For many people, interviews are simultaneously the best and worst part of job searching. When you schedule one, it means that your resume knocked their socks off and your skills align with what they&rsquo;re looking for, but it also means more than a few nerves to face.
The key to kicking those nerves to the curb is to be prepared and this whole blog post is dedicated to exactly that. You&rsquo;ll learn how best to research a company, what notes to have on hand, and we&rsquo;ve even got a template for your follow up email.
This post is part of The Layoff Series, a series of blog posts built to help jobseekers get back on their feet after a layoff. Be sure to check out the other articles in the series <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/what-to-do-after-a-layoff" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">What To Do After a Layoff</a> and <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/the-layoff-series-7-tips-to-organize-your-job-search" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">7 Tips To Organize Your Job Search</a>, to learn how to handle a layoff from step one.

<h2 style="text-align: center;"> How To Prepare for an Interview</h2>
You did it! You got past the application stage and you&rsquo;ve got an interview. Now it&rsquo;s time to get ready&hellip;here&rsquo;s what you need to do.
<h3> Do Your Research</h3>
Before interviewing, do a deep dive into the company, products or services they offer, and the person (or people) you&rsquo;ll be interviewing with. The easiest way to do this is to check out the company&rsquo;s About page on their website and look through their LinkedIn to see some of their history and current initiatives. It&rsquo;s also a good idea to do a quick Google search to see any recent news article about them.
If the company sells a particular product or service, sign up for a free trial or test out whatever you can. If it&rsquo;s not accessible to you, look through case studies on their website to learn more about their customers and the problems they&rsquo;re solving for.
To really impress, make note of the things that are particularly appealing to you and mention them early in the interview. For example, &ldquo;I loved that [COMPANY NAME] shared those pictures from your in-person meeting. Is that a meeting you all do often?&rdquo;
It can be a great way to break the ice and learn more about the company&rsquo;s culture before diving into the full interview.
<h3> Use Notes</h3>
One of the biggest misconceptions I see when people are talking about the hiring process is thinking that candidates aren&rsquo;t allowed notes during an interview.&nbsp;Remember, the recruiter or hiring manager you&rsquo;re working with is likely taking questions off of notes and taking notes throughout the interview&hellip;you can, too!
It&rsquo;s great to have a few things memorized, but there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with having notes for any particular stories or achievements you want to remember to convey.&nbsp;
In your notes, make sure you have:
<ol>
<li>
Your elevator pitch: A 30 to 45-second pitch about who you are and how you&rsquo;re a fit for the role. Career and Executive Coach, Renata Junkova, explains, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-craft-perfect-job-interview-elevator-pitch-renata-junkova/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">A persuasive and memorable pitch, perceived as an opening speech that summarizes: WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU DO, WHY THEY SHOULD HIRE YOU.</a>&rdquo;&nbsp; So keep it short, clear, and relevant to the job you're interviewing for.
</li>
<li>
Answers to common interview questions: Prepare for questions like, &ldquo;Why do you want to work at this company?&rdquo;, &ldquo;Tell me about a conflict you faced at work and how you dealt with it.&rdquo;, and &ldquo;What are you looking for in a new position?&rdquo; The Muse has some excellent templates for answering all of those questions and more <a href="https://www.themuse.com/advice/interview-questions-and-answers" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;
</li>
<li>
How your skills align with the requirements of the job: Remember to focus all of your answers towards how you can do the job. Don&rsquo;t be afraid to highlight the keywords in the job posting in your answers!
</li>
<li>
Overviews of any impressive projects you&rsquo;ve handled: Brag about yourself! Remember to highlight the goal of the project, what you did, and what the results were.
</li>
<li>
A response to any gaps in your employment: It&rsquo;s likely the recruiter will ask about any gaps in your employment. When you&rsquo;ve faced a layoff, it can feel overwhelming to tackle this question. Remember to be honest, optimistic, and bring it back to the role you&rsquo;re interviewing for. Here&rsquo;s an example to work with: &ldquo;I was recently laid off due to internal restructuring at my previous company. While it certainly threw a curveball my way, I took it as an opportunity to reevaluate my goals and focus on applying for roles that align with my hopes of growing as a Project Manager. I began working on my <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/why-you-should-earn-a-google-career-certificate" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Google Career Certificate</a> in Project Management. I&rsquo;m excited to apply what I&rsquo;ve learned to this role!&rdquo;
