Preparing for your interview involves two simple steps.



Firstly, you have to develop content. You need to gain awareness about the company that you are applying to, the job on offer and the skills you have to offer.

The second is that you need to communicate your thoughts well. You need to Anticipate the likely questions, develop excellent content around those question topics and then practice delivering that content in style!

For now, I want to talk to you about how you can create great content for your interview answers.

Take about 4 hours to construct a short, 10-page report on the company you are applying to join. In doing so, you will not only be preparing the background research for the interview, in a more focussed way; you will also have a revision document to keep referring to.

In making this report, you will have a crib sheet to revise from the night before and on the day of the interview, so that you have all the relevant facts and figures to hand. However, by doing the preparation work, you will also gain insights in to the values and the workings of the company that may help you either genuinely show passion for working there or alternatively make you realise that this isn't the company for you.

There are a host of places to find information from, primarily internet based. Look at the company's website. You could "google" the company and see what turns up, but don't spend too much time there and stay focussed. Other quality places to look are:

1. http://www.hoovers.com will give you information from Hoovers

2. http://www.dnb.com - Dun and Bradsheet will also give you some of their research into your company

3. http://www.vaultreports.com/companies/searchcompanies.jsp will also provide you with company research data.

4. http://www.company.monster.com/ can also give some great insights

Don't forget to also investigate the market that the company is operating in. Try to have some ideas of the trends over the last 10-20 years and what the forecasts are for the future.

Develop some ideas as to how you can help this company meet it's challenges and opportunities in the coming years - bearing in mind its history and how it is set up now.

Go through the job description and figure out what the company is worried about. The companies worries will be reflected in the interview panel's questions. How are you going to sell your skills in each of these categories?

Remember that the interview is a sales pitch and selling is about meeting the customer's needs.

Now remember that your job is to reveal to this inteview board, through your answers, how you are the best candidate for this post. So spend some time contemplating your past achievements and performances. Recall how you handled certain tricky situations and draw out all of the skills that you managed to demonstrate in those circumstances.

This will allow you to be the best prepared candidate.

All the best for your interview!