Before any interview the best thing you can do is to prepare. Being prepared for common interview questions will give you a much better chance of a successful interview. How you look is important so remember to be neat and tidy. A suit is not always necessary but a shirt, tie, slacks and shoes will make a much better impression then open shirt or a track suit. These are things that are easy to prepare and you should get them out of the way so you do not even have to think about them. This will allow you to prepare mentally for the questions that the interviewer will be asking you.

Try to anticipate what types of questions will be asked in the interview. A good tip for this is to put yourself in their position. What would you ask you?

Research the job and company thoroughly. Find out everything you can and that will give you an edge over your competition. Go online, read brochures, reviews, check out their competition. With this knowledge you will be well prepared for any questions they might ask you realting to the company and as a result you will answer them clearly and with confidence.

Do not try to be someone you are not. Always be yourself in an interview as this will allow the interviewer to get a true sense of what you are like. There are always common interview questions and having and idea of what they are will enable you to better prepare answers for them.

It is important to note that we are preparing answers here not memorising them. Any interviewer should be able to pick up on someone who has prepared and someone who is just rattling off facts they memorised. If you rely solely on memorisation and you get a mental block then you will be thrown off kilter.

Let us take a look at some common interview questions.

#1 - Tell me a little about yourself. This one is pretty much guaranteed to be asked. Use it to your advantage. It will allow you to show them your personality and to give them information that may help you to secure the job.

#2 - Why should we hire you? Again this is a standard question in interviews. Here you get a chance to sell yourself. Tell them about past achievements, what drives you, what your goals are etc. Do not go overboard here as arrogance will turn people off.

#3 - Where do you see yourself in 5 years? This is asked to see what your level of commitment towards your career choice might be. If you want to impress you may say something like: I see myself working hard and progressing through the company ranks. I want to be an authority figure and lead/direct other people to success within the company. My goal is to always have personal growth as well as career growth and you believe this company can offer such an opportunity.

Job interviews can be hard on the nerves, to say the least. But being prepared for these types of common interview questions will make the interview go a lot more smoothly. It will also allow you to interact better with the interviewer thus building rapport. Rapport can help set you apart from other candidates as people want to work with people they like and get along with.