A friend of mine was looking for a job while in his final year of law school. He was intelligent and did well in school. He had countless on-campus interviews but met with little success. After about the tenth interview things began to turn around for him and he was being asked back for additional interviews. What he realized was that he had finally had sufficient practice interviewing and was now a more confident, intelligible and impressive interviewer. Unfortunately, he learned the hard way. He forfeited some valuable opportunities practicing.
We all know what we do. We all think we have the answers. And we do. The trouble is if the answers are not very well rehearsed we will be busy formulating sentences instead of impressing the interviewer. An interview is a performance and it needs to be rehearsed. This does not mean that it is a fiction play but rather an opportunity to “try out for the role” and if you haven’t practiced it will be very hard to land the role. You can practice in a room by yourself, face to face with a friend, family member or professional interview trainer but the important part is to practice.
Don’t be like my friend. Don’t use valuable interviewing opportunities as practice time. If you haven’t practiced it will show. And believe me, it will not be an impressive showing.