You made it past the phone interview and now that dream job is asking you to come onsite for an interview. You are now one step closer to that dream job. At this point you have made it through most of the hurdles and now there are typically only a couple candidates left for the position. Don’t worry many of the skills you have developed doing phone interviews will translate over here and I’ll walk you through the additional areas of consideration in this post.

First of all let’s walk through coordinating logistics of this onsite interview. For one, the employer should always pay for your travel and accommodations for the onsite. This includes hotel, travel, and sometimes meals. If they are asking you to come on your own dime, they’re not that serious about you as a candidate and you should save your money and time. Now don’t start booking first class tickets and a limo to get to this interview. There are caps on what the employer will reimburse you for. Make sure you ask the recruiter the following questions regarding your logistics:

Travel:

• What is the process for booking travel and accommodations?

• What are acceptable expenses and what are the caps on those expenses?

• How should you submit your expenses? When should you expect payment back?

Interview:

• How many interviews will there be and with who? What roles do those people hold at the organization?

• What is the agenda for the day? Are there any scheduled breaks or meals during the day?

The responses to the questions will help you prepare for the onsite. Knowing the agenda and who is interviewing you will give you an idea as to what each interview may be focusing on. For example, if you are interviewing with a software engineer, director, and manager on the team then you could assume that the software engineer is assessing your technical competency, the director is assessing your leadership skills, and the manager is assessing your fit for the role and the team. These may not be always true but at least if can help you prepare for the types of questions you may be asked.

In addition to the questions above I always like to ask about how employees dress at the organization. As much as I would hope how you dress wouldn’t impact your interview and that you are being critiqued on what you bring to the table, this is rarely the case. This may seem trivial but I like to know if I am going somewhere that is filled with suits and ties or hoodies and t-shirts. In general, try to dress one level above what the people in the organization typically wear, while wearing what you feel confident in. For me I always lean a little toward the over dressed side of the spectrum since that is what I am most confident in.

Once you’ve coordinated all the logistics, you’ll actually want to start preparing for the interviews you’ll be having once you’re onsite. The very first thing I do is start researching the company and the the people that will be interviewing me. This gives me some context as to what they may drill into based on their role. In addition to researching the people who are interviewing me I also look into further researching the role and organization. In doing this I can now come up with targeted questions for each individual who is interviewing me based on their experience at the organization, as well as general questions about the organization and role. Some of the questions I usually like to ask are:

• What a typical day or week in this role looks like?

• What teams will this role be working closely with?

• What are the growth opportunities at the organization?

• What are they looking for in an ideal candidate?

• Does anything about my application cause you to hesitate?

Remember this day isn’t only for your potential employer to evaluate you but also for you to evaluate them. Do you see yourself being successful here? Do you envision yourself coming to work here everyday? These questions give me insight as to what my day to day activities will look like and help me envision myself in the role. They also open an opportunity to look at not only succeeding in the role I am applying for but how I can grow and succeed long term within the organization. The last two questions will give you a hint as to what is critical for the role vs. nice to have and how you stack up against those requirements. The last question specifically gives you a chance to address any weaknesses in your package.

Once you’re done with your research and gathered your questions I recommend printing out the job description, your list of questions, and several copies of your resume and put them in a folder you will bring to the interview. I also recommend having a notepad to jot any important information down while you are interviewing.

While you are prepping you will want to do some research on compensation expectations for the role you are interviewing for. Although this typically occurs after the onsite, there are occasions where it could happen while you’re there. Best to start brushing up on your negotiation skills, just in case.

With all this prep work you will be more than ready for your onsite. Again as with anything practice makes perfect so at the very least this is yet another opportunity for you to practice interviewing. So go out there and get one more step closer to your dream job!