37 Best Job Interview Tips & Tricks That Get Jobs

37 Best Job Interview Tips & Tricks That Get Jobs

There are days and days till your big one. So you can relax until then, right?

Wrong.

You’ve got to use this time wisely, or else you might as well have just declined the interview. But don’t worry, here are some of the best interview preparation tips out there to ensure you are ready to meet them when they’re ready to see you.

Here are 37 Best Job Interview Tips & Tricks That Get Jobs

1. Research the Company and Use Their Products
Importance:

Just like they’ll do their due diligence on you, researching the company to know what they do and how they operate is a must. Also, double-check if the company’s a match for you.

When you get to that interview, you’ll be asked about why you want to join and how you can contribute. Read up on the prospective employer on Glassdoor, for example.

Researching the hiring manager who will conduct the interview is much harder. It happens that you only learn who the interviewer is when you walk into the meeting. However, if you can, look them up online. You’ll have a way to make some great, tailored comments and small talk to bond.

Also, don’t go into an interview without trying out the products or services that the company offers. You need to prepare for an interview. If they have a blog, read it. If it’s a restaurant, eat there. If they manufacture dish soap, make some bubbly foam.

Employers expect you to understand their business, and nothing makes them happier than hiring a fan!

2. Prepare Questions to Ask Them

Importance: 

Interviews are not all about them getting to know you. You have to speak up and come at them with your own questions. You’re bound to hear, “Do you have any questions you’d like to ask?” Don’t give no as an answer.

What exactly should you ask your interviewer? How about a few of these: 65 Questions to Ask an Interviewer (Examples for Specific Jobs)

3. Be Prepared to Answer Their Questions

Importance:

This is an interview—you’re gonna get questions. While you may not know how it’ll play out, there are some general questions that are asked in most interviews. Practice those! We’ll talk about some individual questions later in this article, or you can see more than 10 interview questions to prepare for here: Common Interview Questions and Answers

4. Dictate the Date

Importance:

If you can, try to get your interview to happen in the middle of the week and earlier in the day. Mondays are notoriously busy with catching up after the weekends, while Fridays have the negative aspect of a possible loss of interest in you over the weekend. Aim for earlier interviews, like an hour before lunch, at least, but not as soon as the office opens; both you and your interviewer will be less likely to feel hungry, grouchy, and tired.

5. Get Some Sleep

Importance:

You were probably going to get some sleep anyway, weren’t you? But what I mean here is an excellent sleep for the full amount of hours—you’ll need to aim for quality and quantity. Interviews are often an hour in length and beyond, so you’ll thank yourself when your brain is able to fire on all cylinders throughout.

6. Be Alerted With Google Alerts
Importance:

One helpful hack many pros suggest is to set up your Google Alerts and add monitoring for keywords related to the company(/ies) you’ll be interviewing with. This will provide you with an email digest of any mentions of the company so that you can stay as informed as the board members of what’s happening up to the minute of your interview.

Set alerts to be “as-it-happens” to ensure that you are afforded all relevant postings in real time. Add a Google Alert for the company as well as the managers/partners.

7. Practice to be Perfect
Importance:

You may not know exactly what they’re going to ask you, but you do know they’ll ask you something. Practice the delivery of your speech and improve your compute time by asking a friend to pretend being the interviewer.

Don’t ask them to read from a list of questions you’ve prepared—an interview would not go that way. Instead, ask them to come up with how their idea of an interview would go. To go a step further, try doing it in a public place, like in a busy cafe, to really get the out-of-your-comfort-zone feel.

8. Check Your Online Presence and Your Public Social Media Profiles
Importance:

Your social media profiles may have more available to the public than you realize or care for. Ensure your interviewers don’t get the wrong picture by removing all negative pictures (and other content) of you, such as sexually-suggestive pictures, political rants, hangover complaints, and so on. Read this post to ensure you do it right: How to Check Your Online Presence Before Recruiters Look You Up

Dress for an Interview

Would you go on a first date without showering and slathering on some deodorant?

No, right?

