Best Job Interview Tips for 2026

No, Really

I’ve been in the job market since 1997. As such, I couldn’t help but learn a thing or two about handling myself in job interviews.

None of the things I’ve learned involve confidence. That’s a trait you’ll have to discover for yourself. And of course I can’t guarantee that these ideas will secure you your job—anyone who claims otherwise wants your credit card number. However, I can guarantee that the things I’ve learned will help you more than they’ll hurt.

So let’s do unlike an internet recipe and get straight to the point.

Research, Research, Research

One of the best pieces of advice my father has given me in life is to research a company before you interview with them. In the time of high-speed internet, this is easier than it ever has been.

Find out what a company’s doing that’s working for them—even more importantly, find out what isn’t working for them—and what your job responsibilities would be. Then consider how you, on an individual level, can play even a small part in greasing the squeaky wheel or adding to their successes. Really dig into the role for which you’re applying and consider how it ripples throughout the organization at large without overpromising. If you’re going into marketing for a company that’s struggling with sales, prepare to address the company’s low sales numbers respectfully and mention that your words or ideas are concise, impactful, effective and can make a difference.

Even if you can’t relate a company’s recent headlines to your own work skills, broader mentions of their public-facing image will show recruiters you care and are interested. Maybe they just announced a goal of reducing carbon emissions or transitioning to renewable energy use. You’ll never find a better time to congratulate them and tell them about your respect for mitigating climate change or the endangered species list.

The big takeaway here is that you’re ready to display to an interviewer that you’ve read up on the company and have a vested interested in what they’re doing and why. This, along with the following tips, will help you stand out to a recruiter. You’re not just looking for a paycheck; you’re searching for (and have found) an organization with significance to you.

Your Greatest Hits

For all my years in marketing writing, sales, independent journalism, retail management and more, I have never cottoned to that very banal language of corporate vernacular. I believe in plain speaking and therefore find phrases like “circling back to opportunities to holistically demonstrate bolstered outcomes” to be the very styrofoam peanuts—the very rice cakes—of the written or spoken word. They’re valueless jargon clung to only by the most soulless barnacles of industry.

Your greatest achievements in life can be quantified, but padding them with stuffed animal stuffing only numbs your audience. Use word economy to find the briefest, most succinct, most impactful ways to offer your career highlights, and try to provide context when needed. Again I’ll use myself as an example.

At one retail management position, I brought my store from seventh place in our district (out of eight) to second place by developing a system that gave my employees hours based on sales performance: The higher the dollar average they made per transaction, the more I scheduled them. Enough other stores called me asking me for my secret that it was later adopted throughout our entire region.

At one marketing writing position, a white paper I wrote about the role of financial uncertainty in higher education was picked up globally and reached an audience of 285 million people.

At a different company, I wrote approximately 700,000 words of blogs, or seven novels, in four years.

It’s best to read and reread your highlights like this until you have them memorized, but if you get nervous in interviews and you’re doing an interview virtually, don’t be afraid to have them pulled up in a narrow plain-text document to either side of your Zoom, Google Meets or Microsoft Teams window. That way you can remember to mention them with only the slightest of eye movements to one side rather than obviously read them from a document.

When it’s time to mention them, strive for a tone of humble ownership. “I did make these things happen but I’m just glad that they helped.”

Business Ethics Is Not an Oxymoron

Earlier I mentioned a company’s public-facing image and the benefits of relating it to yourself personally. You can also take it a step farther and subtler, though again, I’d only recommend doing so if it’s authentic.

Many companies feel comfortable enough to advertise their own sense of purpose, ethics or morality publicly, or at least to refrain from disguising them. Their website’s “About Us” page can reveal a lot of hints as to where they lie politically, religiously or ethically, and that can aid you if you truly align with them.

There are natural, honest ways to work your professional values into an interview in manners that show they overlap with those of the organization.

Consider this: If you work in medicine, you should already be committed to upholding the Hippocratic Oath. A lawyer should believe in the fair and blind application of justice in accordance with the law. A reporter owes to the public fierce pledges of fairness, objectivity and letting the facts speak for themselves.

Odds are, at this point, you’ve encountered a time in which you’re either proud to have upheld your professional ethics or deeply regret not doing so. Either story will benefit your interview.

The best part is, you don’t need to worry about being asked about them. You can easily find ways to bring them up or ask a question that does so. “Does your organization emphasize [relevant ethic]? A previous employer of mine didn’t and it made it a very uncomfortable fit for both of us.”

It’s an honest question and shows your commitment to your ideals—and your integrity, since it implies you may withdraw from consideration if the company doesn’t share your values. Just don’t be afraid to follow through. If they don’t share those values, it won’t be a good fit anyway.

Your Friend in Ink and Paper

If you are interviewed, remember to write an e-mail to the recruiter by the end of the day thanking them for their time.

Again, sincerity is your friend. Put yourself in their position: They may interview 10, 20 or 50 candidates for the same position and they exert plenty of energy listening for very specific qualities beneath the overly coached dialogue that applicants give them—if you think that’s hypocritical of me to say, given the topic of this blog, you’re sorely missing the point. Go back and reread.

So odds are, recruiters are dog tired from dissecting every word in real time for however many hours per day. They deserve an attaboy, right? Go on and give it to them. Don’t even pitch yourself any more. That’s insincere. Just thank them for their consideration and let them know how you thought it went. If you need a little incentive, I’ve heard that as little as 1% of applicants do this and recruiters say it always makes the ones who do stick out from the 300+ other applicants they consider.

The Obligatory Summation of It All

I haven’t gotten every job for which I’ve ever applied, but using these tools has helped me get every job I’ve ever had: Retail jobs before and after getting my journalism degree, then writing jobs for 15+ years. If you research the company to which you’ve applied, drawn up some career highlights, found some matching business ethics between you and them and write a thank-you note after the interview, you’re in the best shape in which I can put you.

Doing so shows an employer your interest in the position, your business sense, responsibility, aptitude, ingenuity, successfulness, humility, ethics, integrity, empathy and respect.

That is a powerful list of traits to bring to an interview.