I have secured an interview, what now?

So, you have managed to secure that all important interview with the client and suddenly you come to the realisation that you were so fixated on securing the interview that you didn't think any further and you are left with the burning question of "now what"? You ask yourself, what do you wear, how early do you arrive without seeming desperate or should you arrive a few minutes late in order to seem extremely busy at your current job, what do you need to do to prepare and should you take anything along with you? These are all relevant questions and I am going to try to answer all of them individually. Let's start with what to wear; now I know I am no fashionista but when it comes to interview clothing I have picked up a thing or two in my time. Make sure that you always dress up for your interview, this not only shows your potential employer that you are serious about the opportunity but also that you put effort into preparing for the interview. Now granted we all have various budgets so by no means am I saying you need to wear Gucci or Prada, just wear your best "Sunday" clothes. It is always best to wear slacks/pants as opposed to jeans, also for the guys, if you are going to be wearing a shirt, a tie is a great accessory. For the ladies if you are planning on wearing a skirt or dress please ensure that the dress is long enough so that you are not sitting opposite your interviewer and constantly pulling down your skirt/dress in fear of showing off your underwear, you have enough to worry about and a short skirt/dress should not even be a contender for your attention. In my opinion pants are the safest option for both parties along with shirts and if at all possible try sticking to the classic colours i.e. black and white or beige. I know that in our younger generation outrageous colours are the ín thing but believe me if you are sitting opposite someone with a bright yellow/purple top it's hard to focus on the actual person. I have interviewed many people in my 7 years within the recruitment industry and I can tell you that I have had candidates who only had one decent pants and shirt that they wore to their first, second and last interviews but no one ever faulted them on the effort to look their best. I have also had candidates dressed in all-in-one outfits (miniskirts/shorts) with wedge heels - please don't ever think that this is a corporate look as it will be hard for anyone to take you seriously with this look. Okay so you clothes are sorted, next you need to decide when to arrive for the interview. My suggestion is that you always arrive at least 15 minutes earlier - NEVER arrive late it leaves a bitter taste with your potential employer. When leaving home ensure no matter how close you are to the area that you leave 1 hour earlier, you may have driven that route a thousand times but Murphy's law on this particular day a truck jack knives blocking the entire highway, leave room and time for the what if's. If you are earlier than 15 minutes, sit in your car, take a walk but don't go in - there is a reason the client gave you that time slot, so respect that and arrive only 15 minutes earlier giving you time to compose yourself and the interviewer time to get prepared all the while noting that you were early. Lastly, preparing for the interview, this by far is the most important aspect and should not be left to chance. Make sure that you have researched the company fully, you know what their values are, what they stand for, what their core business is etc. Also why not try searching You Tube for any possible videos/ad's the company may have produced. The more prepared you are the less opportunity for a question to catch you off guard. Think of scenario based questions dependant on the role you are applying for i.e. tell me about a time you needed to prioritise more than one task, how did you decide which task was to be completed first? Remember when employers ask you scenario based questions they want actual examples, not well this is how I would handle that situation, company's believe that past behaviour predicts future behaviour, therefore how you handled this situation in the past will determine how you will do so in the future. A great question to prepare yourself for is identifying your own strengths and weaknesses, this question if not given prior consideration to will leave you feeling flustered as it is so easy to praise ourselves but not as easy to critise. So let's do a quick recap, you have chosen your suitable clothing, chosen the best possible route and time to leave for the interview, researched the company fully and prepared yourself for all the possible scenario based/competency based questions you could think of. All that is left to do is make sure that you have a printed map/directions on how to get to the company, along with the name and contact number of the person you are going to see. It is ideal to keep this on one document, also ensure that you take along a copy of your CV (even if you have e-mailed them a copy) and all your certificates pertaining to the current vacancy i.e. (your certificate you received for mathematics in Grade 8 is not usually required). I hope you have found this article useful and wish you all of the best in securing your dream role. Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions on my page - happy hunting everyone.