To really shine in the interview and secure the job offer, you need to stand out from your competition and make that employer feel comfortable enough with you to offer you the job. The more strategically you prepare for your interview, the better you’ll perform and the more likely you’ll get the job offer.

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Let’s Look At 5 Ways You Should Be Preparing For Your Job Interview:

Related: How To Answer 5 Tricky Job Interview Questions

Research The Company

You should know everything you can about this company before you interview. The more you know, the smarter and more dedicated you will appear. You’ll also be better prepared to answer their questions and ask insightful questions of your own.

Research The Interviewer

It’s an extra step to research the person who will be interviewing you, but it’s a valuable one. When you know a little something about this person’s background or education, you’ll have clues about what may be important to this person and what they may be most interested in hearing about from you.

Make A List Of Questions To Ask

You should have a list of good questions to ask during the interview (but never anything you could have found out easily with your research). One important question is ‘What qualities would someone have who is a perfect fit for this job?’ The person who gets closest to their wish list will get the offer, and this question gives you a blueprint to follow with your interview answers. You want to know about their goals and expectations for someone in this role. You can also ask about their own experiences with this company to give you big clues about the culture and whether or not you will fit in.

Prepare Interview Answers That ‘Sell’ You For The Job

You need to know that every single answer you give, from “Tell me about yourself” to the last question is another chance for you to sell yourself for this job. Practice answering common interview questions—either with someone else, or record them for yourself. Find out how you are coming across and refine/polish your answers and delivery as needed.

Practice Telling The Stories That Illustrate Your Successes

They will ask you about things like your greatest accomplishment or your toughest challenge. Think about what qualities are necessary to perform well at this job and then think of stories from your past that show that you have those qualities. Always remember to tell what happened as a result of your actions (described in numbers, dollars, or percentages if possible). A good way to make sure you do this is to structure your stories using the STAR technique (Situation or Task; Action you took; Result you got). Career Confidential is giving away a FREE Job Interview Prep Kit. It’s a comprehensive workbook that walks you through everything you should be doing to prepare for a powerful interview, with specific instructions for how to research, what questions to ask, how to answer common questions, what to wear, and important interview dos and don’ts. With this guide, you will know how to become the one who gets the offer. Get it here: Ultimate Guide to Job Interview Prep.

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About the author

Career Coach - Peggy McKee is an expert resource and a dedicated advocate for job seekers. Known as the Sales Recruiter from Career Confidential, her years of experience as a nationally-known recruiter for sales and marketing jobs give her a unique perspective and advantage in developing the tools and strategies that help job seekers stand head and shoulders above the competition. Peggy has been named #1 on the list of the Top 25 Most Influential Online Recruiters by HR Examiner, and has been quoted in articles from CNN, CAP TODAY, Yahoo! HotJobs, and the Denver Examiner. Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here.Photo Credit: Shutterstock