Interview Tips

Every time I am on a new job search, I am constantly barraged with interview advice from friends, co-workers, parents and

even acquaintances. The most annoying is the unsolicited interview advice from people that barely know me and are trying to

be helpful in their own twisted way, and end up saying something so stupid that it borders on an insult to intelligence.

Things like “maybe if you wear a black skirt suit instead of the pantsuit your interviewer would get a better first

impression of you and want to hire you.” Or “Do you take something with you that is lucky for you? Like a lucky pen?”

Really? All it takes to get a job anymore is to wear a skirt instead of pants and take a lucky charm with me? Well, I sure

wish I would have thought of that before instead of getting a college education and preparing myself!

Over the years, I have received some really great interview advice after I weeded through the unsolicited garbage. Even

searches for interview advice on the internet have lead me to some informational websites that have helped tremendously,

especially when going on my first interviews out of college. One of the best pieces of interview advice I have ever received

is to do some research on the company before actually going to the interview. With the internet making information so

accessible, it is so simple to just do an internet search for the company name and find any current newsworthy information.

I once received a job offer from a company and was told that they were impressed with my knowledge of the company due to the

fact that I knew about a new product they were testing.

Another good piece of interview advice I received was to look for some sample interview questions online and practice your

answers before your actual interview. This has saved me numerous time, mainly because I was less nervous and rambling

because I already had well thought out answers to the most common questions.

So, there IS some good interview advice underneath mounds and mounds of garbage. My best interview advice to you is to not

let anyone know that you are looking for a new position. Then you just might avoid the stupid remarks that will get you

nothing but a severe headache from rolling your eyes back so far in your head.