interview or you can also see if they're listed in the confirmation email that the recruiter sent over. If your interview has already been scheduled and you don't see this information it's completely appropriate to reach out to the recruiter or the hiring manager to see if they can provide the name or names of the people that you're going to be meeting with. When researching your interviewer focus on looking at their professional journey and see how they've managed to reach their level of success. Look for commonalities in your background, education, or even your interests. Check out professional sources like the company website to see if they have a public facing employee profile or you can check out professional social media sites as well. This research will pay off when you can casually mention commonalities in small talk or as appropriate during the interview. Highlighting your similarities can create a stronger human connection and it can create a positive feeling in relation to your interviewer. After you've conducted your research the next step in preparing for an interview is to practice common interview questions. You'll want to practice a variety of questions including general, situational, behavioral, and if applicable technical questions that pertain to your industry. One of the first questions you can expect to be asked during an interview is tell me about yourself. This is your opportunity to give a two to three minute professional summary about who you are and where you are in your career. We cover this question more in depth in this video right here so be sure to check it out. Once you can succinctly share who you are as a professional it's smart to practice answering some common behavioral based interview questions. Not sure what a behavioral based interview question is? If you've ever been asked a question that begins with give me an example of or tell me about a time when you've just been asked one. The goal of a behavioral based interview question is to get a better understanding about what your level of experience is working in certain situations and how you behaved. When answering a behavioral based interview question one of the best strategies for formatting your answers is to follow the STAR method. STAR stands for situation, task, action, result. This format sets you up to tell a complete and coherent story while getting to the point quickly. Other common questions you can practice answering are what are your greatest strengths and why do you want to work for this company? Your goal when answering these questions is to sell yourself by sharing the most positive and relevant experience from your work history. An interview is not the time to be modest about sharing your accomplishments. Your potential employer wants to know that you're the right fit and can deliver something to the company so you want to share examples that demonstrate how you've been able to deliver results in the past. In addition to some of these more straightforward interview questions be sure to practice a few high pressure questions as well. Try to think of a few things that you would be uncomfortable being asked and then prepare on how you would answer them. Some common high pressure questions that you could be asked include explaining a gap on your resume if you have one. It could also include asking why you're looking to leave your current company or why you're looking to switch industries and it can also include being asked what your salary expectations are. These questions intimidate almost everyone but they don't have to throw you off in an interview if you've practiced how to answer them. This can happen to any one of us but it's easy to keep the interview on track if you just ask for some time to think. Practice saying that's a great question give me a moment to think about that. Take the time to gather your thoughts before sharing your answer. A momentary pause can be a powerful tool to stay in control and feel confident about the information you're sharing. Before I move on to the next tip let me know if this information is helpful by liking and subscribing for more advice. Once you've prepared to answer questions that are directed to you it's smart to also take a moment to practice some questions that you can ask in return. When there's about five to ten minutes left at the end of an interview it's really likely for the interviewer to ask if you have any questions for them. In this case it's smart to come prepared with two to three questions that you can ask that will help you learn more about the company. For example you can ask what does the typical day look like for somebody in this role? Or ask how would my performance be measured? If you're struggling to think of questions that you could ask it also helps to think about what information would you need to know to start this job tomorrow. An additional benefit to asking questions during the interview is that it helps to clarify any concerns that you might have as to whether or not the company or the role could be a good fit for you. And as a general rule be sure to keep your questions professional and focus on the company in the position. If you'd like some more information about questions that you can ask at the end of an interview be sure to check out this career guide article right here. Once you've prepared for what you're going to say during an interview you can now turn to considering how you're going to present yourself as the best possible candidate. This can include focusing on details like clothing, punctuality, and application materials. In terms of what you're going to wear take clues as to how their employees are dressing when you're doing your company research and aim to dress one level above that. As a best practice choose business casual attire. Next plan to be on time. I know this can be easier said than done but the key is to expect the unexpected. For example if you're going to be interviewing by video be sure to check your camera, microphone, audio, and your internet at least one day before the interview. If you're planning on interviewing on-site be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes early. Finally plan to come to the interview with the materials that you need to be successful. This can include printing out extra copies of your resume to have on hand or to bring a pen and notebook just in case you'd like to take notes. Now it's time to put your preparation to the test by conducting a mock interview. A mock interview is a great tool to help you feel more prepared because it's going to give you the opportunity to practice your responses and get feedback on how you can improve. The best mock interviewers are going to be career coaches or professionals in your industry or field but really anybody can be a mock interviewer as long as they have a list of related interview questions and they're willing to give you honest feedback about how you can improve your answers. To take your mock interview to the next level try to mimic the interviewing environment as closely as possible. This includes dressing in the clothes that you would wear the day of the actual interview, bringing those extra copies of your resume or that pen and notebook we talked about, and it can also include imitating the interview setting. For example if your interview is going to be on-site try to meet with your mock interviewer in person. If you're preparing for a virtual interview try setting up a phone or video interview. If possible record your mock interview so that you can review it afterward and see how confidently you're sharing your experience and skills. And now for the bonus tip that I mentioned at the beginning of this video. Convey confidence in what you say and do. Pay attention to how you're presenting yourself with your body language and with your tone of voice to ensure that you're coming across confident, poised, and prepared for the role. If you're really interested in taking a critical look at how you're demonstrating confidence try to record and review your mock interviews. However in my opinion confidence is all about a mindset. Remember interviewing is not a one-way street. You should be evaluating employers just as much as they're evaluating you. And that's the built-in benefit of thorough preparation. It empowers you to walk into an interview assured of your unique value. So there you have it. To recap my advice to help you prepare for your next interview includes researching the company, job description, and the interviewer. Then practice answers to common interview questions. Prepare two to three questions that you can ask at the end of an interview. Consider your day of presentation. Conduct a mock interview and convey confidence in what you say and do. So that's how you can prepare for your next interview. I hope you found this information to be helpful and that you're able to apply it to your next interview prep or maybe just pass it along to somebody else who might need it. If you like this video and you'd like to see more like it be sure to hit the notification bell to stay updated. Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time.