</li>
</ol>
<h3> Practice, Practice, Practice</h3>
We&rsquo;re going to say it again. That&rsquo;s how important it is. Practice!
It can feel awkward at first to practice for your interview, but it really does help! You don&rsquo;t have to put a ton of effort into practicing. You can just record yourself answering the questions, or video call with a friend and have them play the interviewer. You can even utilize our <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/quizzes/interview-prep" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Interview Prep tool</a> that takes you through some simple quizzes to make sure you&rsquo;re all set to sit down with that interviewer.
If you&rsquo;re doing a virtual interview, be sure to record in the same location using the same audio setup you&rsquo;ll be using in the interview. Then you can feel confident that your headphones work and the interviewer can hear and see you!
<h3> Dress For Your Best</h3>
Now that doesn&rsquo;t mean you need to wear a floor-length ball gown, but wearing an outfit that makes you feel confident, comfortable, and powerful is the way to go. If you&rsquo;re doing a virtual interview, be sure to try out the outfit with any virtual or real-life background you&rsquo;ll be using. Some colors or patterns may become distracting when on camera so when you&rsquo;re practicing your interview, throw on your outfit to be sure you won&rsquo;t run into any problems!
When in doubt, dress up. <a href="https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/starting-new-job/guide-to-business-casual-attire" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Business casual</a> is the best option for pretty much any interview.&nbsp;
<h3> Take a Deep Breath</h3>
Interviews are nerve-wracking. Whether it&rsquo;s your first or your 50th, interviews often make people feel judged, uncomfortable, anxious, etc. Take a few minutes before your interview starts to take some deep breaths. We recommend trying the <a href="https://youtu.be/a7uQXDkxEtM" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">box breathing technique</a> which can help to calm your nerves and help you come to the interview with your best foot forward.
If you can, try to get some fresh air as well. Go on a walk or open a window before your interview to help get your creative juices flowing and get in the right headspace to impress!
<h3> Have Questions at the Ready</h3>
Most interviews end with the interviewer saying, &ldquo;So did you have any questions for me?&rdquo;
One of the biggest mistakes that candidates make is not asking any questions. It can feel like it&rsquo;s better to let the call end naturally, but asking thoughtful questions shows that you&rsquo;re engaged and invested.
Here are some questions to consider asking:
<ol>
<li>
How does your leadership team interact with lower level employees?
</li>
<li>
How is [COMPANY NAME] planning to evolve in the next five years?
</li>
<li>
What do you like most about working for [COMPANY NAME]?
</li>
<li>
What sort of collaboration with other teams and colleagues can this role expect?
</li>
</ol>
<h3> Pre-Write Your Follow up Email</h3>
Following up after an interview is an easy way to stand out from the crowd. If you have a template put together, it&rsquo;s easier to get that email sent out right after your interview!&nbsp;Remember to plug in some details from the interview that can help reiterate important points you want to hit home.
If you&rsquo;re facing some writer&rsquo;s block, here&rsquo;s a template to start with:
Dear [Name of the Interviewer],
Thank you for taking the time to meet with me about the [job title] role. It was a pleasure to learn more about the position and [company name] and I was so impressed to hear that [company&rsquo;s recent accomplishment].
I&rsquo;m confident that I can excel as a [job title] on your team and I would love to bring my experience with [experience or skill] to the position.
Please don&rsquo;t hesitate to reach out if you or your team has any questions or needs any additional information.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks again,
[Signature]
 We hope that every interview goes off without a hitch, but remember, if you need some extra support, 1-on-1 career coaching is available to our members. Simply <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/candidates" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">login</a> and contact us for a coaching session.&nbsp;

You did it! You got past the application stage and you’ve got an interview. Now it’s time to get ready…here’s what you need to do.

