Your Job Interview Checklist

Everyone loves a checklist, right? Well, this one is a pretty good one because it's what you should do before you go to your job interview. But before we get to it, let's be clear that the purpose of going through and completing this checklist is so you can be as impressive as possible to your interviewer(s). Anyone can muddle their way through a meeting with a potential employer. Do you want to knock their socks off? Well, then you're going to have to put more effort in than your competition. But here's the good news, it doesn't take that much more effort to really shine and differentiate yourself. And if you think that you're just too busy to prepare, or just plain don't want to put in the effort, just try and think of it as an investment of time where the ROI is massive. Spending 6-8 hours preparing for a job that you might spend the next two to three years at breaks down like this: 

• Interview: 6-8 hours of preparation
• 3 Years of Work: 6,000 hours of compensation (2,000 hours per year).

So, considering that your interview preparation will take .1% of the time you'll actually be getting paid for the job, it starts to feel more worthwhile. Okay, now that we've covered that, here is the checklist you should use to prep for your interview:

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​1. Confirm that you can make it.

• Write them back and happily confirm that you can attend the interview.
• Based on the type of interview (phone, in person, cultural, etc.) ask if there is anything in particular they would like you to prepare for, like speaking to a specific type of experience, or skills required of the position.
• Feel free to ask who you will be interviewing with (it may not be the person sending you the email).

 
2. Continue doing research on the company.

• Start gathering information on the company through their web site and social media channels.
• What do their latest press releases say about them?
• Google the latest news on the company. Is there something you should be aware of?

 
3.  Start researching the people who will be doing the interview.

• Go to LinkedIn and look up their profile.
• Do a Google search on them. See what they’ve done in their past and in the present.

 
4.  Come up with 10 questions about the company that you can ask during the interview.

• What’s in the latest press releases? Could be a new sale, some thought leadership, a merger, etc. Asking this question makes you look like you’re on top of your game.
• What does the company do that you can ask more about?
• What do they excel at?
• What is their value proposition to the market(s) they serve?
• What is their competition doing well?
• Where do they think they’ll be in 5 years?
• What do they need to improve upon as a company or as a department?

 
 
5.  Come up with 5 – 10 questions about the role that you can ask during the interview.

• What does the ideal candidate look like to you?
• How will you define success in this role?
• What does succession planning  / training look like in the company?
• Ask anything pertinent to the skills / experience required for the role.

 
 
6.  Prepare for the 10 most asked questions in interviews.
 

• Tell me about yourself
• What interests you about this job?
• Why are you thinking of leaving your current job?
• Why would you excel at this job?
• What do you consider to be your weakness?
• What do you know about our company so far?
• Tell me a time when you demonstrated: Leadership, Strategic thinking, Independent thinking, Teamwork, Conflict Resolution
• What would you do in the first 90 days in the position?
• What questions do you have for me?

 
7.  Go buy a notebook and pen and bring it to the interview.
 
8. Try on your most professional looking outfit and ask a friend or parent to tell you if it’s good enough for the interview. If not, go buy a new outfit.
 
9. Show up 10 minutes before the interview (no more, no less).
 
10. Introduce yourself and be nice to everyone you come across – you never know who is ‘interviewing’ you.
 
11. SMILE