How to Prepare for a Business Interview

I have been working for private companies for about 11 years. This is my third company. I have been to tens of business interviews. I learned from each and I also spent a good deal of time to search the subject of getting prepared for business interviews. Here are some tips that I benefited to the most. In the end you see that success in a business interview is all about concentration and preparation.

• First of all you should memorize your resume. Create a good story of yourself which is flowless. And tell your story to yourself aloud first to hear how it sounds, preferrably before a mirror. Always tell the truth but work on your words. How you state a fact is very important. You do not need to give them more than enough about yourself.
• Relate everthing in your resume with the position that you want.  Even if it involves a lot of creativity, use all your imagination..
• Try to guess the questions that will be directed to you. These will probably match the questions that arise in your mind while scanning your resume. There should be nothing in your resume that will cause distress if asked. So prepare your answers, again aloud and before a mirror if possible.
• Work on your weaknesses and try to word them as positively as possible.
• Think about your accomplishments and be ready to talk about and prove them. If you do not think that you have any accomplishments, you are wrong. Turn to your resume and study until you find them.
• Always be positive while telling your story. Be positive about your ex job, ex work mates and generally about your life and expectations. Show them that you are not coming to them with your baggage.
• Practice what you have to say several times until you memorize them. This is very important. This will save your day even if you suddenly lose control and get excited.
• Get insider knowledge about the company and the sector. Internet and other resources are good, make the most out of them but insider knowledge is the best. Use all of your resources to talk to someone in that office or at least in the same sector. Don’t be shy. Most people will take this professionally and respond positively. But be very carefull to distinguish between real feedback and emotional ones which might be resulting from that person’s own expectations.
• Any inconvenience that you will live through that day will steal from your positive energy. To prevent that try to plan the day of meeting and get prepared as much as you can beforehands. Prepare your clothes for example, charge your cell phone and plan how you will get to the company.
• Take a portfolio with you containing a copy of your resume, a pen and paper, the address of the company and the name and phone numbers of your contact. If you are already working take your business cards with you also.
• When you are called for an interview, always get the full name of the person that you have spoken to and a phone number or e-mail address to reach him or her. This is important because you might want to call them back to ask questions about the interview or to change the meeting date because of an emergency.
• Asking questions in an interview is nice to have but being cliche or insincere is not nice. So ask something that you really are curious about or interested and be thoughtful enough not to cause any inconvenience to the interviewer with your questions, which will swipe away all the positive atmosphere that you are trying to create. No need to say that you should prepare your questions beforehands.
• Never forget that the person interviewing you is eager to find someone suitable to work with as soon as possible and he or she expects and actually wants you to succeed, not to fail. So just be yourself and be cool enough to fully show your values off.