What is a job interview?

So what is a job interview? Dictionary.com defines it as "a formal meeting in which one or more persons question, consult, or evaluate another person"............I’d say its your opportunity to get from where you are, to where you wanna be. For you it’s the climax of the job search. The final, major hurdle.

But its not all about you. The job interview is the final stage in a long line of the recruitment process for the employer. Much time and money will have been invested in finding the right person for the role. Someone who has all the necessary attributes to perform the role and add value to the organisation. The job interview is your chance to show them that someone is you.

So what does it take to pull off interview success? It all begins with interview preparation. Preparation is the platform that your interview is built on. It doesn’t matter how great a candidate you are, without preparation the wheels will come off very fast indeed. Next, you need to know what the interviewer wants. You need to be able to get in the mind of the interviewer in order to know what it is they are looking for from you.

What is a job interview? Its a meeting in which you must make the interviewer buy into you. To do this you need to understand the art of interview presentation. Show them you are the genuine article. Without this, no matter how good you are the interviewer won’t know it. Your offer will go to someone else.

What a job interview is not

Something to fear

Being able to interview well is a skill, nothing more. If you are not happy with your level of skill right now, you can learn how to be better.

To learn more about job interview skills - click here Your last chance - there will be others

I know the fear of failure can sometimes seem overwhelming when you have set your heart on getting a particular job. However I can promise you that regardless of the outcome there are, and will always be plenty of opportunities out there for you. If things for some reason don’t go your way, read our guide to using interview feedback to improve as a candidate. Next time you will be better, and even more likely to succeed.

Down to luck

Your job interview has nothing, repeat nothing to do with luck. Don’t try and succeed by winging it on the day. You deserve better than that. You are better than that. Besides the only thing you need to know about luck is that you make your own.

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