Every year thousands of college students graduate from business school. With the increasing number of graduates entering the workforce, getting a job has become harder than ever. 
If you are hunting for a job, you need to stand out from your competitors and make a good impression in your job interview. However, a job interview can be an intimidating experience for lots of college students, especially if you haven’t had any prior interview experience. 
In fact, how you perform at a job interview determines the chances of getting hired. Besides, how you prepare yourself for a job interview, how you answer your question, how you show up, and your personality traits all play an integral role in landing you a job. That’s why it's equally important to prepare yourself for a job interview. Here, we compile important tips that you can practice to ace your next job interview.
Do your research well
A great job interview preparation begins with your research on three things- 1) Company 2) Position 3) Person who takes your interview. So, you need to prepare well by doing your research work in order to stand out among other applicants during job interviews.
Research about the company you are applying for, and know about their vision, mission and organisation culture. The best place to start with is looking for information on the company’s website and their social media pages. If you find anything captivating about an organization and their work, you can mention about them in your job interview. This shows that you really know about the company's background and you are passionate to work there. 
For instance, if you are applying for a marketing agency, maybe  you could talk about the company's previous marketing campaign that you find interesting, and explain any unique things you find out in the campaign.
Next, research about the job description, as well as key skills that your job highlighted. You can read the company's blog post, article to learn about the latest trend and know about key roles and responsibilities. Besides, you should be able to communicate how you can provide value to the organization through your work.
In addition, if possible you can research about the person you are interviewing with. You can learn about team members bio in company’s website or look at their social media page- Twitter, Linked In, Facebook and Instagram. This might help you to know about their background, their interests and find out anything in common; which might be beneficial to create a rapport during a job interview.
Cultivate a positive personality
Before calling for a job interview, your hiring manager has already looked up your resume and credentials. So, during a job interview, they are more likely to assess your personality, and find out whether your personality fits into their organizational culture or not. Here are some effective tips for you to cultivate a positive personality in your job interview:
When coming for a job interview, be well prepared and confident. One effective approach is rehearsing some common job interview questions beforehand with your friends or siblings.
Pay attention to your body language and facial expressions. As you approach for job interview, greet each person with a firm handshake and warm smile. After initial greeting, you should be aware of your body posture during your job interview. Make sure you sit up straight and avoid anything that shows nervousness and lacks confidence. For example, you should avoid slouched posture, tapping your foot, biting nails and crossing your arms.
Be friendly and if possible share some fun facts about yourself and show that you have a sense of humor. 
Avoid sharing any negative experiences related to your previous job or colleagues even if you have any. Instead, share positive experiences about your previous job if interviewer asked, and it will demonstrate that you are optimistic and positive person.
Ask questions
At the end of a job interview, your interviewer are more likely to ask, “ Is there any questions for me?”. In this scenario, you should say Yes, and ask relevant questions that shows you are well prepared and really passionate about work. More than that, you don’t want your interview to be dull and boring. So you need to ask questions and make your interview engaging, and establish a connection with the interviewer.
Asking questions is a great way to discover whether the organization and job title is a good fit for you or not. You can ask questions related to an organization policies and job responsibilities so that you won’t be surprised when you are working for the organization. Here are list of questions to ask your job interviewer: 
What are the day to day responsibilities of my job position?
How would you describe a person I am working with?, 
How would you describe this organization culture?
What characters do you look for in the employees?
What are the major challenges on this job?
Tell me about your favourite part for working at this organization.
Is there any prospects for career advancement and professional development?
Follow up
After giving your job interview, you can follow up with an email or thank you note within 12 hours to your job interviewer. You can write a short email (not more than five sentences) to your hiring manager, thanking him for his/her valuable time and any key things that you really enjoyed during your job interview.
By following up, you make a good impression that you are really enthusiastic candidate for a job. If your hiring manager has to choose between two equally competent candidates, a follow up email might give you a competitive advantage. Note that this approach may not guarantee you a job but it will make a good impression and build a good relationship with people.
Last but not least, if you didn’t get hired after a job interview, don’t be disappointed like it’s the end of the world. Maybe, there are many candidates and it’s just that your hiring manager make a different decision. You just need to move on and look for new opportunities. At SAIM College, we take it upon ourselves to help our students beyond the classroom activities. We have our own Graduates Placement Cell that leads its graduates to a diversified platter of jobs and employers after or before graduation. Our BBA and MBA programs provide students with a sound conceptual foundation and practical skills in various areas of management and prepares them for the global market.
For more information, Contact Us .