{"id":774703,"date":"2017-03-06T19:21:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T19:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/general\/seven-tips-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:57:19","slug":"seven-tips-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/career-and-financial-advice\/seven-tips-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Tips to Prepare for a Job Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s no question that preparing for an interview can increase your chances of being hired. You will need more than just a clean suit and a smile!<\/p>\n

The following tips will help convince your interviewer that you will be a great asset to their organization.<\/p>\n

    \n\t
  1. Arrive early: <\/strong>15 minutes. Map out your travel plan prior to the interview date.<\/li>\n\t
  2. Wear a suit: <\/strong>It shows professionalism. You only get one time to make a good impression.  Avoid loud colors, strong perfume and too much jewelry.<\/li>\n\t
  3. Prepare ahead of time:<\/strong> Research the company. Some managers may ask you what you think about the company and its mission.  Be prepared to explain how your skills and experience fit into the job.  Some employers may ask you to role-play, or explain how you would respond in certain situations.<\/li>\n\t
  4. What to bring: <\/strong>At least three copies of your current resume, a list of 3-5 professional reference,s and samples of your work, if applicable (e.g,. teaching and art careers).<\/li>\n\t
  5. Ask questions: <\/strong>Even if the interviewer has answered all of your questions, ask at least one.  Examples:  How do you see the future for this industry?  What are the career paths in this department?  What would you consider the most important aspects of this job?  Remember to ask when a final hiring decision will be made.<\/li>\n\t
  6. Remember your etiquette:<\/strong> Remember to shake hands, smile when appropriate, make eye contact with the interviewer and be aware of your posture.  It may not hurt to have some breath mints.  Shut off your cell phone.<\/li>\n\t
  7. Have a prepared answer for these common questions<\/strong>: What are your weaknesses?  Avoid answers that sound like a liability.  Turn the weakness into an area of strength.  For example, \u201cI do not have an extensive background in customer service, but I am eager to gain more experience and I work well with diverse groups.\u201d  What are your strengths?  \u201cI am a quick leaner, good communicator and always punctual.\u201d <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There\u2019s no question that preparing for an interview can increase your chances of being hired. You will need more than just a clean suit and a smile! These tips will help convince your interviewer that you will be a great asset to their organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[98,102,106],"class_list":["post-774703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-and-financial-advice","tag-advance-your-career","tag-goodprospects","tag-start-your-job-search"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":778328,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774703\/revisions\/778328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}