5 Ways To Prepare For A Last-Minute Interview

Interview preparation is very important when it comes to ensuring success in your interview. You should never just walk into an interview unprepared because; the chances of you getting the job will be very minimal.

For most interviews, you have around a day or two to prepare. You have time to figure out what you will wear, practice answering questions and doing some research on the company.

What happens when you only have a few hours to prepare? For example, you have been called at 4 pm to attend an interview the next day at 9 am or worse, you get invited for an afternoon interview in the morning. How do you prepare yourself for that last minute interview?

Here Are Ways To Prepare For Last Minute Interviews

1. Make sure you know where you’re going
The first thing you need to do after getting that call is to prioritize. You cannot do a lot of research on the organization because of the limited time, so instead, you need to find out the important things first. Like location, how long it will take you to get there and things like that.

You have to find out where the company is located, which routes to take and how much time you need to allocate to the travel. This is because; if you get lost you will end up being late and as such miss out on your chance of getting a job. You also do not want to be stuck in traffic and miss the interview just because you did not leave the house early enough.

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2. Read up on the job
Now that you know where the interview will take place, you need to know the job description well. You may not have a lot of time to prepare for the interview in terms of preparing your answers, but you can at least learn what the job entails and include that in your answers.

Remember an interview is an opportunity for you to show that you are the best fit for the position and this can be done by matching your qualifications to what was put in the job description.

Having a good understanding of the position you are interviewing for will also help you know how to answer questions and will show the interviewer that you truly are interested in the position.

You do not want to be one of those people who don’t even remember the job title correctly or some of the responsibilities.

3. Research the company
Even though your time may be limited, you should always ensure you do some research on the organization. Find out things like what they are about and how they work.

Know what kinds of services or products they offer, is it a beauty based company, furniture making, food processing etc.

Check recent news items on the organization – this might help give you a sense of what has been happening in the organization.

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4. Find out why you’re perfect for the role
The next step is figuring out why you are a perfect fit for the position. This will help you bring this out clearly to the interviewer.

After all, how can you convince the hiring manager that you are the best fit for the job if you yourself don’t know why you are the best fit?

5. Figure out the culture and dress accordingly
I know most of the time you are asked to dress professionally no matter what interview you are attending. This is solid advice but doesn’t work all the time.

Take for example you have been invited for an interview in an organization that is led by young people who believe in wearing jeans and T-shirts. Showing up in a suit will make you look stuffy and will show that you are not a fit for the company.

However, this is a special case and very few organizations have such cultures. Therefore it is important to find out the culture of the organization.

If you are unable to figure out the company culture in terms of dressing, then it is advisable to go the professional route and dress formally.

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Always remember that confidence is a huge part of succeeding in an interview. It is, therefore, important that even though you feel like you did not have enough time to prepare for the interview, you still believe that you can do it.

Do you have any questions on interviews? Email us at clientservice@corporatestaffing.co.ke 

The writer is a Communications Officer at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading Recruitment firm that offers CV Writing, Job Placement & Career Advice. Email:elizabeth@corporatestaffing.co.ke