It’s common knowledge that you need to be prepared if you want to be successful in an interview.

When the day arrives, you will have probably investigated the company thoroughly and gone over the job description several times. And yet, there’s still more preparation you could do to be able to boost your odds of success. You should be preparing to bring several key items in order to be properly organized and appear professional.

A Notepad and Pad

Yes, it sounds simple, but these two basic staples of the office will prove to be invaluable during the stress of an interview. A lot of important information gets tossed around during a typical interview. Having a pen and pad on hand is a great way to keep track of names, questions, software systems, job duties and other details.

Think about during the interview. You may be facing one person or multiple people. A great way to remember names is to write down the names of everyone with respect to their position in the room on your notepad. It’s also a great idea to write down the question right after you hear it (or when the interviewer is asking it). That will help you from forgetting part of the question and prevent you from having to ask for them to re-state the question a couple of minutes later.

A notepad is also useful for jotting down the following things ahead of time:

Questions you may have – Most hiring managers expect you to come in with some well-researched questions.

The job description – As you’re waiting to walk into the interview, you can review the job description one more time before, helping to keep what the company is looking for fresh in your mind.

Interview details – Rather than relying on your phone to access emails from the hiring manager, write down the interview details to guard against losing a signal or a dead phone battery.

Quantifiable Examples

This part of your preparation may never come into play, but it could surely put you over the top in the minds of the interviewer if you have it ready at the appropriate time. Do you have any past examples of projects you’ve worked on or solutions you created for other companies? How can you show them to the potential employer?

If you have them on a laptop or tablet, then share the content with the interviewers. If you are able to login and share the examples on a website, ask for access to a computer. People easily understand and interpret concrete examples and data. It’s more challenging to fully understand and appreciate the explanation of a project. Your true impact can be seen with the actual project or solution.

However, the tough part is that the examples aren’t necessary every single time. If you are interviewing with someone who doesn’t have an appreciation for your supply chain solution, maybe an HR manager, then it’s better to not even mention it. Pick and choose the right time to show your awesome work.

At ZDA, we help people with every part of the job seeking process. If you are currently in need of some assistance, please contact our team today for a consultation on working with a leader in supply chain recruiting.

supply-chain-recruiters