Time Should You Spend Preparing for a Job Interview

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(Newswire.net — January 15, 2020) — Whether you are a fresh candidate looking for your first job or an experienced person keen on moving higher up in your career leader, you perhaps need to have the right answer to the question how much time should you spend preparing for a job interview. Answering this question is important and that is what we will be doing in this article.

How Much Time Should You Spend Preparing for a Job Interview – How long should you prepare for an interview?

All of us attend interviews with the main objective of getting a job or moving from one career level to the next career levels. While right preparation is important, you must know how much time should you spend preparing for the interview. Whether you have a phone interview or an internal interview, it is important to job interview tips to land the position. 

Different People Give Different Answers

Different people have different answers to the question as to how much time should be devoted for interview. Around 60% believe that spending four hours or less is enough for attending an interview. While the balance 40% believes that they should spend anything between five to ten hours for a job interview. However, it is important for the candidate to have a clear understanding as to how much time should he or she spend before facing the interview. 

The employer invests quite a lot in hiring a person and therefore they would like to be sure that they are hiring the right person with the right experience, skill, mindset, attitude and qualities. They are keen that the new employee will add value to the organization. Let us now look at things from the employees’ perspective.

Better To Spend at Least 10 Hours For The Interview

Though it may not be right to straightjacket the preparation time, based on experience and based on opinions from experts, it would not be a bad idea to spend around 10 hours preparing for the interview. Further, you should focus on one or two interviews rather than choosing a host of interviews. Be sure that the employer or the position for which you are applying is in line with your core competency area and your state of mind and attitude.

Be Aware of the 20:40:40 Factor

Before attending any interview, spend 20% of your preparation time gathering information and getting to know more about the organization and also the industry to which it belongs. The interviewers will ask questions about the organization for sure. Further, industry experts suggest  if you are applying for marketing and sales function, know some information about the sales numbers of the company, the revenue generated, the profit and other such details. 

If you are applying for a position in finance be ready to face some questions from their balance sheet and books of accounts. 40% of the time should be spent on looking for potential questions and answers for the same. Once you have identified the probable questions that may be asked, find out answers for the same and answer those questions aloud. If you can do it to your family member or friend it is great, otherwise you should try and answer aloud the question all by yourself. Record the answers, play it back and listen to it as many times as you can, so that you can make corrections. You also can learn to modulate your voice and give pause to your replies wherever necessary.

The Final Word

Your chances of coming out successfully in the interview would depend on a number of factors and this also includes your capability to answer the question how much time should you spend preparing for a job interview. You must be able to impress your employer because they will not settle for anything but the best because they invest quite a bit in the recruiting process.