Take a deep breath and consider the following tips to ensure you get it right.

• Turn your mobile off!
• Everyone gets nervous, it's not necessarily a bad thing if they show your potential employer you care! But if you get too anxious you are more likely to rush your interview and forget your key points. Take plenty of deep breaths and breathe out slowly, this will encourage you to slow down and help you create a more confident impression.
• Make a confident entrance! First impressions count. Don't slouch, sit up straight and maintain constant eye contact. Make sure you take time over each word and avoid using slang, you don't want to be your interviewer to lose interest.
• Your potential employer will assume that you have done your homework. Don't ask about what the company does ... you will just look like an idiot.
• Don't assume that your interviewer has read your resume. Make sure you take one with you, just in case.
• Dress appropriately and smartly. Turning up with egg down your front really isn't going to cut it. You will be giving the impression that you are sloppy.
• Make sure you time your route to your interview. Being late shows you are not very organized.
• Try not to give yes or no answers. Embellish your answers, but don't ramble on.
• Don't forget about the job you are being interviewed for… read, read and read the job description, try not to deviate from what is needed. Make some notes before you go that shows you have experience with some of the elements of the job description. Even if you haven't had experience of a few or them show your willingness to learn.
• List carefully to questions and make sure you answer it. If you're confused or uncertain about exactly what you've been asked, say so and repeat it back if necessary. Be clear, confident and concise.
• Don't overshare about your life or badmouth previous employers.
• Try and arrive with at least 3 questions you can ask your interviewer.

So, what to do if you really fudged it ...

It might not be all lost. Don't obsess about it, just try and focus on the better parts of the interview. Take some time to reflect, you may be blowing it all out of proportion. Do something positive, send an email to your interviewer, thank them for their time and opportunity to be interviewed. You could offer extra information you forgot to say at the interview with some examples to back it up. It will not necessarily gain you another interview, but it will show that you really did want the job.

Overall, learn from it. Write yourself an email, reminding yourself or all the things you felt badly and how you could do better next time.

good luck

The Featured Writer is Rayner Personnel, Property Recruitment Specialists. You can read more of their content here: www.raynerpersonnel.com