18 Practical Tips for the Day of the Interview. Lots of People Try to Skip #18

18 Practical Tips for the Day of Interview

All your hard work has paid off and it’s the day of the interview. Maybe you haven’t had one of these in a long time. Maybe the last time you did this was prior to the smartphone.

No worries! I’ve got your back. Here are some highly practical tips for navigating the day of the interview.

Attire

Remember the scene from The Pursuit of Happyness when Will Smith’s character shows up for a job interview in his painting clothes? Don’t be that guy!

1. Clothes: Try to get a bead on the common workplace attire for the organization and then up it by a level or more. When in doubt, always suit up!

2. Shoes: If you are wearing shoes you’re not used to, pack bandaids in case you start to develop blisters. I always get nasty ones on my heels.

3. Umbrella: If there’s any chance of rain, bring an umbrella.

What Else to Bring

4. Resume: Bring your resume printed on nice paper. Yes, they probably already have your resume, but it’s possible someone won’t. 

5. Business Cards: Yes, they already have your contact information. However, handing an interviewer your business card prompts them to hand you theirs. This is gold because it has their email address on it. If you’re interviewing with several people, you might not already have their emails so you will need this in order to write a thank you.

6. Supporting Materials: A good strategy is to bring samples of your work. Make sure you’re not sharing confidential information.

7. Breath Mints: Oh, and by the way, be careful with your mouthwash. You don’t want something that has a lot of alcohol in it.

8. OTC Drugs: Tylenol, antacid, or any other coping mechanism you might need. Of course, stay away from anything that will throw you off your game.

COVID

9. PPE: Bring a mask with you just in case. Also, bring your vaccination card. Finally, bring a small, portable bottle of hand sanitizer.

No! Not that kind of mask!

Smart Phone

Use your phone to get you there and then turn it off. Don’t turn it back on until you are done. That means you can’t depend on it throughout the day. OK, breathe.

10. GPS: Use your GPS to navigate to the interview location even if you already know exactly how to get there. Let your GPS do what it’s best at: telling you about traffic accidents and construction and finding the best route at the moment.

11. Turn Off Your Phone: Know how to turn off your phone and do so before the interview starts. You don’t want a call to break through “Do Not Disturb” when you’re in the middle of telling about how you single-handedly merged two business units.

12. Watch: Because you’re going to turn your phone off, you will need a watch. Remember those? They are those cute little time-keeping devices with two hands that you wear on your wrist like a bracelet. Oh, and locate that watch a few days before the interview so you can replace the battery if you need to. Battery stores can do that for you.

13. Print Out: Print out all the necessary details. I know you already have all that on your cell phone but it’s good to have a backup. If you’re interviewing with multiple people, you’ll want to refer to your agenda throughout the day without turning your phone on.

The Drive

14. GPS: See above.

15. Parking: Know where you are going to park before you leave.

16. Playlist: The drive is a great time to psych yourself up. Make a playlist of songs that get you feeling confident, unstoppable, and enthusiastic. Here’s a playlist I like for this purpose: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZDJWEvBg9waYukAi7cuS1

17. A recording of yourself: I recommend just hyping yourself up with music on the drive. However, if you still feel unsure about any of your stories for the interview, you can make a recording of yourself reciting the stories. This can help you review without the danger of glancing at a piece of paper. OMG. Don’t do that.

After the Interview

18. Send Thank You’s: Yes, those are required. You can email them. While it’s really nice to write a thank you note by hand, it will take way too long to get there. 

You might reinforce something from the interview but that’s not really necessary. A thank you note will almost never change their mind about you. 

The only way you can go wrong with a thank you note is to not send one or to come across as desperate to make up for some perceived mistake in the interview. Like the time that I choose to write my thank you note in French because I felt I hadn’t adequately handled a question about my language skills. Don’t do that.