Career Advice
7 Must Haves For Your Interview Toolkit
Glassdoor Team
Glassdoor Team | Author & Career Expert at Glassdoor | 25 Aug 2017
The one thing you learn in life is to always be prepared and that goes for interviews as well. Putting an interview toolkit together will help you to be ready for anything. You might find that you don’t even use anything from your interview toolkit but knowing you’ve got it will give you the confidence to focus on what’s important.
If you’re worried about carrying around a whole case of tools to each interview, don’t worry it’s not that type of toolkit. All you’ll need is a few extra bits to pack into your bag before you go.
What should an interview tool kit consist of?
Printed copies of your CV
Your interviewer will have a digital copy of your cv but sometimes there’s nothing better than having a hard copy. Some interviewers like to make notes on the CV as they chat to you.
Tissues
There is nothing worse than having a sneezing frenzy or a constant nose drip and not have any tissues to clean it up. The last thing you want to do is to stop the interview while the interviewer runs around the building looking for tissues so be prepared.
Bottle of water
Most of the time you’ll be offered a drink but in case you don’t it’s best to have some water on you, the last thing you want is to try to talk with a dry mouth. Dry mouths can lead to tickly coughs and even if the interviewer offers to get you some water you don’t want to be left coughing for ages.
Tooth picks
It’s always good to have a light bite to eat before an interview, you don’t want a grumbling tummy all the way through. The last thing you want though is for a bit of food to get stuck in your teeth, it doesn’t make for a welcoming smile. Check your teeth before you go into the interview and use your toothpick if you need to.
Pen and notepad
Your interviewer might suggest a book to read, a report to look at, a place to visit, if they do get your pen and notepad out and write it down. This will make you look organised and that you’re genuinely interested in what they’re suggesting.
A list of questions
You’ve most probably rehearsed the questions you want to ask but it’s always good to have a backup just in case your mind goes blank. There is no shame in getting your list of questions out, it shows you’re prepared and the interviewer would rather that than you looking blank into the abyss.
References
Your application may have included references but it’s always good to take along some more, the more references you have the more proof there is of how great you are.
The above should take up a small amount of extra space. Don’t leave any of the tools behind because you’ll never know when you might need one of them.
Glassdoor Team
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Tags:Informed CandidateInterview Preparation
