Get the Most Out of Your Job Interview

Applicants can be in the drivers’ seat

Photo by Ben White, Unsplash

Job interviews shine as critical pivot points in our lives, opening and closing doors to new opportunities. Although the process often feels like a passive one, there’s plenty of room for life-changing action by the applicant. With attention, you can accrue better benefits, raise your starting salary, and duck signing up for a miserable job. Here’s a few of the actions I’ve learned as a hiring manager and an applicant:

Be prepared

Find out as much as you can about the position, the organization, and its people. Use social media and the internet. Study the organization’s website. Is it up-to-date? Do you really want to work for an organization that can’t even keep its public face in order? Look for budgets and annual reports and take the time to read them. Do they make sense? Is the annual budget growing or shrinking? If the interview is for a position in a particular program, read about that program so you get a better understanding of it. Write down your questions to bring with you to the interview. Be sure you are clear which of your possibly many applications are the subject of the interview. Few things frost the heart of a hiring manager like an applicant who doesn’t know what they’re interviewing for.