15 Quick Tips for Acing the Job Interview

Kudos for getting invited to a job interview or for anticipating that you will soon receive the invitation. Your cover letter and resume are important tools for opening the door -- to the interview -- but it's your performance in the employment interview that will go far in making or breaking your shot at a job offer. Over the years we have counseled thousands of job-seekers on how to excel in the interview -- and we offer the very best of our advice in this article.

 Here's our list of the 15 best tips for acing the job interview.

 1).  Start with knowing who you are and what you want. It's amazing how many job-seekers flub the easiest of all job interview questions -- "tell me about yourself." By articulating a concise response to this question, you'll be and more importantly appear more confident.

2).  Gather work samples. The time and effort of reviewing your work samples and accomplishments lays an excellent foundation for composing responses to typical interview questions. Once you've gathered all your samples, consider assembling a career portfolio for the interview.

3).  Develop and polish stories that demonstrate excellence. No matter the type of interview you might face, with a collection of stories that demonstrate your passion, expertise, and accomplishments, you'll be ready. If you don't know where to begin in preparing your anecdotes, start with the SAR (situation-action-results) technique.

4).  Ask what to expect when you're invited for the interview. Information is a key to your success, and knowing the type of interview to expect -- and who will be conducting the interview -- is crucial to your success. Interviewing strategies and types vary widely from traditional questions to stress interviews. Learn more about different kinds of interviews in our article, Types of Job Interviews.

5).  Use your network to learn more about employer, open position. See if any of your network contacts -- or any of their network contacts -- works for your prospective employer. Learn as much as you can about the organization and job opening. Try to uncover why the position is open.

6).  Conduct interview prep and practice. Write out responses to typical interview questions, making certain to provide enough detail to properly answer the questions. Don't memorize the responses, but do run through them a few times -- after all, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

7).  Take your interviewing skills for