Rehearsing the Interview
Practice cannot make perfect, but it is guaranteed to make better. The more interviews you do, the more adept you are at doing them. You can go to your first interview with the poise that comes with having done five or six interviews if you conduct full-scale dress-rehearsal interviews with the cooperation of a colleague or career counselor.
A rehearsal interview comes after the hours you spend talking to yourself in the mirror as you practice answering anticipated questions. For a rehearsal, you want to actually simulate an interview from the time you get off the elevator until you get back on the elevator to go home.
If you are using the services of a career counselor, the counselor will be experienced at doing interview rehearsals. If you are on your own, you can still produce an appropriate “stage” and “cast.”
A dining room or home office can be the company office. The interviewer can be a trusted friend, a former co-worker, or an acquaintance who has conducted job interviews. You and your “interviewer” need to decide together what the script of the interview “play” is going to be and what each of your lines are.
Arrange for housemates, children, and others not involved in the rehearsal to be out of the house. Your “interviewer” may have a house or office you can use, too.
Get into full interview costume for the rehearsal. Yes, put on the suit and tie. Ask the “interviewer” to do the same. Put your papers in your briefcase or portfolio. Walk out the front door and stand on the stoop until your cue to enter the “building.”
Such elaborate preparations may seem excessive, but believe me, they can make all the difference in how well you carry off the real thing.
