These are just some opinions of mine. These aren't some Psychologist or Recruiter advice. This is just from me, someone who has been to many interviews for different companies in industries from Utilities to Tech Startups. I've also been the interviewer for multiple positions, from Control Engineers to Customer Service Agents.
1. Dress Well
You need to dress to impress because the way you dress is your first impression. I don't care if you are in a Zoom meeting or a private one on one meeting. You need to dress properly, research what the companies dress code is and either meet their criteria or dress better.
I don't care if it's Starbucks or Blackrock, you will be better received if you come in dressed professionally than a T-Shirt and some Jeans even if you don't have the clothes, such as a Polo or Suit, going down to your red cross or local store and ask them to borrow it for an interview.
Too many times do I see people walking into interviews with their clothes wrinkled or not formal. I had a young gentleman with a BSc in Electrical Engineering who my boss thought was a great candidate on paper and was excited for. The second he showed up in just regular jeans and a shirt with weed leaves all over it. I don't even think my boss listened to him in that interview. He was not hired and missed out on a great opportunity just because of his dress sense and first impression.
2. Research The Company
Almost every interview you are in, they will ask you this question in some sort of fashion, " What do you know about our company". This is something that anyone interviewing should know the basics of the company they are applying to, what they do, what their values are things like that, which are all easily accessible online.
Too many times, people come in and can't answer that question which automatically will put doubts in your interviewer's mind that you actually don't care about the job or company, which could put your chances in jeopardy.
A simple 5-minute Google on the companies home page or social media pages should give you the information.
3. Research Interview Questions
Nowadays, there should be no excuse for you not to be prepared for certain interview questions. Whatever job you have, there are interview questions online for that specific job that could be asked in your interview unless your job is a new one that has never been created.
I'll give you a personal example. A few months ago, I used ChatGPT for the job that I'm currently at, and they had every question that they asked on their. That gave me so much confidence when I was in the interview because I was so well prepared.
There is so much help on the internet nowadays to help you prepare, use it. There will be a unique question that will be asked that you might struggle with, but there are ones that, if you are prepared, you should be able to confidently answer because you've prepared.
4. Knowing What Software or Hardware They Use
If you're applying for a practical job, you will need to know what hardware or tools they use, and you need to be able to explain how you used them. I recommend you to be honest with people in this line of work because, most times, people who work with these tools or machines will know if you're bullshitting them.
With Software, you are lucky enough that there are so many courses that you can take for most software. Youtube to Coursera, take a few hours to get the basics down if you can show up and give some type of Sum calculation in Excel or explain the basics of the software, that will put you in good stead.
5. Don't Overthink Before You Get The Job.
I've had this problem, and friends I know have as well, so I thought I'd touch on it. Don't dream of the job before you get it. What your life might be, or lifestyle might be, puts so much more nerves on you when you get into the interview.
Too many times have I heard my friends say things like, " I can't wait to get this job, it pays so much" Then, when they come out of an interview, they say they choked. It was because of nerves that you put upon yourself by thinking about it so much and creating fake lives in your head.
Until you get the job, I wouldn't do that. I believe that you can manifest positivity, but what you should manifest is killing the interview, not the lifestyle for a job that you don't have yet.