Research the employer
Use the Internet or local library to do this. Examine the company web site or read their press releases. If they’re local, ask an employee for advice.

Research the job
Find out what skills, attributes and knowledge the employers are likely to be looking for and check out how you measure up.

Research yourself
Find out how this job fits into your career plan and discover why you want it. It’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses. Know what you have to offer that’s unique. You should prepare possible answers to problem areas in your record - have explanations for poor exam results, a gap in dates or a change in direction.

Prepare answers
Prepare answers to possible question areas and have examples and data to back them up where you can. For example, if they ask you to talk about time when you persisted in something despite facing difficulties, you should have a specific answer such as ‘My class were organising an event for charity and had problems with setting it up. But I made sure we had a plan B and sorted it out. We raised £3,000.’

Question areas are likely to be

• skills and abilities
• future aspirations, goals and objectives
• personality factors such as motivation and temperament
• fit with the job e.g. knowledge of company, flexibility to travel, work shifts
• past experience, academic, extra-curricular and work including results and achievements
• situational and hypothetical questions to see what you have done/would do in certain circumstances

Practise possible answers aloud because they trip off the tongue more easily with practice. But don’t memorise answers - you’ll sound more convincing if you speak naturally.