Employment Tips: Preparing for an Interview

WOW, it’s been a long journey for me since I got laid off a few years ago.

I remember that day. It was so surreal. I remembered that I kept thinking ‘Is this happening to me?’ Why did they choose me? I worked my loot to do the best job I could do. And this is the thanks I get?

Being in the IT field, I never thought an Information Technology Specialist would get laid off. I remember my supervisor called me into his office and there was the Big Boss sitting in a chair. Then, in a whirlwind, it was all over. After hearing the words ‘we’re going to fire you’ from Big Guy, I don’t think I heard much more than they said. Then they handed me my walking papers and I walked out of there without saying anything else. Big Bang Boom. It was over. So……

I went home in complete shock. I did not feel anything. In fact, it took a few days to assimilate reality. After a few days I thought to myself, ‘Okay, so it happened to me along with millions of other people. I’ll look for another job. So, I picked up all the local newspapers every day, searched online, and submitted my resume to whatever seemed appropriate.

OMG it was amazing. The job market has definitely changed, and now there is a lot of competition and fewer openings. On top of that, job responsibilities had definitely changed since I last looked for a job, which was 6 years before I was laid off. I felt very uncomfortable in the few interviews I had. I always thought about ‘should have’ and ‘could have’ after that interview. Well after about 10 months I finally got a really good job as a contractor. It’s only for a 1 year deal but gosh it feels so good to be back at work. No more having to go to the food bank for help, or having to ask family for help.

I’m not sure I could have survived much longer on unemployment. I look back and during those ten months, I learned a lot about how to mentally prepare for interviews and how to prepare to answer common interview questions. So, I wanted to share my top tips on how to handle unemployment and most of all, be prepared for an interview.

Tips to Prepare for Unemployment

1. Get up early in the morning. Lying in bed all day feeling sorry for yourself will not improve your chances of getting a job.

2. Create a daily routine of checking online ads and/or reading a newspaper. It would just be a one day plugin that could end up being your job.

3. Stay healthy by taking daily walks or exercising every day. Exercise can help alleviate the stress levels you are experiencing.

4. Update your resume and, if possible, have someone review it to make sure there are no typos and that it contains an accurate employment history.

5. If you’re feeling really down, keep a journal. It can be paper and electronic or old pen. Just write down what happened that day, or how you feel. Believe it or not, taking out some of your frustrations can be a wonderful way to release stress. All those pent up anger or frustrations can be seen by potential employers during interviews. And that’s not something you want them to see.

The best tips for interviews.

1. Make sure you are wearing your best interview outfit. It should fit well and have no holes or tears. This is going to be his first impression of you. You should look your best.

2. Keep a copy of your resume with you, in case the interviewer doesn’t have one in hand. Your resume should not contain a list of references. Instead, you can offer to get that list if asked.

3. Do your homework. Check the company’s history online or at the library. You need to understand what business the company is in, when it started, etc. Most of the time they ask ‘What do you know about our company?’.

4. After your interview, follow up by sending the interviewer a handwritten thank you note.

5. The most important tip of all is Never lie. That job may not last long if they find out you lied to them. I’ve heard sad stories where someone claims to have a bachelor’s degree but doesn’t. The company then checked with the university and discovered that this person never attended university. Needless to say, he was immediately fired. Don’t put yourself in such a situation.

So take a deep breath and smile, and think positive.