Well, an interview is like a very important first date. Here are some interview tips on style and what to wear in an interview:

9. Follow the Proper Dress Code
Importance:

For women: Choose a solid-color pant suit with conservatively-colored shoes and shirt or blouse to match. Avoid wearing heels and too much makeup, jewelry, and perfume. If you choose to wear a skirt instead of the pants, pair them with light or skin-tone hosiery.

For men: A suit of a solid color is also recommended, especially in the most formal interviews. However, if you feel the company is not so strict, you could pair a blazer with some slacks for a semi-casual look. A white button-up shirt, a suit-matching tie, and black or brown loafers go well whichever route you take. As with females, keep the jewelry and cologne to a minimum.

Professional attire will help make a great first impression.

10. Wear an Undershirt and Great Antiperspirant
Importance:

Don’t let those pesky sweat glands under your arms make you look like a fool—that’s easy enough to do, anyway.

Put on a tried-and-tested antiperspirant to reduce your underarm sweating. Also, wear an undershirt so that you have one more layer to protect any wet spots from being broadcasted publicly to the interviewer.

11. Dress to Impress
Importance:

It probably goes without saying that you’ll want to choose from your best outfits to wear for your all-important interview. Don’t forget to iron, and don’t use too much perfume. Polish your shoes before leaving home. Trim your fingernails.

Also, as for interview dress tips, have a glance at the company’s about page, if they have one, to see if you can get a sense of how employees might be dressed there. It might be a great way to gauge what to wear.

12. When in Doubt, Lean Conservative
Importance:

You may not be able to get a read on what the dress code is, so err on the conservative side. Keep colors minimal and basic, instead of flashy or numerous.

If you really want to know what the employees wear on a day-to-day basis, consider stopping in for a quick look-around sometime before your interview (days, not hours, before).

13. Wear a Confident Smile
Importance:

A friendly, confident smile is of the most important things to wear to an interview. While it won’t get them to overlook your other clothing, it will work wonders in making you look like a perfect addition to their team.

Learn more here: How to Get a Job Promotion

Use the Time Just Before the Interview

You’re hours away from your make-or-break moment. Here’s what you need to do just before the interview:

14. Bring Your Notes & a Copy of Your Resume
Importance:

One of the great things about interviews is that they can be treated like an open-book test. Not only will bringing notes help you to remember some of your answers and questions to ask them, but you’ll look more prepared and professional when you whip out a notebook from your briefcase before answering that tough question.

While you’re at it, bring 3-5 extra copies of your resume to have on hand. They probably won’t need it, but better safe than sorry!

15. Wash (and Dry!) Your Hands
Importance: 

If you’re a nervous Nellie, like I am, you might suffer from sweaty palms (among other things) prior to an interview. Here’s one of my favorite interview tips: don’t send the message that you’re feeling anxious before you even sit down for your chat; wash and dry your hands, or use an alcoholic hand sanitizer, to greet your interviewer with a confident handshake that won’t gross them out. Also, skip that greasy hand cream!

16. Silence Your Phone
Importance:

There’s nothing more unwelcome at an interview than an unexpected call on the interviewee’s phone. While a ring to the desk phone of your interviewer may allow you to take a breath and collect yourself, don’t let it be yours.

However, don’t turn your phone off completely—you may find it comes in handy should you need to add a contact or appointment to your calendar.

17. Eat Something
Importance:

Have a light meal or snack just before your appointment. Not only will this help you to avoid any light-headed, dizzy feelings, but it will chase away those troublesome, embarrassing, and annoying hunger growls during the silence of the interview.

18. Arrive Early
Importance:

Don’t aim for getting there on time. There are so many things that could go wrong, according to Murphy’s Law. You may not find the right building or room, or traffic might befall you. You might need to use the restroom. Being late would surely sabotage your interview success. Double-check the interview location and aim to arrive at least 15 minutes before.

One of my favorite, personal interviewing tips is to arrive maybe 30-45 minutes early and position yourself at a nearby cafe. This way, you’ll all but eliminate circumstances that prevent you from arriving on time, and you can do a quick cram with your notes while having a tea.

