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10 Things You Should Be Doing Before a Job Interview

<p>Whether you are a total networking guru with confidence beaming off every inch of your glossy-finish resume&comma; or a networking newbie who tripped over your new pant suit and spilled coffee on your crotch minutes before&comma; a job interview is always intimidating&period; Maybe you are a freshman looking to land your first summer internship or a senior haunted by the fact that graduation is only three months away&period; Either way&comma; a job interview is your one shot to show an employer who you are beyond your resume&period; It is the time to show them you aren&&num;8217&semi;t simply seeking any job&comma; you are seeking a job with <em>this<&sol;em> company&period; Therefore&comma; research is key&excl; Here are some tips on how to successfully prepare for a job interview&period; Whether it be for a large corporation or a small start-up&comma; you need to be prepared&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><strong>1&period; Google Alerts<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;" wp-image-2917 aligncenter" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tulanemagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;Screen-Shot-2018-02-19-at-7&period;56&period;05-PM&period;png" alt&equals;"Screen Shot 2018-02-19 at 7&period;56&period;05 PM" width&equals;"434" height&equals;"367" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Google Alerts sends notifications to your phone or in separate emails anytime a keyword &lpar;of your choice&rpar; is mentioned in the news&period; As soon as your interview gets scheduled&comma; set up Google Alerts on your phone to give you updates on the company’s news&period; It might be their website directly or a media outlet associated with your industry &lpar;i&period;e&comma; Wall Street Journal or AdAge&rpar; that will be most beneficial to you&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><b>2&period; Research the Press<&sol;b><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-2918 aligncenter" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tulanemagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;Screen-Shot-2018-02-19-at-8&period;00&period;06-PM&period;png" alt&equals;"Screen Shot 2018-02-19 at 8&period;00&period;06 PM" width&equals;"1576" height&equals;"318" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">What has been said about this company in the last few months&quest; Are they going through a transition&quest; Are they hiring a new executive&quest; Many websites will have a &&num;8220&semi;press&&num;8221&semi; section&period; It is important to remember that a job interview is not just about the role you are applying for&comma; it is about the company as a whole&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><strong>3&period; Social Media<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Follow the brand&sol;company on social media platforms to see what they are talking about in the few days leading up to your interview&period; If possible&comma; also follow the CEO&comma; COO or head of the division you are interviewing for on Twitter or Instagram&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;2920" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-2920" style&equals;"width&colon; 293px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignleft"><img class&equals;" wp-image-2920 alignleft" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tulanemagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;Screen-Shot-2018-02-19-at-8&period;03&period;52-PM&period;png" alt&equals;"Screen Shot 2018-02-19 at 8&period;03&period;52 PM" width&equals;"293" height&equals;"486" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-2920" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Editor of Teen Vogue<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;2919" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-2919" style&equals;"width&colon; 287px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignright"><img class&equals;" wp-image-2919 alignright" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tulanemagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;Screen-Shot-2018-02-19-at-8&period;03&period;42-PM&period;png" alt&equals;"Screen Shot 2018-02-19 at 8&period;03&period;42 PM" width&equals;"287" height&equals;"477" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-2919" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Conde Nast Careers&comma; Teen Vogue&&num;8217&semi;s Publisher<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><strong>4&period; Dress Code<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Ahh&comma; what to wear&comma; what to wear—the dreaded question that could have you throwing your brief case against the mirror the night before and crying into your blouses&period; The key&quest; Know your space&period; There are many industries where wearing a traditional suit and tie is a must&period; However&comma; if you are interviewing for a company that dresses business casual&comma; wear something that is both respectful but also shows them you could fit in there&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><b>5&period; Who is interviewing you&quest;<&sol;b><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Knowing their job title and their name isn&&num;8217&semi;t enough&period; Do a general Google and LinkedIn search to take notes on anything that could help you in the interview&period; It is always helpful to know if you have some sort of connection to them &lpar;same hometown&comma; same past employer&comma; same favorite sports team&comma; etc&rpar;&period; If you aren’t given the names of who will be interviewing you&comma; reach out to someone in HR and ask if they can provide you with the names&period; It is not pushy—it just shows your interest even more&excl; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><strong>6&period; Know the 30-60-90 Plan <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;" wp-image-2935 aligncenter" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tulanemagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;IMG&lowbar;0032&period;jpg" alt&equals;"IMG&lowbar;0032" width&equals;"442" height&equals;"294" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">What