I have an interview tomorrow and I'm really nervous

[Monroe]

Not had a proper interview for almost 8 years. The last 2 years I have been childminding full time. Before that I was working part time as an assessor but never really had an interview. They just saw my cv, invited me in for an informal chat and offered me the job.

The interview was very short notice, I only found out the date last week while I was on holiday so I've had very little time to prepare plus with being out of work for 2 years I feel I've forgotten everything!

Any tips please on how to prepare and what kind of questions I might be asked, thank you

Remember it's a conversation between you and them - you are an active participant in this and get to ask them questions / decide that the job's not for you. It helps you feel less nervous.

read the job description / person spec well, find out a bit more about the company if you can and have a good reason why you want to work for them. Depending on the job, you may get questions on things like your strengths / weaknesses, communication and team working. Think up some answers to them. Oh, and make sure you have a couple of questions for them, even if it's just about parking or length of lunch breaks.

peter thank you, yes. I already have started a list of questions as you are quite right, I want to make sure it is a company I will be happy working for. Also as I do have many years experience I am aware of what problems can arise and I want to know how they deal with them as a company.

It is more my side of things I'm worried about.

Should I be thinking of examples to tell them e.g. that demonstrates my communication skills?

Anything I shouldn't be saying

Watching with interest.

Absolutely you should be thinking of examples of where you have demonstrated your skills -this is what will make you stand out from other candidates.

When I am preparing for interviews, I treat it like revising for an exam.

I do a lot of research on the company
I make sure I can recount my career history
and most important, I draw a web diagram of all my skills and think of examples that fit into each, I then learn each example off by heart (a bit like learning a script for a play) so that I can recount it easily when asked.

This approach has never failed me!

Look at each line on the job description and think of an example when you have done that well, or have similar transferable skills. Also think of an example for each of a time you did whatever and it didn't go well. From the not well example you need to show how you learned from it and it went well the next time.

Also think of your response to a likely opener, so "tell me about yourself" "run through your cv and tell me what is relevant to this role" " what do you know about us" and make sure you have practised and rehearsed these out loud if you can, preferably in front of a mirror.

If you google 100 best interview questions you will get loads, practice answering them until it becomes a habit, you need to get happy talking about yourself and what you can do. Remember they want to know about you and what you did, not about the team you were in so use we sparingly.

Good luck op!

Great advice, thank you everyone.

The interview went really well and I was offered the job! Only problem now is I actually have a few concerns about whether it's the right one for me. Don't want to accept the first thing I'm offered out of panic and fear that I'll never get another one. Plus they want me to work on a zero hours contract which was definitely not mentioned on the job advert. Hmmm, decisions

Well done Monroe. I'd ask them whether you could think about the offer before committing to it. Hope it goes well on Friday too and that you get offered that one instead.