How to ace an interview?

Take your cues from the interviewer. Respond to what you sense they need or want.

Be friendly and smile. Look them directly in the eye.

Take your time to make sure you understand a question before you speak.

Practice answers to yourself to the three questions you would be completely freaked out if the interviewer asked you. (That will give you confidence.)

Remember that you can do your best and still not get the job, because of something totally unrelated to you. Make you goal to come out of the interview feeling that you did your best.

Good luck.

Know about the company before you go. One of the questions might be along the lines of “Why did you choose this company?”

I am a horrible interview. I was at one for a place that made computer chips. It was really bad. Seriously bad. Did I mention that it was really bad? Like they asked, “What do you do in your spare time?” and I replied, “Beer and skateboarding.” It was really that bad.

Interview ends and she said she would get back to me in about a week.

The next morning I send her a fax that pretty much said “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn more about your company.. BLAH,BLAH,BLAH.”

She called right after I sent the fax and offered me the job.

I know this doesn’t help with the interview but it might help with the job search.

Good Luck

So per @johnpowell‘s experience, mention beer and skateboarding, you should have the job the next day. :)

What you should really get from @johnpowell‘s experience, (and what I came here to tell you in the first place), is that it is very important to send a thank you note. I prefer actual physical notes, but if that isn’t possible, go for an email/fax. In this economy, when there are so many more people competing for the same job and often with similar qualifications, a thank you note can give you that edge above the rest.

Don’t wait too long either. Write it the same day and mail it by the next day.

1. Practice what you would say for certain questions (kind of like scripting your ideas) so your brain is ready with an answer when it’s needed.

2. Obviously, dress appropriately and professionally. For me, the proper clothing can really boost my confidence in a certain situation. This might be the same for you.

3. Know the company well, and try to formulate some questions you can ask the interviewer that will cement an impression of an intelligent person who is interested in the company.

4. When answering questions, take a pause before you speak, & if you’re given a question that you don’t know how to answer, practice the art of stalling without looking like it. “I believe it was when…” and while you’re saying that you have a few extra seconds to think.

5. Follow up with a polite call or message (like @johnpowell) that says thank you. It will remind the interviewer of who you are, and you will be remembered far better than the other 10 people who didn’t stay in touch.

There’s no guarantee of acing it; you have no control over the interviewer’s expectations, filters, and biases or what the employer is looking for. But here are some additional answers on an older thread.

First off, yay for the interview!! I’m unemployed and haven’t had one interview in my months of job searching, so yay for you!

I haven’t really had an interview where the job wasn’t already guaranteed, so I don’t really know much except to be confident and polite. This is the second time I’ve said this about @kyanblue ‘s lists, but kyanblue pretty much has it down.

Good luck!

A thank-you note after the interview really does stand out. I have interviewed hundreds of people and the only time I ever got a thank-you note was when I went to a business college to recruit. Problem was, they all used the same template. They were all almost exactly the same. Not the creative, imagnative folks I was looking for.
A real thank-you note would cause me to pull that resume out again and go over my notes, maybe even call for a second interview.

Here is how to ace an interview:

The main things the interviewer wants to know are: 1. You will require very little time to get up to speed and be productive, 2. you will fit in and get along and 3. you will be reliable and dependable.

Be yourself and be honest.
Explain what you already know about the skills and abilities for the job. Show that you will be an asset right away. (NEVER say you are a quick learner. This means you won’t be productive right away.)
Smile, be pleasant, tell the interviewer that you really like this company. If possible, find something in the interviewers office that reveals something you are familiar with, a book, picture of her skiing. Make small talk about what you two have in common.

If the real you is who they want, you are in like Flynn. If the real you is not what they want, you will eventually be miserable trying to fit into their mold.

Good luck.

Have confidence and show it. I thought I was doing great in my last interview until my interviewer looked me in the eye, said “It’s OK. Calm down,” and I realized I was gripping the arms of the chair and trembling all over, while grinning and nodding to everything he said like some bobblehead maniac. I got the job, after calling back and emailing twice a week for four weeks.

@PerryDolia How does saying you’re a quick learner mean you won’t be productive right away? I’m a bit confused by your remark because I’m not sure of how A connects to B. GA, though! It makes sense to keep in mind what the interviewer is looking to find out about you.

@wildpotato Maybe I didn’t explain that well. Usually, when a person says they are a quick learner, what they MEAN is “I don’t know too much about this job, but I am a quick learner.” Usually, the quick learner part is said to compensate for not knowing much now. The interviewer doesn’t just want a quick learner, she wants someone who already knows and doesn’t need to compensate.

I understand @PerryDolia . I have done something almost exactly identical at my last job for 4+ years so I feel that there is not going to be a huge learning process just a matter of figuring out how they want it run versus the company i worked for previously. I have high hopes so I am just going to go in optimistically. Thanks everyone that answered you were all very helpful!

@wildpotato GA, you really made me laugh.

Be confident! Unless it’s a formal interview and you have to sit in front of Congress, don’t be afraid to speak candidly and have a sense of humor. Employers want people who are confident and competant; they want someone that will get along too.

Also, don’t look desperate. It would not look good to tell them how bad you need the job. They worry that you will bolt as soon as something better comes along.

@Judi Does a real thank you note mean stationary thank you notes, or a 8.5” x 11” letter?

Either way. I think it’s the effort that makes the difference.

@dee1313: I find that stationary thank you notes tend to go over better, especially with companies that are on the smaller side.

I don’t know. If I were interviewing someone and got a thank-you note, I’d think, “What a suckup”

@Allibaby808 Your comment to @PerryDolia brings up one more point. Avoid, at all costs, int he interview or once you work there saying, “At X company, they did this that way not this way.”

@NowWhat Are you a professional interviewer?

@YARNLADY You could say that

@NowWhat I could say just about anything, as long as it isn’t a swear word, but I’m asking you for your answer.

@NowWhat, most people who are concerned about “suck up’s” don’t often gravitate to management and hiring positions.

Contact after the interview is important, but it’s not the only thing. A couple years ago I interviewed a candidate who was really not qualified for the technical position we were hiring for. She sent lovely hand-written notecards to everyone who interviewed her; if she had spent as much effort brushing up on technical web issues she probably could have gotten the job.