What do I focus on here?
You should always be ready for an interview.
Simple as that. Don’t make “future you” do all the hard work!
There’s an episode of T.V. comedy “How I Met Your Mother” where two of the main characters – Ted and Marshall – know they need to make a decision about who gets to keep the apartment when one of them gets married. While playing video games, here’s how their exchange goes:
Marshall: “So, when Lily and I get married, who’s going to get the apartment?”
Ted: “That’s a tough one…. you know who I think can handle a problem like that?”
Marshall: “Who?”
Ted: “Future Ted and Future Marshall!”
Marshall: “Totally! Let’s let those guys handle it.”
When the time comes, they realize they hadn’t made a good decision and are stuck with a quick decision, leading to fights, etc.
Don’t let this be you! Prepare early. Prepare often. Future you will thank you!
Who is this for?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you wish you had more confidence stepping into job interviews?
- Are interviews intimidating to you?
- Do you really want to stand out, but not sure where to start?
- Do you sometimes think “I don’t know what I don’t know”?
- What are hiring managers looking for these days, anyway?
Did you answer yes to at least one of these? You’re in the right place.
My mission is to help younger professionals and those re-entering the workforce build the confidence they need to stand out in their next interview. I do this by providing my years of interviewing experience through simple, step-by-step tools and resources on this website.
Why should you always be ready for an interview?
Among many, here are the two primary reasons you should always be preparing for an interview:
- We – as employees – frequently look for new jobs.
- While most of us wait until the last minute (i.e. when we actually have an interview scheduled) to start prepping, it’s much, much more effective to prepare yourself little by little over a period of time.
We love changing jobs
Employees change jobs about every 4.2 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2018 Employee Tenure Report. In addition, you’re much more likely to change jobs more often earlier in your career, and less often later in your career.
So, if you’re in the first half of your career, you’ll likely change jobs more often than 4.2 years.
Based on this math, just as you really get going in a new role you may have to start prepping for another interview. For example:
- You may have an exciting opportunity come up where you want to apply
- Perhaps you’ll be asked to apply for a specific role, job, or internship
- Maybe you need to apply based on a change in circumstance (i.e. layoff, bad company fit, relocation, etc.).
Let’s just admit it – prepping for an interview isn’t going away. It’s best to accept this and put a system in place to help you more effectively – and easily! – equip yourself for your next interview.
What you can do to set yourself up for success – and make it easy
Do yourself a favor – avoid the last minute panic and stress of trying to prepare for your next job interview the night before.
Staying up late the night before your interview trying to think of interview examples is not ideal. But my guess is you already know that.
Here are two quick tips I recommend to avoid the typical interview prep frustration:
Tip #1 – Keep a notebook near you at work every day.
I don’t care if this is a physical notebook, digital notebook, an app you speak into on your phone, or skywriting (that would be pretty awesome, though). But you need a way to capture great potential interview examples as you go. It’s very difficult to capture everything you did when you’re preparing everything the night before the interview.
For example, did you have a fight with a co-worker? Great. How did you handle it? Write it down in your notebook (and maybe send an apology card if it was your fault).
Did you have a tight deadline that you squeaked out? Fantastic! Think about what led to that success and write it down.
Tip #2 – Choose a time each week to update your notebook.
In a perfect world, we would all take notes or update our app the minute something great – or terrible – happens that we think could turn into a terrific interview example.
However, we don’t live in the world of perfect.
Instead, set aside a time in your calendar each week to purposefully, intentionally update your notebook.
What gets scheduled, gets accomplished. If you don’t schedule this, it probably won’t happen.
But don’t worry
It takes time to get in the habit of always preparing for an interview. Once you get there, you’ll be glad you are.
In the meantime, I’ve got you covered! A lot of my content is designed with you in mind. My goal is to get you ready and EQUIPPED for your next job interview – whether it’s in 2 years or tomorrow!
If you need a jump start, check out the following articles:
- 4 Simple Strategies to Confidently Answer ‘Tell me about yourself’
- The Top 3 Things Every Hiring Manager is Looking For
- How to Easily Transform Your Job Interview Questions
Conclusion
Preparing for an interview little by little while in your current role has huge benefits when you actually get to the night before an interview.
Prepare early and often – don’t make ‘future you’ frustrated and stressed! Keep a log of activities each week. Good things, frustrating things, unusual interactions. You get it.
Keep the list up to date and you’ll give yourself a huge head start to your interview preparation.
Future you will thank you.
Discussion question
I’d love to hear from you! Join the conversation with the Equipped Community – we’re in this together! In the comments section below, share your thoughts on the following question.
What would make your interview preparation easier? What topics would you like to see me write about?
