Whether online or in person, these are professional interviews, and you should dress accordingly. Need professional clothing? Check out the Nazareth Career Closet - students can take, free of charge, clothing needed for interviews, internships, job fairs, networking opportunities, award events and community site placements. Visit the Career Closet webpage for order information.

Employers choose one of two options for setting up interviews:

1. Open sign up: interview slots are given on a first come first served basis until the schedule is filled. Go to Handshake, and submit your resume and sign up for an available time slot.
2. Pre-screen sign up: organizations review candidates ahead of time, and only give you an interview spot if they are interested. Go to Handshake and submit your resume by a given deadline. If you are selected, you will receive an email message instructing you to log back into Handshake and select an available interview time slot.

If you want to get beyond the interview and receive a job offer, the real work starts now.

Before you go on your interview, here are a few things you need to do:

1. Research the Company and the Industry - Find out how long the company has been around, what the organization does, what its mission/goals are, who its client base is, any current events in the company or industry, size of the organization, etc. Where can you find this information? Here are a few places you can try:
• Company websites
• Newspapers/magazines
• Recruitment literature
• Annual reports
• In-house newsletters and trade journals
• LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Handshake
• Social Media
• Better Business Bureau reports
• Chamber of Commerce
2. Review Your Past Experiences - Analyze your skills and past experiences so you'll be able to give detailed explanations of your past experiences and "sell" yourself to the employer.
3. Practice Interview Questions - Review a list of some of the most common interview questions. Mock interviewing with a friend or career counselor will help you know what to expect in an interview and will allow you to develop carefully thought out answers BEFORE the interview. This will help ease your nerves on the day of the interview and hopefully win you the job. Read sample interview questions.
4. Questions for the Employer - Interviewers will almost always ask if you have any questions for them, and if you don't, it looks like you're not interested, so you better have a prepared list of questions ready. However, don't ask about salary or benefits during the interview. Questions about that can come after you've been extended an offer, but first, you have to get the offer! Instead, focus your questions on the responsibilities of the job, your potential co-workers, how you would be evaluated, training programs, etc. Read sample employer questions.
5. Know Where You're Going - Make sure you know how to get to the interview location. If you don't know where it is, get directions. If possible, make a trip out there in advance of the interview to see how long your travel time is and where you can park.
6. What to Bring with You (or for a virtual interview, have at hand to provide digitally)
• Extra copies of your resume and cover letter
• Names/addresses/phone numbers of references 
• Questions you have for the employer
• A padfolio or notebook to write down your notes

• Not knowing anything about the company and clearly not having done any research prior to the interview, indicating a lack of interest in and enthusiasm for the company and position
• Not providing enough detail and specific examples when answering questions about skills/past experiences
• Being negative and complaining about past employers and/or experiences
• Not maintaining good eye contact
• Not exhibiting poise and self-confidence (ex: offering a weak handshake)
• Not using professional language (ex: saying "yeah" instead of "yes" and saying "like", "you know", "um" and "uh")
• Arriving late for the interview
• Not having questions to ask the employer (List of possible questions)
• Having a poor personal appearance (Interview Attire)
• Lack of clear and realistic career goals

Sometimes circumstances exist that might cause you to cancel an interview. If you need to cancel an interview, please inform your career coach and the employer as soon as possible. Last minute cancellations (less than 24 hours notice) or "no shows" are extremely unprofessional, and are viewed negatively by employers.