19. Be Nice to Everyone
Importance: 

Sure, you’re going to put on a friendly face for the interviewer, why wouldn’t you? But, as soon as you enter the building, prepare to encounter each and every employee you meet with just the same attitude and countenance. From receptionist to office manager to your future teammates, that charm could warrant a compliment about you to the ones in charge with your fate’s decision, and it could make all the difference!

20. Bring an Interview Survival Kit
Importance:

You got your notebook and some copies of your resume in your briefcase or purse, but let’s go a bit further. Pack some items that will ensure that you arrive at the interview in excellent form, such as an umbrella, bandage strips, breath mints, a pen, a stick of deodorant, some paper towels, and a portable stain remover. Maybe a snack bar for any hunger pangs that pop up unexpectedly.

Get a whole interview checklist here: What to Bring to an Interview & Printable Checklist with 12 Crucial Items

Outperform the Competition During Interview

There are some things that you can’t do in advance, but you must still remember to take care of during the interview.

Below, you’ll see a list of the best interview tips and tricks for outperforming your competition during your time in the hot seat. Here’s how to behave in an interview:

21. Pay Attention to What They Say and Take Notes
Importance:

Just before your interview starts, pull out that notebook (remember the one with your cheat sheet?) and take some notes. You’ll look like a diligent candidate, you won’t have to ask them to repeat much, and you’ll have any questions and answers handy for when that time comes.

22. Be a Backseat Driver
Importance:

Just because you’re in the hot seat doesn’t mean you can’t guide the course of the interview. Steer the conversation from your end, especially when confronted with a question or course of discussion that could paint you in a less-than-perfect light. For example:

Interviewer: “Can you tell me how your ABC project turned out?”

Interviewee: Crap. That one didn’t end well. Attempting to divert. “I more-recently completed project XYZ, completely similar to ABC and with results I’m proud of. May I tell you about that?”

See that? You know your project XYZ had great results, so you are trying to chat about that one, instead. Also, leaving the ball in their court at the end with the question keeps them feeling like they remain in control of the interview.

23. Don’t Trash Talk
Importance:

Savvy interviewers may ask you, “what was the worst part about your last job?” This is because the reply you give here will answer a slew of other unasked questions about your personality, behavior, loyalty, and more.

Don’t speak ill about your former company or coworkers, at least not in a direct way. Interviewers get turned off when you opt for the low road. Keep your wits about you as you answer this loaded question, and tiptoe around saying the very worst:

WRONG
“I worked with completely daft imbeciles.”

RIGHT
“I had some coworkers with whom I struggled to maintain a productive coexistence.”

Or, wrap a criticism in a blanket of compliment:

RIGHT
“I really liked my former colleagues, but if I’m to name one area in which they could improve, I guess I’d have to say that I’d enjoy working at a place with a more diverse company culture.”

24. Don’t Let Them Dwell on the Past
Importance:

If you feel that the interviewer is spending too much time concerned with some old position, explain to them how it helped get you to where you are today, and how it would help you in the future. Frame these as learning experiences that remain useful to you.

25. Use Examples
Importance:

Similar to showing quantifiable achievements when starting your resume, you’ll want to give examples with results that can be measured and which are relevant. When given the opportunity, explain to them how their current requirements would be handled expertly should you be given the role:

“From the job description, I understand you are looking for someone who can take your outreach team to the next level. During my time with ABC, I performed a similar task, with excellent results…”

26. Control Your Body Language
Importance:

Sure, you’re talking with your mouth during your interview, but your gestures, posture, and body language speak inaudible volumes. Maintain a good posture, with your back straight and your head held high. Avoid putting your nervousness on display too apparently by keeping your legs and arms still. Try not to fidget and play with something in your hands, and don’t chew on your lips.

