How to prepare for an interview - in the right way

To prepare effectively for an interview, you have lots of work to do. We have advice elsewhere to help you do that.

For example, you need to research the company you are hoping to work with thoroughly, you need to establish what they are looking for in a candidate, you need to know your CV, your achievements and what you want the panel to remember about you.

But in order to communicate this all effectively, you need to practice.

An interview is a verbal interaction. It requires verbal practice.

That seems simple, but it is overlooked by the vast majority of candidates. You need to practice your key examples and answer out loud. Talk to a friend, talk to a family member, talk to yourself, talk to us. Just talk.

And not just at the end of your preparation. Talk out your answers from day one. It will considerably speed up the process.

Practising verbally does not mean learning answers verbatim. Scripting your answers and learning them off by heart makes you sound rehearsed and it’s difficult to remember. Similarly, thinking your answers through in your head makes you feel like you are being proactive, but it has significantly less impact than proper out loud practice.

The only effective way to prepare is to practice answering the question. Talk until you are tired of hearing your own voice. And then practice ten more times.

You will need to deliver the answers on the day, under pressure. So you need a muscle memory of saying them out loud. Think of it like a sportsperson preparing for a big match. They practice the key movements, plays and techniques in a training environment so that they can replicate them in the right moment, under pressure.

The above tips really only scratch the surface of what you need to prepare for an interview. The Communications Clinic offers tailored one to one interview preparation sessions to help you get over the line and secure the job you want. We put you through an interview, record it, assess it and make you better.