How To Prepare For Your First Interview

For any Interview there are a couple of things you want to find an answer to as best as you possibly can:

• Know WHY you want the job — What is in it for you? Why take this job out of thousands of other jobs? Why do you want this one?
• Know WHAT you like about it — Get specific in what you like about the job and get honest. From what you know what is the best part about it? What can you really get excited about? If you find nothing, why are you even having this interview?
• Know what THEY want — Why is the company looking for people? What do they want? Look at how much you will be paid and then realize that they think they are going to get a better deal out of it, so ask yourself what you can bring to the table that would give them a far greater deal than they anticipated.
• Know WHY they want it — Most companies want to make a profit. You are there to help them make that profit. If you can understand why the individual in front of you wants to make money you have a very deep, resounding reason for them to hire you.
• Be honest and direct — If you really thought about it you will have answers to the 4 points above. With that at your back it should be easy to be direct and to take the conversation into your own hands. When you know what they want and what you want it’s easy to be direct, cutting out all the B.S. questions and right through the main event.
• Be confident with yourself, they should hire you for you — Trust me, if you fake who you are during the interview you will be treated as that fake. This will ruin you over time. Be yourself, even if you do not get the job. Because the job you do get will be all the sweeter.

Extra Pro-Tip: Make THEM justify themselves to YOU.

“ Why should I work for you? What makes your company stand out amongst the rest? Why do I want to work for you?”

If you can change the frame around like this and gain that control over the conversation your chances of being hired skyrocket.

The problem is that this requires an incredibly amount of confidence, seriousness and self-belief.

Which are all things you want to prepare to the best of your ability before the interview regardless!

A large part of any interview is the attitude you approach it with.

If you know what you want and what they want it makes it easier to be confident going in, but even if you don’t know any of that, as long as you believe in yourself the whole interview will go differently.

Work on your emotional state to empower yourself as much as possible before the interview.

Get out of your own way. You deserve this job and stand above it.

If they want you, they better have a really good reason, because you are the prize.

Originally published at http://quora.com.