Nailing an Interview is All about Preparation and Rehearsal

As with everything else, preparation and rehearsal will ensure that you do your best when you go in front of the interviewing panel. Most people pay attention to all other aspects, i.e. networking for the job, writing a CV, organizing references, and so on but ignore the interview aspect. This is why most people actually fail at this very last step – the interview. Check out what you can do to prevent this from happening:

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1. Do Your Homework Well - Learn about the organization by visiting their website. Get familiar about key points such as launching, goals, trajectory, major achievements, and so on.
   
   
2. Practice With a Friend - Get someone to act as an interviewer so you can practice the questions and answers a couple of times. This will help you relax as the questions become more and more familiar and also you will receive feedback from your friend on your body language and the answers you are choosing.
   
   
   
   
   You may also videotape these mock interviews; you can learn a lot from the playback, especially about your expressions and body language.
   
   
3. Read the Words or Consult with Experts - if you have access to a career counselor, take his advice. Learn what the points that would score the highest marks are and what points that you should avoid/ beware of. Prepare well for standard questions such as 'tell me about yourself', 'why should we hire you', 'tell me one weakness of yours', and so on.
   
   
4. Find Out about the Route to the Interview Venue - It is a good idea to find out how far the venue is and time it. You need to be about 10-15 minutes early to the venue and hence, should know by what time you should leave home to reach on time.
   
   
5. Plan Your Attire in Advance - Do not leave any detail for the last minute. Plan what you should wear a few days in advance. In this way, in case there is any mismatch you can still do something about it. There is nothing more disastrous than finding out at the last minute that your favorite shirt/pant is stained or missing, or that you do not have the right accessories, etc.
   
   
6. Stay Calm - If you can meditate for a while before setting out for the interview. Try to keep your mind calm. After you have made all the preparations, focus only on the present. Experts advise that while you are waiting to be called for the interview you could work on brainteasers; these calm the mind by deflecting the thoughts from the task at hand.

See the following articles for more information:

• 21 Major Interview Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
  
• The Best Way to Prepare for a Job Search and Interviews
  
• How to Talk About Other Interviews in Your Interviews
  
• How to Answer the Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question
  
• How to Answer the Do You Have Any Questions for Me Interview Question

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