Interview Preparation

You can be better prepared than the interviewer.

Although interview preparation is everything it's sad to say but perhaps as many as half of all interviewers you’re going to meet will be unprepared or incompetent. It’s not all their fault, it's just lack of interview preparation time or responsibility; some of them will be co-opted at the last minute to meet you and won’t have had time to prepare.

However there are those who just think they’re great interviewers and fly by the seat of their pants!!


It’s not all bad news though; you can turn this to your advantage. You can be better prepared than they are by following a few simple rules.


It may sound simple but what they really want to know falls into 4 key areas:


Why are you here?
What can you do for us?
What sort of person are you?
Can we afford you?
So you must prepare for this.
Let’s examine each one.

Why are you here?


Because you are interested in the job, the company, the challenge, the chance to learn and develop new skills, and you are ready to move for such a great opportunity.

What can you do for us?


You bring your experience, skills and achievements, as well as your desire to develop and contribute to a new team or department. (Think back to the work you did on achievements and skills)

What sort of person are you?


Someone who has initiative and gets on well with others and is flexible in attitude to different ways of working; maybe you are a great team player, or a strong leader or you describe yourself as loyal and conscientious.

Can we afford you?


Salary negotiation is another issue altogether, but the point is you should have a feeling for what the remuneration is likely to be and show them that you bring value-for-money.

That’s all fine as a general background to being better prepared than your interviewer, but now you must be more specific.

Put yourself on the other side of the desk – if you were doing the interviewing, what would you really want to know that would convince you to make a job offer?

You’d want to know about the 4 key areas above wouldn’t you?

So all you have to do now is write out your questions to explore those 4 areas. Make it at least 25 questions long and don’t avoid that question you don’t want to be asked (you know the one don’t you?) and then work out your answers.

I'll give you a start if you're struggling, click here for some of the most common questions you can start to work on. But don't just leave it there, build up a good list then get to work on your interview preparation.
Don’t forget to include the personal attributes of the ideal candidate, and be prepared to explain why they should hire you as opposed to any of the other candidates.


One final thing on interview preparation and being better prepared than the interviewer. If you’ve looked at my page on Self-marketing statements you’ll remember the “Career Overview” as the response to the “Tell me about Yourself” type of question. An interviewer who hasn’t prepared beforehand will naturally ask questions relating to what has already been said (by you).


The “Career Overview” therefore sets the whole agenda for the interview. Prepare this well and you’re streets ahead.


Now even if you do get the well-prepared, competent interviewer you will have done your interview preparation and be the well-prepared competent interviewee!!


Now I don't want you to get too complacent, but some organisations use structured interviews which are actually a boon to incompetent interviewers as they ask the same pre-determined questions to each candidate. No worries! best preparation for structured interviews.

What else should you do? Well there all sorts of interviews so you can never do too much interview preparation it's the most certain way of feeling confident when you meet the interviewer, whether she's competent or not.

Just as a brief aside read these two accounts of what incompetent interviewers can do to you (opens a new window)then come back here.

Now you might also want to get another opinion so take a look at this product as part of your interview preparation as well as all the information I've given you.


When you learn the 'behind-the-scenes' psychology of interviewing, the job is as good as yours. And it's not complicated and confusing at all. The funny thing is: These secrets are simple to learn! If you've got 47 minutes interview preparation time before your next interview, you can get the job you want without a struggle or effort.

97% of the population thinks it's all about having the right the skills and job qualifications. They think about brushing their teeth, using mouthwash and having their nails polished...and they're dead wrong!