Preparing for a job interview is an area that job searchers typically dont do well. In my experience as a recruiter, I have dealt with many people who work really hard to make it to the interview stage and then get lazy.

Trying to wing it during an interview just showing up and expecting to think of answers off the top of your head is no way to prepare for a job interview.

Properly preparing for a job interview is what sets successful job searchers apart from less successful ones.

Certainly success in a job interview has little correlation to your ability to actually do the job but the bottom line is that the interview process is what companies use to determine whether or not you are someone they want to hire.

Obviously, you need to do research such as thoroughly looking over the company website and paying particular attention to recent press releases and company news that will tell you what the company is working on.

Here are some other job interview preparation techniques to set you apart from other candidates who are interviewing for the same job:

• Ensure that you have a short list of about 6 questions typed out and organized in order of importance that you can ask during the interview. Not asking the right questions or any questions can indicate to an interviewer that you didnt properly prepare for the interview.

• If you know anyone who works for the company or used to work there, ask them about their experience and get the real scoop on what the company is like. Ask them what skills the company really wants employees to have and what sorts of questions they tend to ask during interviews. Alternatively, try to find someone who graduated from the same school you did who works there and ask for their help.

• Do an Internet search for past company press releases and tv or radio interview transcripts that can shed light on valuable company information you didnt know.

• Do an Internet search for the name of the person/people who are interviewing you. You might find an article they have written or quotes that were attributed to them that you can mention during the interview.

• Search for information regarding the companys closest competitors and compare how the company performs against them.

• Pay attention to company advertisements on the radio, tv or in print in case the interviewer asks you about your thoughts regarding their advertising strategy.

• Search business publications and online resources to learn more about the company from a financial perspective. If the company has financial analysts covering the company, you can find out how the market views the company in terms of their abilities and challenges.

Preparing for a job interview is something you need to do well in advance in order to be successful. Look for original ways to separate yourself from the people you are competing with for a job by learning as much as about the company as possible using as many sources as you can think of.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it?s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it?s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it?s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I?m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!