are the company’s goals&quest; What is their mission statement&quest; Why is the role you are applying for needed at the company&quest; These are questions you will consider when you make your 30-60-90 plan&comma; or a plan that maps out what you plan to do in your first three months at the company&period; It is important to think of yourself as not just another hire&comma; but an asset to the company as a whole&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><b>7&period; Glassdoor&comma; Glassdoor&comma; Glassdoor&excl; <&sol;b><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;glassdoor&period;com">Glassdoor&period;com<&sol;a> is a gift from the Gods&period; Search your company to find things like&colon; What have past employees been asked in their interviews&quest; What salary would you earn&quest; What is the company culture like&quest; This will give you a glimpse into what working there would <em>actually <&sol;em>be like&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><b>8&period; Come prepared with questions<&sol;b><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">You know the time will come when things start to wrap up &lpar;your sweat is starting to subside&rpar; and you will be asked&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Do you have any questions for me&quest;” YES&period; Even if you don&&num;8217&semi;t have a question&comma; ask a question&period; This is another way of the employer testing you to see how engaged you are in the company&sol;the role you are striving for&period;  Here are a few go-tos&colon; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol>&NewLine;<li>What will the company look like in five years&quest;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">What is your favorite thing about working here&quest; <&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">What does your onboarding process look like&quest; <&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">How is success measured in this role&quest;   <&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<h2><strong>9&period; What Sets You Apart&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">A job interview is like an audition in many ways&period; Maybe you aren&&num;8217&semi;t sitting in the hallway with 40 other people who look identical to you&comma; but you may be one impressive resume among a hundred&period; Make sure that you don&&num;8217&semi;t leave without setting yourself apart&period; You want them to remember you&period; Don&&num;8217&semi;t pull a Jennifer Lawrence tripping down the Oscar staircase or a Tom Cruise dancing on top of your interviewer&&num;8217&semi;s desk&comma; but make sure you connect with them on a personal level or tell them about the unique thing you have been involved in on campus&period; When you write your thank you letter later&comma; you will want something to reference that jogs their memory of you&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><strong>10&period; Know Your Place Before Leaving<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;2945" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-2945" style&equals;"width&colon; 413px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;" wp-image-2945 aligncenter" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tulanemagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;arm-1294052&lowbar;960&lowbar;720&period;png" alt&equals;"arm-1294052&lowbar;960&lowbar;720&period;png" width&equals;"413" height&equals;"341" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-2945" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Pixabay<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Leaving is just as important as your grand entrance&period; If you feel that there is something left unsaid&comma; you may go as far as to ask them&comma; &&num;8220&semi;Is there anything else I can provide you with&quest;&&num;8221&semi; or &&num;8220&semi;Do you have any reservations about my ability to take on this role&quest;&&num;8221&semi; When leaving&comma; make sure to thank them for their time and scurry home to write your thank you letter&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Good luck&excl; If you first one is a flop&comma; the good news is there is <em>always<&sol;em> another job interview&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>COVER GRAPHIC&colon; Vicky Novak<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Have any tips of your own&quest; Comment below&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine; <&excl;-- WP Biographia v4&period;0&period;0 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"wp-biographia-container-top" style&equals;"background-color&colon; &num;FFEAA8&semi; border-top&colon; 4px solid &num;000000&semi;"><div class&equals;"wp-biographia-pic" style&equals;"height&colon;100px&semi; width&colon;100px&semi;"><img alt&equals;'' src&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;secure&period;gravatar&period;com&sol;avatar&sol;6b27f4291e19adf0f9f51562c61cc2d8e30bddc2e4f23e0008be3a7f580a930a&quest;s&equals;100&&num;038&semi;d&equals;wp&lowbar;user&lowbar;avatar&&num;038&semi;r&equals;g' srcset&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;secure&period;gravatar&period;com&sol;avatar&sol;6b27f4291e19adf0f9f51562c61cc2d8e30bddc2e4f23e0008be3a7f580a930a&quest;s&equals;200&&num;038&semi;d&equals;wp&lowbar;user&lowbar;avatar&&num;038&semi;r&equals;g 2x' class&equals;'wp-biographia-avatar avatar-100 photo' height&equals;'100' width&equals;'100' &sol;><&sol;div><div class&equals;"wp-biographia-text"><h3>About <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tulanemagazine&period;com&sol;author&sol;thecrescentmag&sol;" title&equals;"The Crescent Magazine">The Crescent Magazine<&sol;a><&sol;h3><p><&sol;p><div class&equals;"wp-biographia-links"><small><ul class&equals;"wp-biographia-list wp-biographia-list-text"><li><a href&equals;"mailto&colon;Blu&&num;109&semi;e&&num;110&semi;&&num;116&semi;h&&num;97&semi;&&num;108&semi;&period;&&num;97&semi;&&num;118&semi;i&&num;118&semi;&&num;97&semi;&&num;64&semi;&&num;103&semi;&&num;109&semi;a&&num;105&semi;&&num;108&semi;&period;com" target&equals;"&lowbar;self" title&equals;"Send The Crescent Magazine Mail" class&equals;"wp-biographia-link-text">Mail<&sol;a><&sol;li> &vert; 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