For graduates and young professionals, first job interviews are a crash course in interpersonal skills and thinking on one’s feet. To ease the learning curve a bit, you can use these tips to take smart notes before and during your job interview and answer questions intelligently.

What is the interviewer looking for?

A job interviewer knows that a recent grad will not have
a wealth of direct experience. Instead, the interviewer is likely to ask questions to gauge your future potential and critical thinking skills. Interviewers are looking for:

• How you process information
• How you analyze problems
• How you formulate solutions
• Cultural fit with the company

Before your interview, consider each of the above aspects and write down potential answers. Practice various answers out loud in front of a mirror. Another way to prepare is to role play with a friend. Share these four categories and ask him or her to ask you relating questions.

Engage, capture

You’ll want to appear engaged in the interview. This can’t be emphasized enough. However, you’ll also want to capture notes that will help you remember key information for later. Taking notes can also organize your thoughts at the meeting and help you share your problem-solving skills during the interview.

It’s a delicate balance. Take too many notes and you’ve missed part of the conversation and you aren’t making the all-important eye contact. Take too few notes and you have no documentation of the meeting. Use bullet points and keep your notes succinct to create an overview of relevant information.

Of course, you’ll want to do research before the interview about the company and the job. At the interview, take notes relating to additional information gleaned, including:

• More about the company
• Challenges of the role and for the company
• Details related to the job
• Questions you may have from the interview
• Cultural items to which you have a connectionImmediately after the interview, find someplace quiet and take additional notes. Notes could include impressions of the interviewer, next steps or cultural insights.

Leveraging your notes later

During the interview, use your bullet points to bring your solutions to the challenges of company back into the conversation. This shows that you are actively listening and processing the information.

After the interview, follow up with a thank you email. In this email, expand on some solutions you offered to the company’s problems and mention any cultural items in which you think you might have a fit.

If you get a second or third interview, go back to your original notes and rewrite them in narrative form. This will help you prepare for your next interview. In each interview, your responses should build on the information of past interviews.

Seal the deal

There is one big element you can’t control: the interviewer’s personality. Learn about that person beforehand if possible. If not, observe him or her and sell yourself to that individual. Listen to questions and tailor your answers to that specific person’s style.