The Layoff Series: How To Prepare for an Interview

Do you love your job?
According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.resumebuilder.com/despite-labor-market-turmoil-87-of-workers-love-or-like-their-jobs/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">ResumeBuilder.com survey</a>, &ldquo;Nearly 6 in 10 workers who like or love their job say it&rsquo;s because their work is personally fulfilling and meaningful.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Making work personally fulfilling and meaningful often means taking a proactive approach to your career development. For some people, that means working with a mentor 1-on-1. For others, it means going back to get that traditional 4-year college degree.
But there is another option.
Upskilling and reskilling with a Google Career Certificate isn&rsquo;t just about helping you advance your career and make more money (although that part is great), it&rsquo;s also about building a career that fits your lifestyle, finding a fulfilling career path with growth opportunities, and giving you the confidence you need to bring your best self to work every day.
We know that signing up for a certificate program can feel like a big commitment. Here&rsquo;s what you need to know.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">What to Expect from the Google Career Certificate Program</h2>
The certificates will help you to gain the in-demand skills that you need to succeed in the following industries:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://grow.google/certificates/digital-marketing-ecommerce/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Digital Marketing and E-commerce</a></li>
<li><a href="https://grow.google/certificates/project-management/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Project Management</a></li>
<li><a href="https://grow.google/certificates/data-analytics/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Data Analytics</a></li>
<li><a href="https://grow.google/certificates/it-support/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">IT Support</a></li>
<li><a href="https://grow.google/certificates/ux-design/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">UX Design</a></li>
<li><a href="https://grow.google/certificates/cybersecurity/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Cybersecurity</a></li>
</ul>
<a href="https://grow.google/certificates/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Completing a Google Career Certificate often takes between 3 - 6 months</a> depending on how much time you devote to your studies. Whether it&rsquo;s your first time learning about the field, or you&rsquo;ve already been doing some learning, the curriculum teaches you the foundational skills employers are looking for along with hands-on exercises that you can use as examples of your newfound expertise in your job search.
The courses within the certificate program are made up of a mix of video lessons, readings, practical exercises, and peer-graded work. There is community support throughout the process with discussion boards and social media groups.
But the best part is the results. Here&rsquo;s what some CareerCircle members had to say about their experience completing a Google Career Certificate.
A graduate who had plenty of experience in logistics and customer service, but wanted to increase and stabilize their professional growth shared, &ldquo;Through completing the [IT Support] certificate and some assistance with my resume and interviewing from CareerCircle, I found a new position [with] a significant pay bump for me ($8 more an hour), and it's a direct role with a company that will help boost my growth. So grateful for the opportunity, I couldn't have done it without the certificate and the assistance!&rdquo;
For another Google Career Certificate graduate, it &ldquo;was an amazing boost to my resume. Within just a couple of weeks of completing it I had several different interviews, and shortly after that I was able to secure several offers and was able to pick whichever I wanted. There is a lot of opportunity in this field, and the certificate is a great place to start.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Grow with Google and CareerCircle Partnership</h2>
In February of this year, CareerCircle partnered withGoogle Career Certificates to provide career resources to program graduates in the U.S.
When you complete your Google Career Certificate, you&rsquo;ll be directed to sign up for a CareerCircle profile in order to get access to the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium, over 150 employers who have committed to considering hiring certificate graduates.
Beyond that, you also get access to career resources like interview prep, 1-on-1 coaching, resume building support, etc. You&rsquo;ll be backed and supported by the CareerCircle team, and you can feel confident that we are unstoppable in our desire to get every one of our members into the role they&rsquo;ve been dreaming of.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>

