You aced the first round -- or even two or three rounds -- of interviews for your dream job. When the employer calls you in for a final meeting, you may think it's just a formality, and that all that's left is to open a bottle of celebratory champagne. Don't declare victory just yet, though. The final interview may be your last step in getting the job you want, but at some companies it's also the toughest. If you've been asked for a final interview, prepare for more in-depth questioning than at your previous meetings with the employer.
Review Your Earlier Interviews
Pull out your notebook and go over those notes you so diligently took during your first interview. If you took sufficiently thorough notes, you have a handy little record of what skills and qualifications you highlighted during your initial meetings with the employer. It was the points you made in those previous meetings that prompted the employer to call you in for a follow-up. Stress those points again and prepare to elaborate even further, using examples from your previous job and ideas for how you can contribute to the company you're interviewing with.
Address the Employer's Concerns
If the employer mentioned any potential problems during your first interviews, use your final interview to offer responses or suggestions that will erase all doubt in her mind. If the job requires frequent travel, and the employer expressed concern about how you'll juggle out-of-town trips with raising small children, tell her you have a plan in place for managing both responsibilities.
Offer the Employer a Long-Term Plan
As job search consultant Jerome Young notes in the "Forbes" article, "How to Ace Your Second-Round Job Interview," you established during your first interview that you had the necessary qualifications to succeed in the job. If not, the employer wouldn't have asked you for a subsequent meeting. Now, Young says, your main job is showing the employer you outshine the competition. Young advises preparing a 60-day plan demonstrating how you'll learn the ropes quickly and how you'll provide measurable results within your first two months on the job.
Ask for the Job
In the Money/CNN article "10 Biggest Job Interview Blunders," leadership development consultant Tim Schoonover says one of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is not asking for the job. This is especially true in a final interview, when you've already proved yourself to the employer. A final interview is the time to be bold. Close the interview by summing up your qualifications and any ideas you have for the company, and then ask for the opportunity to show the employer you can make good on your promise.