Top 5 Interview Tips for Landing an Internship or Job

 Your interview is your time to shine and the key to getting hired. When you are prepared for your interview, it shows. Hiring managers speak to prospect employees all day, they can tell when someone is prepared and when someone isn’t. Here are the top 5 HonorSociety.org interview tips so that you can be best prepared for your interview.

1. Do a mock interview. It is so important for you to practice your interviews before going into the real ones. The mock interviewer may throw questions at you that you didn’t prepare for and this buys you time to practice your answers before receiving the unexpected questions during the real interview. A mock interviewer can also give you feedback on your behavioral language like your body posture and smiling which is something that is easy to forget and hard to see on ourselves. It is especially beneficial if you can have someone interview you who knows the real interviewer or someone in the company as they may have extra insight on what’s important during the interview. If you’re not sure who to ask to practice with, head over to you career services or ask a friend.  HonorSociety.org has recently revamped its career services and includes virtual mock interviews which is a great way to take advantage of your membership and you can practice right from your own home.

2. Know why you’re passionate about that position and company. You want to avoid being generic during your interview. Do your research on the company and what the department you're interviewing in has accomplished. Really talk about the position and the company and why it’s a great fit for you and why you’re a great fit for them. Your interviewer is taking the time out of their busy day to talk to you and you want to make it well worth their time. You’ll show this by demonstrating your passion. Make sure that you’ve done your research and that it’s authentic. If you’re generic or you’re faking your passion, it will be noticeable and it will not be well received.

3. Bring a copy of your resume. Even if you know that your interviewer has a copy of your resume, you want to make sure that you bring at least two copies in the chance that the interviewer isn’t able to bring the copy into the interview or if someone unexpected decides to join the interview. When you look prepared in your interview, the interviewer will see you as someone who is prepared in their job as well. If you don’t look prepared in your interview, he or she is going to think if you can’t be prepared for an interview, how are you going to be prepared for this position? You also want to make sure that your resume is polished. If you’re not sure that it is as polished as it should be, take advantage of resume review resources. If you’re an HonorSociety.org member, you have access to one-on-one reviews of your resume and cover letters.

4. Listen carefully and answer thoughtfully. If you’ve rehearsed your interview, you might be tempted to get caught up in only saying what you practiced. However, you need to listen closely to what you’re being asked and provide a thoughtful answer. Don’t feel like you need to fill every second with talking. If you have to pause and think about your answer, that’s ok. Your interviewer will appreciate that you know how to give a thoughtful answer.

5. Send an email thank you the day of and then send a handwritten thank you note. This step is very important, and you’d be surprised by how few people do this. You want to send two notes. One would be a thank you email a few hours after you had your interview. Make sure you send individual emails to each of the people who you met, even if they didn’t lead the interview. Do not cc them. It’s important to personalize each one of them. Then, you want to go ahead and mail out handwritten notes that same day so that they can receive them as soon as possible. While it may seem easily overlooked, there are companies out there who put a very strong weight on the thank you note.