By: Karan D’Souza

Okay, so I am a 21-year-old advisor; what qualifies me to talk about this? Well I have had experience from both ends, I have done interviews for internships, jobs, volunteer jobs, and scholarships but I have also led some interviews. I don’t claim to know a lot, but here are just a few tips that might help you out.

1. Know the company and job that you are applying too. There is NOTHING and I mean nothing more embarrassing than showing up not knowing how to answer the company-related questions. And yes, they are almost guaranteed to ask questions about why you chose their company? Or how you are going to fit into their “family” of employees.
2. Dress to impress. Business casual does NOT involve jeans (yes, even if they are dark black and almost look like dress pants. The answer is no). But really, the interviewer automatically makes a judgment of you as soon as they see your outfit. Here are my greatest tips. Guys = shave and do not wear white socks even if you think no one will see. Girls = I’m sure you spent hours shaving your legs… but too much leg sends the wrong message.
3. Look at your resume before you go in. Remember all they know about you before you enter is what you said on your resume. Study it; think about possible questions, how are you going to incorporate your experiences into those answers. ALSO – just in case, bring an extra copy of the resume to the interview.
4. If you didn’t understand the question, ask them to repeat it. TRUST me, it is way worse to start talking and then realize mid-way that you forgot what the question was. And spend sometime thinking about your answer before you verbally vomit on the interviewer. Keep your answers to 1-2 minutes… too short and they probably didn’t even register what you just said; too long (like this article) and they will lose interest.
5. Lastly (and this is a personal pet peeve) be prepared to talk about your strengths AND your weaknesses. I URGE you very strongly to think about this. And no, working too hard is not a weakness… caring too much is also not a weakness. Don’t worry about looking weak to the interviewer, just remember to talk about how you plan on working on it, or even better how the job is going to help you make that weakness into a strength. End it on a positive note.

Okay, I am done with my tips. Good luck, and remember, be yourself. And yes your probably thinking… “well who else am I going to be”. But seriously, don’t be afraid to show who you really are, and don’t go into the interview doubting yourself, if you don’t think you are going to get the job, what makes you think the interviewer will want to.

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