4 simple tips to crush your next interview

So you created an awesome resume and landed an interview. In order to land the job of your dreams, you really need to have a strong interview. An interview can be very stressful, but it doesn’t have to be!

I am going to share 4 simple tips to CRUSH your next interview. In addition, you can fetch a FREE copy of a pocket resume to make sure you are always prepared at job interviews and filling out applications on the go.

Tip 1: Turn a weakness into a strength

Even the BEST employees can have little “hiccups” in their career along the way. This is true for long time career employees as well as young adults just starting out in a job or career. Tip 1 is to turn a weakness into a strength. In order to do this you need to sit down and spend some quality time thinking about how how this “perceived weakness” is actually a “strength” and how it can help you better serve their company.

For example, for people just getting started in the job market, your obvious weakness is your lack of experience. You want to use this to your advantage. First, don’t see it as a disadvantage. Since you are just getting started you can be molded and mentored into the ‘perfect’ employee. You are less likely to come with flaws that are developed over the years. When addressing this in an interview make sure to stress what makes YOU different and why YOU are the best choice for the job.

Another common example is if you are fired from a job. Most people have actually been “fired” including some of these greats: Thomas Edison, Michael Bloomberg, JK Rowling and Lee Iacocca! Being fired doesn’t mean you aren’t a great employee, it probably meant you were not the RIGHT employee. Talk about how the situation changed you, improved you. Often times breakdown leads to breakthrough!

If you were fired due to personal issues at home such a family illness or crises – be honest. Maybe it was just a job and now you are after a career to fuel your passion. Talk to your interviewer about how you are more passionate about the job you are interviewing for. Just remember to always talk about past employers with positivity.

What if you are overqualified OR underqualified for the role? Make sure you express how much you ENJOY and LOVE this type of work. If you are overqualified talk about how you can mentor and share with other employees to build a strong team. If you are underqualified, maybe you are very innovative and can bring new life to your team.

Now it is YOUR TURN. Take a few minutes to write down a few reasons why YOU might be considered underqualified for a job. Next, write a few sentences that help you turn your negative into a positive. Remember – always be honest and sincere! Make sure to update this and study it prior to your NEXT Interview!

Weakness 1: _________________________________________
How it is a positive for your next role: ____________________________________________________________________________
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Weakness 2: _________________________________________
How it is a positive for your next role: ____________________________________________________________________________
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Weakness 3: _________________________________________
How it is a positive for your next role: ____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tip 2: Highlight your strengths

In Tip 1 we turned that frown upside down and learned to create a strength from a perceived weakness. Now let’s actually take a look at your strengths and talk about how to best highlight them in an interview. Here are a few common strengths you might want to consider highlighting in an interview.

After reviewing the strengths, complete the exercise below.

• Teamwork – _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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• Passion – ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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• Dedicated – _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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• Dependability – _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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• Organized – _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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• Customer Centric -______________________________________________________________________________________________________
  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For each of the common strengths listed above, write out a few sentences that talk about experiences that represent this quality that you would want to discuss in an interview. For Example, what experiences show you are dedicated? Maybe you experienced a career change and spent time and energy going to school to change careers even though you were taking care of a family. This shows dedication to your family and your new career. Make sure it is related to the job you are interviewing for and interesting!

Now let’s define YOUR unique strengths. Write down 3 unique skills you will bring to the new role. Next, like before, write out a few sentences that talk about experiences that represent this quality that you would want to discuss in an interview.

• -______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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• -______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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• -______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Once you have completed this exercise, you will have a long list of strengths you are ready to discuss in your next interview! Remember to do this prior to each interview and write out how each strength will make a positive impact in your new role!

Tip 3: Do this BEFORE your interview

In Tip 1 and 2, we were beginning prep for your interview. Tip 3 is about finishing the prep work to have a rock star interview. Here are a few other tasks to complete prior to your interview.

• Research the company – Make sure you can talk to the interviewer about what you learned about the company and ask questions related to your research.
• Research your interviewer – ASK who will be interviewing you. See if you can find them on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook. Look to see if you have anything in comment that you can relate to such as both loving cooking or dogs.
• Create a list of interview questions – Always have a list of well thought out questions to ask during your interview. Check out this article by Indeed for examples.
• Practice answering common interview questions – If you interview enough, you will notice a pattern in questions. Most employers use common interviewing questions. Check out this article by Indeed that list 100 common interview questions. They also have posts of common interview questions by career.
• Find the interview location – PRIOR to the interview, physically drive to the interview location so you can have a stress free commute on the day of your interview.
• Prep your interview documents – Spend some time focused on completing the Tip 1, Tip 2, your research and your questions in this article a few days before your interview. Make sure to write or type up the answers so that you can take them with you to look over them while you are waiting to interview. In addition, print out at least 5 copies of your resume and references to take with you to hand out when you meet your interviewers. Make sure you print them on Resume Paper!
• Fill out a copy of your Pocket Resume for Interviews – This handy little document is small enough to keep in your wallet and stores information often needed on interviews and applications!
• Get a good night sleep – This should be common knowledge but it is important to get a good night sleep prior to your interview. If you are well rested, you are more likely to have a successful interview.

Tip 4: Bring this to your interview

Here are a list of items you should have on hand with you at an interview.

• Printed Resumes and references – We printed these in Tip 3. Don’t forget to put them in your bag.
• Water bottle and snack – This might not be necessary, but if you end up in multiple interviews you might be there for awhile. Make sure you don’t get HANGRY! Bring a water bottle and a portable snack that won’t make a mess on the floor or your bag.
• Notebook and pen – Being an active listener sometimes means taking notes. Of course, keep it professional. I love this notebook that comes in a variety of colors, has an inner pocket and a pen holder!
• Professional Bag or briefcase – As much as I love my Hot Pink PawPrint Back Pack, it doesn’t belong in a professional interview. Make sure you have a nice bag or briefcase to bring to the interview. You don’t need to spend a fortune to look professional!
• Colored Folders – This may surprise you but it is a great way to organize the papers you bring to the interview. Colored Folders are a nice touch that will make you look very organized. For example, use a different color for each type of paper. Red – Resume, Green – Cover Letter, Blue – Notes, Yellow – Questions. They will fit great in your bag!
• Interview Notes and questions – We completed this in Tip 3. Make sure to bring your notes to look over prior to the interview. Put them in one of your folders.
• Pocket Resume for Interviews – During Interviews your are sometimes asked to fill out additional paperwork, provide reference or job information. Don’t be caught off guard! Have all of this information handy in your briefcase on your Pocket Resume for Interviews! Download your FREE copy today!

Wrap Up

I hope you find these 4 tips helpful the next time you interview. You should be extremely proud of yourself if you are invited to interview since this means you did a great job with your resume! Even if you don’t get the job, remember that the more you practice interviewing, the more you will build your interview skills.

What did I miss? What tip do you have for people to prepare for an interview. I would love to hear you feedback below. Don’t forget to download your FREE Pocket Resume!

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Fetch your Free Pocket Resume

Want one more item to put in your briefcase to help you during your job hunt? Download a copy of my FREE Pocket Resume! It includes helpful information for interviewing as well as a space to write down all of the important information you will need when filling out applications on the go! Grab your free copy below!