Prepare for the unexpected

- On the day of your job interview, as much as possible you have to prepare for the unknown. Now this may sound difficult, but the concept of known unknowns is not that strange in the business world. You want to think through the possible scenarios that may pop up. One of the most common ones is that the employer may need to cancel. Act professional, assume that if they're canceling the job interview with you, it has little to do with you. Maybe the person is sick or maybe something popped up with their clientele, don't take it as a personal attack. Instead, ask if there's a chance to reschedule or if you should follow up the next day to get back on their schedule. Show that you're interested and don't let this simple thing be a turn off to applying to the job. Also, be prepared that things are likely running behind. Things go longer in job interviews, maybe they scheduled too many people or the person in front of you showed up late. Don't worry about it, just be prepared to be there for the whole day and ready to be committed and interested. Things are going to go off schedule and if you arrive early you might find yourself waiting a little bit, have something to read, have a snack with you and be ready when it's your turn. You also need to be quite ready to not access the internet. I always suggest make sure you can use your phone or a tablet as a hotspot if internet access is important. But you may find yourself in a secure building or a building with poor reception where accessing the network of the host is not possible. So have any work samples already downloaded to your computer and have backup physical hard copies. Also this one is very important, be prepared that they may know a lot about you. Most companies do research before they meet with a job interviewee. They may have already taken a look at your employment history, they've probably looked at your social networks, and they may ask you some questions that surprise you. Be prepared, Google yourself, make sure you've looked at your resume and look for flags. There are warning signs, things like short tenures at a job where you were there quickly and gone. Well, maybe it was an internship, or maybe it was an externship and you were there and it was time limited from the beginning, be prepared to explain that. If you have a gap in your employment, be prepared to explain why. If you're switching industries, had to take time off because of a family member who needed medical care, be prepared to explain why you haven't been working continuously. These are the sorts of things that employers expect honest and prompt answers, you don't want to sound like you're making excuses but you need to be prepared to explain anything that's unusual on your resume or any gaps or unusual quick turnarounds. This way they know that you are being honest with them and that you want this particular position.