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Preparation key to successful job interview

Interviews can be nerve-wracking, but there are ways to calm those nerves.

"The No. 1 mistake in an interview situation is lack of pre-interview preparation," said John Montemayor, the Career Center coordinator for the College of Arts and Science at USC Upstate.

"A lot of students don’t do research on the company (they are interviewing with), and they aren’t anticipating the types of questions that will be asked of them," said Montemayor.

Darrin Goss, the assistant dean of students and director of career services at Wofford College, agrees.

"One of the key things I tell my students is to show interest during an interview. One way to do this is to do your research and ask great questions," Goss said.

Goss encourages job seekers to know something about the organization — who are they marketing to, what their products are, etc.

For example, if interviewing for a position in a bank, visit a branch of that bank to get a feel for the culture.

"It’s not only about them finding out about you, but about you finding out about them, too," Goss said.

Montemayor encourages students to look at their resume before an interview to think about possible red flags that may come up. Examples include job-hopping or too much time between jobs.

"A good resume gets you the interview, but if you don’t know your resume and what’s on there, it comes across in the interview," Goss said.

Goss warns, however, not to have "canned" answers. "I always tell my students to be natural. This helps build rapport with the recruiter."

Both USC Upstate and Wofford career centers conduct mock interviews with students. During these interviews, the student is evaluated on dress, nonverbal communication, body language and how they deliver their answers. The students

are evaluated from the handshake at the beginning of the interview all the way through to the follow-up questions at the end.

Montemayor says the Career Center has a lot of experience conducting interviews outside of

a university setting and in many different fields.

"We can give a real-life perspective on how the

whole interview process goes," Montemayor said.

After all of this interview advice, students are prepared, but not everyone will be getting a job offer.

Both Montemayor and Goss agree that it is a good idea to ask recruiters for feedback concerning the interview after the position has been filled.

Questions such as, "Was there anything that made me less competitive?" or "Tell me about the person who got the job" are good, nonthreatening ways to get some feedback.

Then, job seekers know what to improve on for the next interview.

Overall, Goss said be yourself and know yourself.

"You cannot cram for a career," he said. "Do serious soul searching and reflection about what it is that you have a passion for. There is no right or wrong answer, just your answer, and you need to be able to articulate that."