9 Steps to Landing a Job

You have an interview-now what?


After spending all of your time looking for a job, you finally get asked to come in for an interview. Congrats! It's exciting, but it can also cause a lot of anxiety. After all, we spend so much time thinking about finding a job, writing the resume and sending a cover letter, getting asked for an interview can leave you struggling to get prepared and to know what to expect.


I wanted to share this great infographic that breaks down all of the steps in interview preparation. It was put together by the people at Ramussen College and I think that they did a great job.


Here it is:

As you can see, the first step in interview preparation is to visit the company's website. The site should give you an idea about the company and what they do.


Next, you should look the company up on Linkedin and find out a little something about the company, the background of the interviewer and allow you to see if you know anyone who works at that company.


After that, look to see if the company has a Twitter account. Follow them and pay attention to their tweets. This will keep you up-to-date on the company's current events.


Once the research is done, find out where the interview will be and map out how you will get there. You should do a test drive in order to get a feel for how long it takes with traffic so that you won't end up late.


You should then try on your interview outfit to make sure that you have everything. If you wait until the day of the interview, you run the risk of realizing that you don't have the correct shoes or that your jacket has a tear. To avoid these last minutes stressors, do a trial run and make sure everything is together.


Rehearse your main points and prepare answers for the most common interview questions. Practice your answers until you're sure you can say them even under pressure.


After the interview, thank the interviewer and the front desk staff. Make a point to try to fit in with the office culture.


The same day as your interview, you should email the interviewer and thank them for their time.


To take things a step further, send a written thank you note as well.


What do you think about these steps? What other things do you think help? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.