Preparing for a job interview is a job in itself. You must make sure to have your resume and portfolio in order, an appropriate outfit selected and that you are ready for any question that might be thrown your way. While preparing for an upcoming job interview I realized there are countless ways to prepare and wanted to share a few that you might not have thought of.

Read more than just the website. While it’s common knowledge that visiting a prospective employers website is necessary in preparing an for an interview, companies are putting out information through blogs, Twitter, Facebook fan pages and LinkedIn.  These pages are likely to be updated more frequently than a company’s website. The interviewer will likely be impressed if they can tell you have dug deeper for information about their company than just visiting their website.

Find key players and decision makers online. If you know the names of company executives or people who are likely to influence the hiring decisions look them up on social network sites. Pay attention to their interests and what they are talking about. Then if you have the opportunity to talk with them, you can really engage them.

Know what others are saying about the company. Read what bloggers and journalists are saying. This can help you to identify issues the company has and so you can figure out how to position your talents and skills as an advantage.

Stay current on trends in the industry. Has there been recent legislation that will affect the industry?  Read the newspapers, industry magazines, journals, blogs and even follow key industry folks on Twitter. The more you know the better you’ll look to the interviewer.

Get comfortable answering questions. Once you have done all your research, print a stack of interview questions off the Internet and have a friend practice with you. Even though there is no way to know what questions an interviewer will ask, the more you practice tailoring your answers to the company, the smoother they will come out during the interview.