Job seekers should follow this interview checklist

Am I ready?

Many job seekers do not prepare in advance for the interview. It takes homework, not necessarily about the company you are seeing, but about your candidacy. Not preparing in advance is like trying to take an exam without studying the subject first. That is no way to succeed.

What you must do in the job interview is communicate a lot of specific information about yourself very precisely and rapidly. You cannot do that by ad-libbing. You should marshal facts and figures about your accomplishments and commit these to memory before you go in for an interview.

That way, when the interviewer asks you to tell him or her about yourself, you will be ready. Tell the interviewer what you accomplished for previous employers and back it up with concrete and descriptive detail. Many job seekers talk for a living, such as salespeople. They think they can talk their way into or out of any situation. That is not likely to happen in the job interview. If you are not prepared, it will show and you will not be making the best impression on the interviewer.

Do I know where I am going?

That may sound very basic. Surprisingly, many job seekers do not know where the interview is or incorrectly estimate their travel time. As a result, they show up late for job interviews.

If you are even a few minutes late you have taken yourself out of the running for that job, before you have the chance to interview. Employers are not interested in why you were late even in you have a good excuse.

You need to know where the interview is. Then figure backward from the time you are scheduled to be there how much travel time is required, adding some extra time for a cushion in case the unexpected happens.

Plan on arriving 10 minutes early. If you are earlier than that, it’s fine. Just mark time somewhere until you are due at the reception desk. Being too early for the interview will never cost you a job but being late will.

How am I going to handle myself in the interview?

The first thing a job seeker has to realize is that a job interview is not a casual conversation. It should not be treated as such. Your future may depend on it. You do not want to make a bad impression but many job seekers do for various reasons, mostly centering around the fact that they are not listening and are most interested in their own agenda than the interviewer’s.

Listen to what the interviewer is saying and how that person expresses himself or herself. Take your cues for answers from there. All interviews are not alike and all interviewers are not alike, so you have to adjust your presentation of yourself to meet the requirements of that particular interviewer. If you do not, someone else will be hired.

Plan on doing a lot more listening than talking, especially in the first interview. You have to check your ego at the door when you are going in for a job interview. You may be accustomed to dominating the conversation but the job interview is not the place to try that. It will only boomerang and leave the interviewer with an unfavorable impression of you.

Be relaxed, attentive, pleasant and try to make the interviewer like you; that is the single most important requirement in getting a job offer.

n First impression is key. Look the interviewer directly in the eyes and smile when you meet, with a firm, but not hard, handshake. You may be surprised how important those initial gestures are to the interviewer’s impression of you.

If you avert your gaze, you may give the interviewer the impression of being shifty or unsure of yourself. If you give the person a “wet fish” handshake instead of a solid one, the impression may be that you are timid and ineffectual. If you crush the interviewer’s hand, the pain will dim your lustre.

n Smile. Smiling sounds simple but it is one of the most important ways to succeed in the interview. It sets the tone for the entire session, projecting you as a pleasant person. Look at the interviewer directly when you are answering questions.

n Stay Upbeat. Always try to be “up” psychologically for the interview. That is often the most difficult thing to do, especially if you have been job hunting for some period of time, but it is very important for the success of the interview. Interviewers want enthusiastic, happy people who show a strong interest in the job. If you do not, another candidate most assuredly will.

John A. Challenger is chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., the global outplacement consultancy that pioneered outplacement as an employer-paid benefit in the 1960s. Challenger is a recognized thought leader on workplace, labor and economic issues.