<h3>Are Google Career Certificates free?</h3>
They can be! CareerCircle offers scholarships for all Google Career Certificates. To learn more and apply, visit our <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/courses" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">courses page</a>.
&nbsp;
<h3>Are Google Career Certificates worth it?</h3>
Absolutely! <a href="https://grow.google/certificates/?utm_source=careercircle&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=earn_gcc" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">75% of graduates report a positive career outcome</a>, like getting a new job, promotion, or raise, and often feel more confident and capable in their roles. While the Google Career Certificate takes time and effort to complete, it provides the basis you need to break into the industry you&rsquo;re most interested in.
&nbsp;
<h3>Do employers care about Google Career Certificates?</h3>
Yes! Google Career Certificates help you stand out among applicants because they highlight your dedication to learning and development and make your resume competitive with a credential from Google. Completing a Google Career Certificate also gives you access to the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium, a group of over 150 employers who have committed to valuing and considering hiring people who have completed their certificate.
&nbsp;
<h3>How long do Google Career Certificates take to complete?</h3>
You can complete the program completely online and at your own pace. Completion often takes between 3 and 6 months, but it depends on your personal learning speed. It&rsquo;s recommended to spend about 10 hours a week on your studies.
&nbsp;
<h3>What happens after I complete my Google Career Certificate?</h3>
After you complete your certificate, you&rsquo;ll be directed to sign up for a CareerCircle profile where you will be able to access all of the career resources you need to get into a new role. When you sign up for that profile, the first thing you should do is <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/how-to-verify-your-google-career-certificate-in-careercircle" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">verify your certificate</a> to help employers see your profile.

Ultimately, the Google Career Certificate program is a great option for anybody looking to switch careers or expand their knowledge in their existing one. It will take time and effort, but the rewards are limitless.

We know that signing up for a certificate program can feel like a big commitment. Here’s what you need to know.

Why You Should Earn a Google Career Certificate

One of the values we live by here at CareerCircle is to be the change you want to see.
When we realized that people&rsquo;s experience went beyond their resume, we created the <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/how-the-360deg-candidate-view-helps-hiring-managers-find-the-right-fit" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Candidate 360&deg; profile</a>. When we saw that the technology industry was sorely lacking in diversity, we started partnering with non-profit organizations who worked with underserved communities.&nbsp;
And this Mental Health Awareness Month, when <a href="https://www.stress.org/workplace-stress#:~:text=83%25%20of%20US%20workers%20suffer,stress%20affects%20their%20personal%20relationships." rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">83% of US workers report job-related stress</a>, we&rsquo;ve decided to tackle how work can be a place for wellness.
Now don&rsquo;t get us wrong&hellip;it&rsquo;s a challenge. But we&rsquo;re a team who has never shied away from a challenge.&nbsp;
In fact, we&rsquo;re the team who recently <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/the-power-of-changing-941-lives" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">helped 941 people get hired in less than 941 days</a> so we know that when we set our minds to something, we&rsquo;re going to accomplish it.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Kicking Off Our Wellness Journey Together</h2>
Our wellness initiative kicked off with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-sneeder-a49a723/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Kim Sneeder</a>, our Managing Director, opening the floor to the team to share with her one thing they love about the company culture and one that we need to change.
Because our leadership team and Kim, in particular, has been dedicated to creating a culture of transparency and honesty from day one, it wasn&rsquo;t an issue to be completely honest about what we were facing. One of the recurring topics that was brought up was focusing on wellness at work through professional development, accountability, and more.
<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/ewxYLMy9QSG7oMjZAwvH" alt="Image of CareerCircle team making homemade cards for kids" width="488" height="256" class="butter-float-right">
With this feedback in mind, the leadership team invited <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedcapshaw/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Ted Capshaw</a>, a business coach and dedicated leader who helps people and companies grow before tragedy, to speak with us at our <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7048678297672536064" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">National</a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7048678297672536064" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">&nbsp;Team Meeting</a> about the 8 pillars of wellness:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Emotional</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Mental</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Physical</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Professional</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Financial</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Community</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Relationships/Connection</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Spiritual/Values</li>
</ul>
The presentation sparked one of the most important conversations we&rsquo;ve had amongst our team. People opened up about how work interacts with their life and the goals they have to make the changes they need to make. It also prompted the 3 key changes at our company we&rsquo;re implementing.

