Getting the foot in the door...

Interviews. The gateway to that dream job (Or something to do until the dream job comes along).

It's a safe bet to say that everyone gets nerves at some point with any interview. No matter how many interviews a person can go to, there will always be the niggling voice in the back of the mind filling you with doubt or adding to nerves. So what are some of the ways one can help reduce the stress and make an interview go well?

One of the most important things to do is research. If you are trying to nail a job in a really tough company that's in high demand, it is wise to prepare yourself with as much knowledge about the company as possible. Preparing yourself this way allows you to ask ample questions that prove you are keen and interested, as well as shows that you have initiative to do some research.

First impressions really do count, be it in person, on phone or via email. If a phone interview is occurring one should be clear and concise. Yes there may be some nerves, generally interviewers take this into consideration. If the interview is in person, definitely dress appropriately. If unsure, contact someone in the company and just ask what the dress code is. This is more beneficial then taking a guess.

Finally the questions are what is most important. It is increasingly common that the questions you may be asked in an interview are testing personality and behavioral traits without your knowledge. Some can be obvious. For example, I applied to work as a train conductor for a company. The application process ended up stretching into a 6 month long ordeal. The process started with an initial online application where my CV was uploaded. This was followed by a brief phone interview with instruction of the next step. This included a series of aptitude tests. Three rounds of them to weed out more and more applicants. Finally I made it to a face to face group interview, in which the panel was rather rude and condescending, and I was knocked back. In this case, given how they portrayed themselves, it was possibly for the best, however this demonstrates an example of how some companies operate, and the lengths they will go to find their optimal employees.

It is important to realise that despite being knocked back on several interviews, each one can be valuable as you can learn a lot from each one. Where you could have potentially improved the outcome, or done things differently. I always like to think of interviews as simply getting to know one another. For all you know, maybe the job and people aren't right for you, and it gives you the opportunity to suss them out before it is too late.

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