How to prepare for a job interview, in seven steps

Step 1: Work out from the invitation which interview you are facing

Before preparing anything, pin down the format. A short call with HR, a video interview, an on-site meeting with your future manager, an assessment centre and a trial day each ask for something different. A screening call usually checks availability, salary range and motivation, little more. On site, the conversation turns to your expertise and whether you fit the team. On a trial day what counts is how you work, not how you talk.

If the invitation does not say, ask in one sentence when you confirm the date: who will be there, and how long it will take. In Switzerland that reads as careful, not pushy. A trial day, known locally as a Schnuppertag or Probearbeit, is common in hospitality, care and the trades. If that is what you have, your preparation is suitable work clothes, proper shoes and the question of whether the day is paid, not a polished self-introduction.

Step 2: Read your application the way the employer reads it

The person who invited you has your documents in front of them, with a few spots marked. Take twenty minutes and do the same. Where is a gap longer than three months? Where did you move on after a short time? Which line in an Arbeitszeugnis, the formal reference Swiss employers write when you leave, sounds cooler than the rest? Those are the places the questions will start.

For each marked spot, write one calm sentence that explains without sounding defensive, for example: "After the restructuring my department was closed, and I used the time for a project management course." If you are coming from outside Switzerland, also check that your CV carries the Swiss details interviewers ask about: your permit, your language levels on the European A1 to C2 scale, and the workload you want as a percentage.

Step 3: Prepare the questions your field asks

This is the step that turns general advice into real preparation. The adverts in a field show which topics carry weight in the room. In IT and marketing a large share of roles are aimed at experienced people: 28.7 and 45.1 percent respectively. Expect questions about responsibility, budgets, measurable results and what you would do differently. Have two examples ready where you made a decision and lived with its consequences.

In office and administrative roles (11 percent) and in construction (10.5 percent), the share of entry-level adverts is noticeably higher than elsewhere. Early-career candidates there are asked about willingness to learn, reliability and their apprenticeship more than about leadership. A concrete example from training or an internship does more than a big claim.

In nursing and in education, a lot turns on the Pensum and on shift planning, because part-time is normal: 19.7 and 34.9 percent of adverts. Construction shows something else. Its adverts have a median age of 41 days, compared with 15 to 24 days in almost every other field. A role that stays open that long often means the employer is under pressure to fill it. Expect to be asked when you can start, and have a date ready.

Write down six to eight likely questions for your field. Our guide to interview questions and answers shows how to build an answer for each one without memorising a script.

Step 4: Fix your numbers and the interview language

Three figures you should be able to give without hesitating: your salary expectation as a gross annual amount, your workload in percent, and your earliest start date once your notice period is taken into account. The Swiss federal government's national wage calculator gives you a range for your occupation and region. If you do not hold a Swiss passport, add one sentence on your permit and how long it is valid.

For the language, your field helps again. An IT advert written in English makes an English interview likely, not certain, since many teams work day to day in German or French. French is asked for more often than average in hospitality (20.7 percent), office roles (18.9 percent) and construction (18.7 percent). If the advert names a second language, prepare your introduction in that language as well. Interviewers sometimes switch language partway through precisely to test it.

Step 5: Say your answers out loud before you say them in the room

In your head every answer sounds finished. Out loud you find where you stall, where you run long and where an example falls flat. Rehearse a two-minute introduction, your answers to the two most delicate spots from step 2, and the three most likely questions from step 3. Time yourself, then cut, because almost every answer comes out too long the first time.

There are several ways to do this, and none is right for everyone. A friend in the same line of work will catch technical weak spots nobody else hears. A voice memo on your phone costs nothing and exposes filler words. Our interview practice tool uses your CV and the advert to ask you questions in a real voice and scores each answer; it is part of the Premium subscription. For a senior role with several rounds, an experienced coach is often the better choice, because what matters there is the dynamic in the room, which no practice tool reproduces.

Step 6: Brief your referees

Swiss employers genuinely follow up references, usually by phone and usually towards the end of the process. A referee who gets an unexpected call rarely says anything wrong, but often says something vague. Ask each person beforehand whether they agree, tell them which role it is, and name the two qualities that matter most for it.

Bring a sheet with two or three referees: name, job title, how they know you, phone number. Add a printout of your application, your Arbeitszeugnisse and a notepad. If you are still employed and have not resigned, say clearly that your current employer may only be contacted after an offer. That is standard in Switzerland and will be respected.

Step 7: Plan the close and the days after

The last five minutes decide whether you leave knowing what happens next. Keep two questions of your own ready that show you have pictured the job, such as how they will know after six months that the role was well filled. Always finish by asking about the next steps and when you can expect to hear back.

Send a short message the same day or the next: a thank-you, one sentence on something from the conversation that convinced you, nothing more. If the date they gave passes, follow up once, politely. If you are registered with the RAV, the regional employment office, record the interview in your job-search log; your RAV confirms exactly which details it needs. That evening, note the questions you were asked and where you hesitated. Your next interview preparation then no longer starts from zero.