Job interview − preparation and tips for success

The Covid epidemic and the furlough period are behind us. This means that many of us engage in interviews for jobs that interest us. A job interview is in most cases an event that arouses in us tenseness, pressure, and sometimes even anxiety. However, here are a few tips that will help you to jump over this hurdle more easily and improve your chances of acceptance for the position for which you are competing.

• Make sure to arrive early, even if you are certain that you know where to arrive, and even when not speaking of rush hours, it is better to take a safety margin and come early. On the other hand, coming more than a quarter of an hour early is unsuitable. It isn't always convenient for the timetable of the interviewer and creates "a problem" from the aspect of the interviewer. If you've arrived too early, wait somewhere else before entering the office. Come early, but not too early, and after you've arrived, if the interviewer is delayed and doesn't accept you at the time fixed, be patient. You are also being tested at this moment. Impatience or irritability may indicate, as the interviewer sees it, an intolerant temperament, or a problem with coping with changes and flexibility, and is liable to cause you to fail.

• A formal and respectable appearance − Shorts, flip-flops, and undershirt, a sloppy appearance, or crumpled and/or dirty clothes are out of bounds. Make sure to come wearing suitable clothing and with an orderly appearance. In the same matter, make sure to switch your cellphone to silent mode and remove your sun glasses when entering the office.

• Be relaxed, but not too much − Self-confidence and a relaxed appearance will play in your favor and create a good and relaxed atmosphere, but excessive relaxation is liable to transmit a feeling of uncaring and excessive lightness that does not fit the situation. Make sure to sit in a well mannered and collected way, don't spread out your personal items on the desk, maintain pleasant body language and a personal space for the interviewer. Let the interviewer lead the conversation and make sure to listen and maintain eye contact.

• Do your homework − How marvelous it is that we have Dr Google. It's true that you come to a job interview in order to hear about the company and present yourself, but it is also important to come prepared. Before coming to an interview do a little research about the company: Check out the company's website − how long has the company existed, what are its major products and services, what are its values and vision, and other details that may be relevant. This will help you to feel more confident in the interview and will testify to the way in which you cope with a new situation, and to your initiative and capability of learning. In addition, try to clarify as many details as possible about the job − especially if you are sent to an interview through a placement company.

• Consistency and reliability − Make sure to give replies that are consistent with your CV. If during a specific period you worked in a specific place of work, and in the interview the information is different, this is liable to raise questions with the interviewer regarding your reliability.

• A smile brings a smile − make sure to come full of energy, smiling, and welcoming. When you smile, most people tend to smile back. Even if the interviewer is "strict" and asks hard and rigid questions, make sure to answer with a smile and in a relaxed way. You will be surprised to discover how much this affects the entire atmosphere of the interview even if the questions are hard.

• Maintain respect for your former employers − Even if you finished badly with a work place and even if you were totally in the right, make sure to speak properly about it, without complaining and without personal remarks regarding this or some other employer. An interviewer who hears you complaining or swearing about a previous employer will think how you are liable to speak about him and about the company. It is legitimate for there to be disputes and disagreements, but a proper and decorous description of the matter will add to your self respect.