Interviews can be undertaken by telephone, video, at an assessment centre alongside other candidates, or face-to-face, either with an individual interviewer or with an interview panel. Getting an interview means you’ve done something right, but making yourself stand out, for the right reasons, at an interview takes effort.
Begin your preparation by revisiting the job advert, the company website and your application. Establish the qualifications, skills and experience they are looking for and expand on what you have written in your application about them so that you can speak confidently about why you think you meet their specification. Don’t just reiterate verbatim what you’ve written in your application.

Interviewers want to see if you can communicate well
Also remember, that an interviewer wants to know about you as a person, so be prepared to talk about personal interests, hobbies and activities, particularly if this is an interview for a first job. Remember, interviewers are interested in your contribution to an activity or an achievement – be honest if things didn’t have the outcome you hoped for, and be prepared to say what you learned about yourself and what you have done to improve since. Everybody has something to say about themselves and interviewers want to see whether you can communicate well, in an appropriately confident manner, and will fit in.

Show you are truly interested in the company
Identify key information about the organisation from business plans, financial reports, previous and current projects, media interviews and social media posts. From this identify high profile personnel, news, evidence of innovation, trends within the relevant industry, competitors within the same sector and any particular strengths of the company. Tailor your search to the nature of the post you are applying for, but make sure you can show you are truly interested in the company and have invested your time to learn about them.
Based on the job specification, your application and your research on the company, draft and practise answers to the questions that are likely to be asked. The internet is full of advice on preparing for interviews and planning answers to questions. You also need to ensure that you have at least a couple of questions to ask at the end of the interview, but ensure that these could not have easily been answered by you doing some basic research; it is perfectly acceptable to have written these questions down, but put them in a smart notebook or on your phone, as long as you can easily find them.

Present yourself in the best possible light
Being nervous is normal, but don’t let it get the better of you. You can overcome your nerves by being confident that you are well prepared, thinking about the types of questions you might be asked and practising them, and presenting yourself in the best possible light. This means being appropriately dressed, having polished shoes, arriving well in time, and remembering who is interviewing you. Make sure you introduce yourself by your full name to everyone, including the receptionist, and offer to shake hands. First impressions really do count.