Details about how to prepare for an interview

Effective preparation is critical to acing job interviews. In a sense you can't over-prepare for an important interview (you can over-rehearse your responses, which you should avoid). Remember, you are a salesman, whose job is to sell yourself and your skills to the prospective employer. That takes preparation.

For starters, you must do background research on the company and about the position you're trying to fill. You should be able to tell them what their company is all about, without their having to tell you.

The company's website is a great starting point for such research. Get an overall feel for the company, the products / services they make / sell, the markets they operate in, names of key personnel, job titles, etc. Familiarize yourself with their product offerings -- they'll usually have them displayed prominently on the site.

Next, check the media. Run searches at websites of major national as well as local news publications, plus searches at major search engines and get all the data you can about the company. Don't forget printed magazines and newspapers either.

You can even call up the company and ask for additional information to fill in the gaps, without revealing that you're an interview candidate.

Discover the tricks to answering all interview questions.



Like to think a little out-of-the-box? Here's an idea -- consider doing work on a freelance basis, either part-time or full-time. There are actually large numbers of people who work from the comfort of their homes. And very profitably too. But you do face one big problem -- connecting with companies who have work to offer.

Here's an excellent site that's organized to help you find freelance work. We've always found them to be a useful source for work-at-home jobs. They offer a trial membership for as little as $2.95; and you get access to hundreds of jobs. Check them out now -- you may be surprised at what you can turn up.