Halloween is just around the corner, and you know what that means: hoards of children (and a few of the lamer teenagers) will be out roaming the streets, visiting as many houses as possible and pretending to be somebody else. When you put it like that, it almost sounds like looking for a job, doesn’t it? In the spirit of Halloween your friends here at ResumeToInterviews are giving you a trick AND a treat (in the form of Job Interview Tips!).

That’s one job interview trick employers may use during your interview, and one treat that may just put you ahead of the pack. What, you didn’t think we meant candy, did you?

After reading over this handy interview dress guide infographic continue reading why we think it’s even more important than you can imagine.

Trick or Treat – Which Job Interview Tip Will It Be?

The Trick: The Dress Test

The most important job interview tip I can offer is simple: dress to impress. Now many of you have heard this before and dismissed it’s importance, thinking that it really doesn’t matter how well you’re dressed as long as you allow your best qualities to shine through. So even though you may think that the clothes you wear to a job interview won’t, or at least shouldn’t, tell an employer anything about the type of employee you are (we’ve all been told not to judge a book by it’s cover), the simple truth of the matter is they do. Big time. And here’s the trick: it’s a test.

It’s not the clothes themselves that inform employers as to what type of employee you are going to be, it’s the choices you have made that inform first impressions. If you didn’t dress up, the employer is going to wonder WHY you didn’t dress up. Maybe they’ll think you didn’t respect their offer enough to prepare for the interview properly. Maybe they will think you’re a generally sloppy person, which means they can assume you’re work is sloppy too.

It is an employer’s job to gather as much information about potential hires as possible, meaning they’re looking to make any judgements about you that may slim down the hiring pool. Don’t give an employer the chance to make these types of judgements, just toss on your Sunday best and look sharp.

Trick or Treat – Which Job Interview Tip Will It Be?

The Treat: Warm-up for your Interview!

This one might sound a little strange, but bear with me. The most valuable job interview tip I can offer may be one of the most overlooked: you need to warm-up for a job interview. Specifically, you need to warm-up your voice. Have you ever tried talking to someone on the phone a few seconds after waking up?

Chances are that nobody can understand what you’re saying. Baseball players take warm-up swings for a reason. They understand that, no matter how much practice they have put in, they’re not going to be at their very best if they don’t warm-up. And just like a baseball player’s swing needs to be warmed-up before a game, your voice need to be warmed-up before an interview as well.

A great trick for warming-up your voice is to stand in front of a mirror and speak to yourself, just as you would to an employer. If you can’t think of anything to say, pick up a book and just start reading aloud, concentrating on your articulation and delivery. You may think that warming-up your voice before a job interview is ridiculous and that it will not make a difference, but as any vocal coach will tell you, it can make all the difference in the world.

If you’ve properly warmed-up you’ll decrease your chances of stuttering, speaking quietly, or slurring your words. In other words, warming-up your voice will increase your chances of sounding smarter, more confident, and comfortable during those interviews.

So those are our two job interview tips before Halloween starts that we think will prepare you for any interview, set you apart from the competition, and land you the job of your dreams in no time! Just don’t wear the bumble bee costume you did as a kid to the interview!