I have been on, oh, ten interviews now, give or take, for a variety of positions. I have taken part in many different interview styles; that is, I have participated in phone interviews, in-person interviews, email interviews… and to divide this up even more, I can differentiate between coffee shop interviews and office building interviews.

Yep, I’ve got some skills.

And yet, I haven’t always gotten the job I was applying for. Sure, I guessed and manipulated my way around getting accepted into the high school I wanted to go to by framing my answers in an interesting light. And yes, I tweaked my resume to highlight the skills that mattered most for a particular job position so that the hiring manager had no choice but to email me back. But I have also stuttered on phone interviews, fiddled in my chair in group interviews, and completely blanked when the person across for me asked me a question.

I’ve accumulated some knowledge, though, and believe I can be of some service to those who have no idea what to do as their interview date approaches. And, let’s be real, I'm really just helping myself when I read this article the night before the *likely* one hundred more interviews I will go on before I find a position that fits me.

1. Update that resume.

My advisor once told me that resumes are never finished, and that has been difficult for my to-do list-making self to understand. It’s true, though, because we are always doing things that could be added to our resumes.

If I was to apply for a job in customer service to make some money during the summer, for example, I would probably take off some of my extracurricular activities and, in their place, add any relevant customer service experience that I have. But what if I was applying to a writing internship? I would pick anything that seemed repetitive (yeah I worked three retail positions before the age of 19, so what?) and make room for the activities I do that are similar to writing.

Print off a few copies to take to the interview, in case they misplaced their copy or didn’t print it out. It’s a hit, trust me.

2. Find out what type of interview this is going to be.

Is this a coffee shop interview, perhaps for a club position, where your interviewer may be your age, wearing jeans and a t-shirt? If so, it’ll most likely be casual, so prepare accordingly. Don’t show up in mud-drenched sneakers, chewing gum, and complaining about your professors. Rather, wear something comfortable but nice, think about casual topics that may show your interest in the field you are interviewing for, maybe prepare a couple funny anecdotes. What would make you hire someone your age? Be extraordinary, not like everyone else.

Phone interviews always make me comfortable, but you can’t be lax about them. You need to situate yourself in a place where you won't be distracted by outside sources and need to make sure you are paying attention! No daydreaming while on the phone! Yet, you do have the ability to read off any notecards you made, wear whatever you want, and quickly research anything you aren’t sure about on the fly (such as what section of the company’s magazine you like best). However, you should be as prepared as possible before the interview begins.

3. Research.

I don’t know how you could land an interview for a position without doing research first. Perhaps you were referred to the position and got lucky? Either way, kudos to you, but now you’ll really have to delve into the world of whatever field you’ll be working in.

My advice is to research everything. If this is an editorial internship at a magazine, go through their website and take notes on what you like and what you think could work better and flip through the pages of their publication. Investigate what magazines are their competitors and see what they do differently from each other. Know as much as you can and prepare to discuss what some of your favorite sections or past articles are.

If this is an interview for a club position, find out what the club stands for and make sure it’s a good fit. How would you improve the club, bring in more members? Maybe it seems dumb, but people love interviewing passionate workers. Even if the club is a joke, it couldn’t hurt to make the president feel like you’ll do a better job than they’re doing. Who knows? You could get their position in no time.

Bottom line, you should never interview for something you don’t want/need. Even if this position is just a way to make cash or keep busy or put something on your resume, you need to realize that you are consciously choosing to take up someone’s time and convince them why you need to be part of their team.

It’s possible that it won’t work, that you won’t be what they’re looking for or that there is someone who deserves it more than you. That’s okay, too. Keep interviewing until you find what fits.