Ask Alexander Graham Bell and he'd say "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success".  The more you learn, read, digest, internalize and talk about a company, the better off you'll be during your interview.  The challenge is not over-preparing, it's using the right information at the right time in the interview process.  The biggest mistake I've found is candidates who try to prove they are prepared - please, don't "show up and throw up" - it's obvious and the interview sounds like a shopping list and even worse, a shopping list the person interviewing you wrote.

The most successful prepared interviews align three things:

1. The mission of the job description

2. The company objectives

3. Your experience, specific to the previous two items

Use your preparation time to uncover how your skill sets align to the position and the company objectives.  Be able to discuss real experiences where you have achieved success similar to their business objectives. The job description will give you some insight and even some specifics but your preparation and research is where the majority of this will come from.  I recently met with an executive who spent almost 30 hours of preparation time for his first, one-hour interview.  He knew going into the interview he could never share or try and prove he spent that much time. He used the information he gathered to build a case by aligning the three items listed above - in under four weeks he had completed the interview process and was made an offer.

MATT GILL | Senior Vice President | Executive Search