On average, an interviewer will make up their mind about a candidate in the first five minutes of the interview.

This is true. I hear it all the time. That is not a lot of time to sell you or to win a job. Consider that you are going up against at least a handful of candidates that have been recommended by a friend or relative, as well as a few that are more qualified then you are. So how to you get yourself hired? By preparing for the interview.

A FIGHTING CHANCE

The single best thing you can do before a job interview is to prepare for it. Some people actually go into interviews and try to wing it. This is the wrong approach. You may know yourself and your skill set, but most of the time your answers should vary depending on the type of job you are interviewing for and the company that is hiring.

Each interviewer is looking for specific skills or characteristics when interviewing a candidate so you need to go into the meeting well prepared and with a strategy.

For every interview you land, consider the following group of questions and generate short, concise answers based on the information you are able to gather about the company, the position, and the product/service you will be involved with.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO SMASH

When going through these, please remember to keep all answers work related and plug in your skills and experience as often as possible.

• Tell me a little about yourself…

• What are your strengths?

• What areas do you think you could improve on (weaknesses)?

• Give me an example of a past experience where you had a conflict with one of your co-workers. How was it resolved?

• How do your skills make you a good fit for this position?

• Why do you want to leave your current job (why did you leave your last job)?

• Give me a description of your ideal manager/worst experience with a previous manager.

• What do you know about our company?

• Describe your ideal job.

• What are you doing now to improve yourself?

These are just some of the hundreds of questions that you may be asked, but this list should get you started on creating a good preparation plan for job interviews. If you have any more, please send them too me or add them in the comments below.