<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">How We&rsquo;re Supporting Wellness at Work</h2>

After our conversations at our National Team Meeting, we took a pulse survey of our team to learn which pillars are most important to them. Spiritual/Values overwhelmingly took the top spot with mental and physical health tied in second. We knew that we needed to give people space to discover what they valued alongside the ability to live those values at work and be able to prioritize their health in ways they hadn&rsquo;t been.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Team Accountability Groups</h3>
We&rsquo;re an action-oriented company so it didn&rsquo;t take long for our team to realize that we would reach our goals better if we worked together. As our team began to share the pillars that we wanted to focus on individually, accountability groups began to spawn amongst those who shared the same goals.&nbsp;
These accountability groups will be helping to support each other on hard days, provide resources to learn and grow together, and, most importantly, give us a chance to connect on topics outside of our day-to-day work.

<h3 dir="ltr">Company-Wide Development Events</h3>
Beyond our accountability groups and our individual wellness days, CareerCircle as a company is also committing to providing development events that any team member can join. These will be anything from meetings about stress management or building your brand on LinkedIn to fireside chats about the challenges we&rsquo;re facing.
These events will give us a chance to join together as a team to get a pulse on how our wellness efforts are going and make sure that we&rsquo;re staying true to our goal of prioritizing wellness at work.
&nbsp;
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Building Your Own Wellness At Work Initiative</h2>
According to a post from RallyBright, <a href="https://www.rallybright.com/feeling-undervalued-at-work/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">almost 50% of American workers have left a job due to feeling undervalued</a>. Investing in wellness at work is just one of the ways that you can help your employees feel valued every day. Building a wellness at work initiative doesn&rsquo;t have to take weeks of market research and sign off. It can be made up of small, but intentional shifts in the way that work happens in someone&rsquo;s life.
We kicked off our efforts by simply opening up the conversation with our team. Asking questions like, &ldquo;What does our company do well?&rdquo; and &ldquo;What do we need to work on?&rdquo; are an easy way to get the suggestions rolling in. Remember that this effort will only work if employees see actual change come from these conversations so only open them when you&rsquo;re ready to take action.
When you&rsquo;ve had those conversations, cater your initiative to what people really want. If the overwhelming majority of employees want more support when it comes to setting boundaries at work and you choose to initiate 5 minutes of stretching at the start of every meeting, you&rsquo;re not supporting the needs of your team. Every team is different and they deserve personalized care.
It is also critical for leaders to know that words need to match actions. While it is wonderful to say that you care about your team&rsquo;s mental health, it means more to provide appropriate time off and a focus on workload management. Remember to also practice what you preach, leading with vulnerability and honesty will encourage your team to come to work in the same way. 

Ultimately, there is always more work to be done to value wellness at work, but we wanted to share the changes that we are making to inspire you to do the same for your workplace. Let us know on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7058848435956801537/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> what you&rsquo;re doing to prioritize wellness at work!

One of the values we live by is to be the change you want to see. Here's how we're doing that when it comes to wellness at work.

Being the Change for Wellness at Work

One of the values we live by here at CareerCircle is to be the change you want to see. Here's how we're doing that when it comes to wellness at work.

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Staff Writer

141 Articles

The Layoff Series: How To Prepare for an Interview

Why You Should Earn a Google Career Certificate

Being the Change for Wellness at Work

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