Use the Interview to Help with Your Positioning, and Up the Salary Offer

Before you go to your job interview, you will want to learn as much as you can about the open position to gain a sense of how much value you can add to the organization in that capacity. In other words, your research and self assessment will help you build a case for your employment with the company.

By doing your homework, you are much more likely to develop a better understanding of the job's scope of responsibilities within the organization. Your research, via the Web, the library, and other resources (such as any publications the company may distribute in its lobby) will help you get a picture of where the company is heading, and the skills you have that will help it move forward.

Never make promises you can't keep in terms of fulfilling the job's performance requirements. Yet, if you are aware that there are gaps between any of the job's responsibilities and your experience, by planning ahead you can minimize your shortcomings by discussing your success in mastering similar or even more complex processes in previous jobs.

The salary offer that will be made to you may be set immediately after the interview – so make sure you leave your interviewer with reasons to be enthusiastic about the possibility of your joining the firm. The more excited an employer is about the value you can bring to their organization, the higher the initial offer may be.

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