They’re going to ask you questions, some of which will be predictable ones like “Where do you see yourself in five years?” and “Can you tell me about a time when you were part of a team and things went wrong?” Be ready with piles of your previous on-the-job experience. It’s OK to use real-life experiences as examples if you don’t have any work experience! Here is an example of how you can use a real-life experience to answer a question during an interview, if you don’t have work experience:

INTERVIEWER: Tell me about a time when you worked for someone you didn’t get along with.
YOU: This is one of my first job interviews, so I don’t have an example of a boss I had difficulty working with, but I can tell you about a teacher I had. She had a completely different approach to grading than I was used to: She thought a C was the right grade for a paper with all the correct answers and saved A’s for work that went far above and beyond what was required. At first, I had a really hard time in her class, but I worked extremely hard on my final project and ended up with a B+!

Oooh, look at youuu! You admitted that you felt your superior was unfair in this situation, then you showed your interviewer how diplomatic and what a hard worker you are!

We said interrupting was the one thing not to do, but actually, there is another, and it is LYING. HI DON’T LIE. If you don’t know what SEO terms are, don’t act like you do. If you actually can’t make Excel files (why does Excel exist, someone destroy it), don’t say you can. If you have never actually done social media before for a company, don’t say you have (your personal Twitter doesn’t count). No one knows everything about a job before they start it—and it is totally OK to admit what you don’t know. What is not OK is fibbing. The person interviewing you is likely an expert at doing the exact thing you’re lying about. They will see through your treacherous falsehoods and not hire you. It’s understandable that you might want the job enough to fudge a little when it comes to your actual skills, but let us lovingly suggest that the truth is always best.

If you don’t know how to do a basic function of the job that was in the job description (make Powerpoint presentations, use The Chicago Manual of Style, etc.), all is not lost! Just be honest. Calmly, confidently say, “I don’t have a ton of experience with Powerpoint, but I’m a fast learner.” Because it’s true: You ARE a fast learner. The “required” skills listed on lots of jobs aren’t actually REQUIRED a lot of the time, as in “Get out of my office, I said you must know Excel.” Sometimes, especially with computer programs, they are negotiable or not such a big deal to learn. And hey—you’re already IN their office, right? Here you are! At the interview! You have an advantage over someone who maybe is GREAT at Excel and is NOT here.

KRISTA: Being “a fast learner” is how I scammed my way into a five-years-experience-required cake decorating job at a bakery, having never decorated a cake in my life. (And actually many other jobs, come to think of it. Don’t tell my boss[es].)

The whole rest of the interview is your opportunity to tell your future employer about all the things related to this job that you CAN do. Use every chance you’re given to spin whatever you’re talking about to show that YOU have the skills/experience/personality traits that are perfect for this job. For example: If the job requires management experience and you’ve never been a manger, per se, talk about the time you excelled at supervising other student workers in your school’s photo lab.

Know this (but don’t mention it during your interview!): The person interviewing you DOES want, very badly, to not be interviewing anyone anymore. They want you to be the perfect candidate, so that they can hire you and just be DONE with this already. They are on your side. They are ROOTING for you as much as we are! They WANT you to get this job. SHOW THEM WHY YOU SHOULD GET THIS JOB.
After the Interview

After your interviewer wraps things up, say thank you, shake her hand, and leave the building. (You’ll almost definitely need to go to the bathroom, but try to hold it till you’re off the premises.) Once you’re a couple blocks away, call your best friend, dance around the sidewalk, buy yourself a big slice o’ pizza, or do whatever your favorite victory ritual happens to be, because YA KILLED IT! You were a professional, poised, articulate, confident WONDER TO BEHOLD! THIS JOB SHOULD BE YOURS! Also, you can pee now!!

There’s still time for another good impression before your interviewer makes up her mind, so go home, take a breather, then email her to thank her again. Waiting until the next morning is OK, but NO LONGER. In this email, mention one or two specific parts of the interview that went well or that were interesting to you, because it shows that you’re enthusiastic and were paying attention. (“Thank you for bringing me in to talk about the cat-wrangling position. I’m especially excited by the prospect of putting my experience staging elaborate pet photo shoots to work in your new kitty photo studio.”)

Then…wait. It may be a WHILE before you hear from anyone about this job. The urge will be strong, but DO NOT HARASS THE EMPLOYER IF YOU DON’T HEAR FROM ANYONE IMMEDIATELY, OR EVEN A WEEK AFTER THE INTERVIEW. (It’s another one of those things that give a potential boss a sign about what it will be like to work with you, and “high-maintenance” just isn’t your look.) If a couple weeks go by, it’s all right to send ONE MORE polite email to ask about the timeline, but otherwise this is a game that is won through patience.

In the event that you don’t get the job, take the news like the classy pro you are. There’s no telling why you weren’t a fit. Who knows? Maybe you were TOO good for that particular opportunity, and they’re keeping an eye on you for something better down the road? Maybe the boss’s niece already has this job in the bag and they were interviewing for formality’s sake? Don’t ask for explanations (no one owes you one, no matter how much you worked on prepping for the interview); just say one last thank you, and think of this interview as practice for the next one. You are a GREAT and totally hireable person. Get out there and tell someone why! ♦