What to do the night before your interview

We are no stranger to the butterflies of anxiety and excitement the night before any job interview, no matter how many job interviews you may have faced in the past.

The age-old adage of ‘preparation’ and ‘practice’ might just help those pre-interview butterflies settle before your big day, so here are 5 tried and tested (and Careers360 approved) tips to try on the night before your job interview:

1. Fail to plan, you plan to fail

If you are invited for a physical job interview, make sure to get extra copies of your resume and supporting documents, pack your bag, set up an extra alarm (or multiple, if you are a ‘snoozer’) and iron your clothes the previous night. Don’t leave room for Norochcholai breakdowns, strikes or random power cuts to ruin your plans! Make sure to also check the distance from your home to the location and add on an additional half an hour to account for any traffic – you don’t want your job interviewer to build their first impression of you huffing, puffing, and wheezing out a sorry excuse for being late.

Many people think virtual job interviews are easier, however, they require the same amount of preparation as well. Make sure you double-check all your technology prior to the job interview and ensure the stability of the network connection. Purchase that additional GB, if it is the end of the month and be ready with your mobile data as well in the case of a bad network connection. Ensure you also do that audio-video quality check well in advance to the interview.

2. Research, Research and Research!

An interview is very much like a first date – it is important to have some idea about the other party and what they are looking for, at least to get a conversation started.

Knowledge is power! Having an idea about the company history, work culture, industry the company is in and its current trends, product offerings and any references you know at the company would give you a superior edge and help you build conversation and rapport with your interview panel.

Researching your interview panel at least with a brief LinkedIn check will help you to feel much more relaxed at the interview and also help you find similarities to connect with, to build that first impression.

Remember, everyone appreciates effort! Employers know that there is always information available on the world wide web, whether it is a company website, LinkedIn pages or any other social media and press articles and they know if you’ve taken the effort or not to do your research or not.

3. Practice your Elevator Pitch!

Interviewers are also people and people are busy. Our brains are always looking for shortcuts to identify patterns and this can lead to biases.

This question of “Tell me about yourself” will be your opening pitch and you have just about 10 seconds to grasp and capture the first impression advantage with what you share.

Getting your elevator pitch perfect warrants a separate blog post altogether!

4. Prepare for QUESTIONS!

You would be surprised by the weird reactions that pressure can create! There have been many instances where many interviewees go blank or blurt out the most random of examples or responses that don’t portray them in their best light. Therefore, researching the values of the organization would help you understand what qualities they look for in their talent and allow you to be prepared with examples in your career/academic life that match these values.

Have you heard of the STAR model? The STAR (or Situation, Task, Action and Result) method is a structured method of responding to an competency-based interview question by describing the specific situation, task, action, and result of the situation to showcase your attitude, skills, and competencies in the best light. Recalling and meditating on your different experiences and scenarios using the STAR model, the night before your interview will ensure they are not too far away from mind, where nerves and anxiety could make you forget.

5. Recharge and Relax!

You are supposed to showcase the best version of yourself, so having a good night’s sleep is essential to stay focused and energetic during the interview. This will allow you to provide accurate and creative answers to all the tricky questions the interview panel will throw at you during the interview.

Focus on all the achievements that you have had in your career and believe in yourself. This is after all, just another interview and this one interview cannot define who you are and what you will go on to achieve. At most, it can only help you see how to improve at the next one! :)

All the best and may the force be with you to ace that interview!

Did you find our article useful? Subscribe to the Careers360 blog now to get the latest insights right to your inbox. Also don’t forget to sign up on www.careers360.lk to find your lucky break through headhunting or applying for the latest job openings in Sri Lanka!