Learn How to Prep for a Media Interview

Learn How to Prep for a Media InterviewLearn How to Prep for a Media InterviewIt can be tough to prepare for a job einstellungsgesprch in any field. It can often feel as though theres no sure-fire way to preparesince you never fully know what youll be asked. But there are certain questions you can expect to be asked in a media interview. Get information here about what you can do to prepare for media interviews. Once Youve Landed That Interview Great So you have an interview at the media company where youve been dreaming of working. One of the most important things people forget to do (in the excitement of setting up an interview date) is to ask questions. Make sure you ask your interviewer what you should prepare for before the appointment. If its for a media job, theres a good chance you may have to take a writing test. Remember, theres nothing wrong with asking questions - and it certainly doesnt hurt to be prepared before you step in to meet the interviewer. It shows great i nitiative, especially for a media job. Prepare ahead of time. Try to do a mock interview with a friend or family member. Review all of your background - both academic and professional. It sounds strange, but some people forget things theyve done in the heat of the moment. It also helps to prepare a list of key points you may want to bring up in your answers. After all, you are selling yourself, so you should know those before you head in to the interview room. This could be awards youve won or stories youve written - but make sure they are relevant to the interview and showcase all that you are. Be Conscious of Social Media Nowadays, a lot of interviewers will be scouring social media profiles of kompetenzprofil applicants and interviewees. While theres nothing wrong with showing personality on your Twitter or Facebook profiles, youll want to make sure you have a clean platform. By the same token, media companies will want to know that youre active on social media. Its another way to market the company (through its employees), but also because you may be able to do research for stories or marketing through a different channel. If you dont have very many followers or just arent that active on social media, be prepared to answer why. Interview Mistakes to Avoid Aside from making sure you look professional and you are on time - two things you must do - you want to make sure youve studied the right topics to ensure the interviewer doesnt stump you on any questions. Although you shouldnt think of an interview as an antagonistic situation - most interviewers arent trying to test you or catch you off-guard - you dont want to draw a blank when youre asked a question. Thats why you should study up on a few things, and come up with answers to potential questions, before the big day. And dont forget the importance of eye contact. You want to show that youre a confident, strong candidate who can get the job done. Nothing demonstrates how invested you are tha n by maintaining eye contact with your interviewer. These rules - especially about your appearance - also apply if youre doing a remote FaceTime or Skype interview. Just because you arent sitting face-to-face with your interviewer doesnt mean you can interview in your pajamas. Make sure you look presentable - after all, you do have to put your best foot forward. As for phone interviews, keep your voice professional and calm, and imagine that youre sitting in an office at the company. Questions You Can Expect One of the biggest pet peeves you will hear editors and hiring managers complain about when it comes to interviewing, is talking to candidates who dont know their company or their publication. This doesnt mean if youre interviewing at an imprint of Random House you need to know the history of the publisher. However, if youre interviewing at, say, Knopf (a literary imprint at Random House), you should know some background on the division. What kinds of books does Knopf pub lish? Who are its authors? What are your favorite books that Knopf has published? The theme of knowing where youre interviewing carries over to various facets of media. When I welches interviewing for jobs out of college - mostly editorial assistant positions at magazines - I knew about those magazines. I had a working knowledge of the general topics they covered - and I studied them. So when I was asked questions like Whats your favorite section of the magazine? I had an answer ready. Other questions that might have stumped me, had I not prepared, were Whats one thing you would change about the magazineif you have the opportunity? and If you were going to write a story for us tomorrow, what would it be about? To answer any of these questions about a publication, you need to know it inside and out. It wont do to simply know Sports Illustrated covers sports or Entertainment Weekly covers entertainment. You need to know specific stories the magazine published recently and the recur ring sections of the magazine. For example, The New Yorker devotes its front-of-the-book to shorter pieces about a wide array of topics. This section is famous and is called Talk of the Town. Now if you strolled into an interview at The New Yorker and didnt know what Talk of the Town was, youd probably blow your chance of getting the job. Have the Right Answers The best way to prepare for a media interview is, as I said above, to study your potential employer. If youre interviewing for an editorial spot at a magazine, grab a bunch of back issues and go over them, or go online and scour through some of the older issues and stories. Decide what you might change if you had the chance. Figure out the sections you like and decide why you like them. Find stories you like and take note of them. You dont need to remember exact titles, but it will be a positiv if you can. Another thing to be aware of, especially when youre going on a lot of interviews, is to avoid mixing up competitors. When youre interviewing a lot, you often have less time to prepare for things. And, moreover, the places youre interviewing may occasionally start to blend together. Try to separate. You dont want to make the mistake of saying you liked a story thatSIdid when it was really a story that appeared inESPN The Magazine. Therefore, before the interview, pay particular attention to getting things like this straight in your head. One thing that notoriously drives editors and others in the field crazy is mistaking them for their competition. One thing to note if you dont have the right answer or just dont understand the question, dont try to talk yourself in a circle. That will only make you look bad. If you need to, ask the interviewer to rephrase the question. It may just point your mind in the right direction. Keeping Your Cool One thing I always struggled with during interviews was my nerves. Theres no question that interviewing is stressful, especially when you have the pressure of needing a job weighing down on you. That said, you need to try and keep your nerves at bay. The more nervous you are, the more likely you are to misspeak or get generally sidetracked. So, know what your nervous ticks are before the interview so you can keep them in check. One of my nervous ticks is talking too much, so I was always aware of this when I went into an interview. I had to pay special attention to make sure I didnt talk too much. The other thing to remember is, in the end, its just an interview. If you can try to keep things in perspective and not put too much pressure on yourself, its often easier to stay calm. Go in confident and calm. If you believe in yourself and speak with confidence, employers will pick up on it.