How to Prepare for Your First Out-of-College Interview

For recent grads just starting their careers, sitting down face to face with a potential employer can be a terrifying thought. The interview is a key component of the hiring process and recent grads can relieve their anxiety by being prepared for it. If you are facing your first post-college interview, prepare by knowing the organization, your resume, and your answers.

Before you go on any interview it is important you know as much as possible about the company. Research their Web sites and find out what the company's purpose, history and values are. You should also try to find out as much as you can about the position you are applying for and the duties, responsibilities, and skills it demands. The more you know about the company and position, the better you will be able to communicate to the interviewer that you are the right person for it.

Interviewers do not know you, and the only thing that they know about you is the little, yet significant, information on your resume. Typically you will be asked questions based on that information, which is why it is important that you know how to answer questions about your job experience and academic background. Do a little preparation and come up with specific examples about significant contributions and accomplishments you have made or what the most important things you learned were. Through self-assessment, you can determine what strengths and skills you gained through your experiences and be able to effectively market them to an employer.

The main point of an interview is to ask questions and get answers, which is why it is important to know what yours are going to be. You can save yourself a lot of trouble and anxiety by thinking about how to answer certain questions in a way that will portray you in the best light. It helps to know about the different types of interview questions and their purposes. Open-ended questions are meant to learn more about a person's thought process while closed-ended ones are asked when the employer needs simple yes or no answers. Hypothetical questions help to determine how someone analyzes things or may behave in a certain situation. Having well thought-out answers to these types of questions will not only help calm your nerves, but increase your confidence as well.