Communication skills mean being able to speak with both verbal and non-verbal signs! Feel like you could improve the way you communicate? See: Communication Skills and How to Improve Them for Your Job Search

27. Respectfully Avoid Illegal Inquiries
Importance:

Once in a while, you may get a question that may be insensitive in one way or another, like about your origin or age. Most of the time, the interviewer doesn’t mean to offend and their interest is genuine and for small talk.

Try to keep your composure as you steer the question back on track. If you don’t want to answer their question, simply answer with something like:

“I’m confident that I’ll be able to meet the demands required of me and excel in my role.”

But what questions should not be answered? Here is everything you need to know: Illegal Interview Questions an Employer Cannot Ask [So Don’t Answer!]

Answer Specific Interview Questions Right

Want specific advice? Well, as career coaches, we know very well what interviewers are likely to ask you, so use this chapter of mock interview questions as a cheat sheet to make sure you reply with what they want to hear.

28. “What Are Your Strengths?”
Importance:

The employer isn’t looking to see how much you can bench, but rather what skills you bring to the company’s table. Focus on your best skills and achievements, and make sure that they are relevant to the company. Show and prove that you’ll be a good fit. Read some great responses to this question here: “What Are Your Strengths?” Interview Question

29. “What Is Your Greatest Weakness?”
Importance:

Unlike the strengths question, the employer here wants to see how you answer more than what you answer. Use answers that show that you’re self-aware and open to improvement. Read some great responses to this question here: “What Is Your Greatest Weakness?” Best Answers

30. “Why Should We Hire You?”
Importance:

This can be a stumper, if not thought out before the interview. However, if you prepare, it can turn into a golden opportunity to give a winning elevator speech. Summarize your best points, and try not to feel uncomfortable by being overly modest. Read some great responses to this question here: “Why Should We Hire You?” Best Answers

31. “Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?”
Importance:

At first glance, this question seems like a piece of cake, right? But there are obstacles, particularly if you didn’t have an amicable parting-of-ways with your last organization. Don’t say anything that will make the company question whether that same situation could make a second appearance. Read some great responses to this question here: “Why Did You Leave Your Last Job” Best Answers

32. “Tell Me About Yourself”
Importance: 

This interview question is not as broad as it sounds. Hiring managers don’t care where you were born and raised, what your favorite sport is, and so on. Rather, they’d like an answer back that is relevant to them. Think of what you might answer were this asked of you during a first date. Read some great responses to this topic here: “Tell Me About Yourself” Best Answers

33. “Why Do You Want to Work Here?”
Importance: 

For the love of Barbara, don’t dare say something like, “because I need work.” No, what interviewers are really asking here is for compliments. Convey your enthusiasm about their company. Show that you’re not interviewing for a job only because there are no better options at the moment. Read some great responses to this question here: “Why Do You Want to Work Here?” Interview Question

34. “Describe Your Current Job Responsibilities”
Importance:

Relevance is key here. Don’t tell them everything you did, because not all of it will be significant to this new company. Curate a list of tasks that are the most relevant, and speak about those. This is why preparation is so important! Read some great responses to this topic here: How to Describe Your Current Job Responsibilities

35. “What is Your Management Style?”
Importance:

Before you skip over this question thinking it doesn’t pertain to you, think again. You could get this question no matter the position you’re applying for, as the hiring manager uses your answer to gauge your leadership prospects and potential. Give a brief success story about a time you managed a project or team. Read some great responses to this question here: What is Your Management Style? Best Answers

36. “Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?”
Importance:

Most people don’t have a defined plan as to where they’d like to be in 5 years, but this question is asked by employers more so they can understand a vague idea. They want to hear that they’re part of your future and if your long-term career goals align with the company. Read some great responses to this question here: “Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?” Interview Question

37. Know Where to Look
Importance:

One of my favorite Skype interview tips is to make sure that you look at your laptop’s camera, not the screen. Sure, you can look down every now and again as you’re listening, but be sure to look into the camera when you are speaking. This way, you’ll look like you’re looking into their eyes on their end, rather than gazing down below eye level; though it may not be as important for these webcam interviews, 67% of hiring managers name failure to make eye contact as the top interview mistake.