If you are looking for a job, this information may be of interest to you. There are 25 tips to be well prepared and do well in a job interview in marketing, advertising or communication. Although they can really be applied to other sectors. Are you ready to show the best of you?
How to prepare for a job interview
You receive a call on your mobile, you answer and the person on the other end makes an appointment for a job interview for private or government jobs. You get nervous, you get blocked and you practically don’t know what to say. Be careful, because now is the time to put our plan into action. Stay calm, take a deep breath, grab a pen and paper, and don’t forget to get this information before you hang up:
- contact person name and phone number
- date, time and address of the appointment
- company and department that call you
- type of interview you are going to do and name of the interviewer.
If, in addition, you can obtain data on the vacant position, great. This is a good start! Anyway, don’t worry, now I’ll tell you in more details.
1. Do some preliminary research
From the time you receive the call until the day of the interview, you have time to activate the action protocol in these cases. The important thing is to get down to work as soon as possible to go as well prepared as possible. First of all, get as much information as you can about the company , the position and the interviewer .
The company
Search for the company on Google and see everything that appears about it on the first page of results. Visit its website , look at the history of the brand, its mission, vision, values, the services or products it offers, what its specialty is, what type of clients it has, what communication style it uses and what the team is like. I invite you to take a good tour of the entire page and take notes.
the post
In the first call you receive, you should ask about the position for which they are looking for a candidate. At the very least, try to know the department. Then, another option you have is to take a look at employment portal. Possibly, the company has published that job offer and there you will find all the details of the necessary skills , functions and characteristics of the job.
The interviewer
Generally, there are three alternatives about the person who interviews you. It can be someone from human resources , a temporary employment company or, directly, the head or director of the department. In the latter case, I suggest you look for the person on social networks, start following them, pay attention to how they express themselves and the type of content they share. At least you get an idea of what he is like, you see his face and you don’t blindly go to the interview. This will give you confidence.
2. Follow the blog and social networks of the company
I recommend that you follow the blogs and social networks of the companies in which you want to work or collaborate. Not only that. Read the content they publish, leave comments on their articles adding value, share their posts on social networks mentioning their accounts, react to their posts on Twitter and Facebook (retweet, like, share, comment…)… In short, stay active on their digital platforms and give them feedback. It is the best way that currently exists to show interest. Above all, if we talk about the marketing, advertising and communication sector.
3. Ask what kind of job interview you are going to have
Job interviews usually last about 30 minutes . That is the time you have to convince the coach of your worth. Before going to the appointment, you should know what type of interview you are going to have. In general, there are two options:
Individual
You are alone with the interviewer and the conversation you have can be:
Directed . They give you a questionnaire that includes the same questions for all the candidates. The key is to be clear and brief in your answers.
The person who interviews you leaves you free and is open to you talking about your experience following the guidelines that you set. Interviewer maybe asked the first question “Tell me about yourself“.The talk unfolds in a more fluid way, without a predetermined script. In this case, the most advisable thing is to tell your career in chronological order, highlighting your strengths and making it clear what you can contribute to the company.
This interview model is quite common. It is a mix between the first and the second. There is a basic questionnaire with closed questions but, at the same time, they leave you space to take the speech to your own ground and take the initiative.
Group
They bring you together with several candidates (10 maximum) and they present you with a situation so that you can solve it together. The selector looks at aspects such as the ability to work as a team, leadership, communication, interpersonal relationships and the skills of each one.
4. Tweak your CV
It is assumed that when they call you for the job interview it is because they have previously seen your CV and liked it. However, it is convenient for you to go to the appointment with the updated resume on paper or in PDF on a pen drive. When you have specific information about the company and the position for which you are called, touch up and adapt your resume, highlighting the experience and skills that best fit what they are looking for. If you need advice, here are 20 tips to make a good CV and 35 creative CV templates .
5. Update and complete your LinkedIn profile
One of the first actions that the recruiter of the company that calls you will do is to look for you on Linkedin. You know that, right? It is the number one professional social network worldwide. It is convenient for you to have your profile complete, updated and be active on the platform. As in the CV, I suggest that you give prominence to the jobs and skills that best fit the position for which you have been called. In case it helps you, here are some recommendations for Personal Branding on Linkedin and other social networks .
6. Review your career path
During the interview, nerves can make you forget something important. To prevent this from happening, review your career beforehand, take a good look at all the data on your resume and mark the jobs that you are most interested in highlighting. I am telling you this so that you can think about it and not leave it to chance. When you tell it during the interview, do it in chronological order and in an entertaining way using storytelling and introducing some more personal information.
7. Prepare your Elevator Pitch
It’s good to prepare an Elevator Pitch in case you see the opportunity to count it. It is a speech, about 2 minutes at most, where you introduce yourself, highlight your specialty , your strengths and say what you can contribute. You have to focus on what is most relevant, not on what is most recent, thinking about how to provide a solution to the company’s needs. Drawing attention and being convincing are the objectives of this message. I suggest that when you prepare it, you rehearse it a couple of times in front of someone you trust. Ask him for his opinion afterwards. I’m sure it will help you improve it.