When I graduated from college I was confident that my classes in interpersonal communication had prepared me very well for anything I might face in a job interview. However, after experiencing dozens of interviews from both sides, I can look back and see how little I really knew. With that in mind, I have compiled a list of the seven things that I believe every interviewee should know.

1. Research–Learn everything you can about the organization to which you are applying; go to their website, talk to any connections that you have in the organization who may know something that might help. Take notes on what you learn. All the information you gather will help you in customizing your resume, and in preparing for the interview. During the interview expressing your interest in something unique about the organization, or ask an in-depth question about some aspect of their operation. Interviewers are impressed when an interviewee has specific knowledge of their organization.

2. Prepare Questions–Prepare a list of questions to ask during your interview. Make a list of 5 to 8, enough to show your preparation and interest but not too many to be overwhelming. The list should have a range of questions arising out of your research or the job description. If they haven’t already told you, it is also good to ask about the next step in the application process near the end of your interview. That question will give you helpful information and demonstrate your level of interest in moving forward. One question you should not ask is, “how much will I make?” You should always let the interviewer bring up that topic.

3. Prepare Answers–There are certain questions that are asked in most interviews, so it is important to prepare for these questions in advance so they don’t catch you off guard. You shouldn’t read or recite your answers, just have a general answer in your mind. A couple questions for which you should prepare are: “what is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?” and “give me five words that describe you.”

• Greatest Strength–The challenge with the “greatest strength” question is obviously not wanting to come across as conceited. The key is to think honestly about your greatest strengths in your work environment, choose one, and simply state it. Then go on to give specific examples of how that strength has benefited you and your previous employment team.

• Greatest Weakness–Here the obvious problem is not wanting to give them a reason not to hire you, but you also don’t want to give a weakness that isn’t actually viewed as a weakness. Interviewers get tired of hearing stuff like “my greatest weakness is the fact that I just work too hard.” Once again the key is being honest with yourself. Figure out a real weakness that can be spun in a positive light. Obviously you don’t want to say something like “I’m lazy” or “I don’t get along well with my co-workers.” Here’s a basic example: “I’m not the best at asking for help. If I see a task as my responsibility, I don’t want to burden other people with it, even if it would be better if I did. However, I am aware of the problem and have improved.” I might go into a little more detail depending on how the interviewer reacts. If it seems like they want to hear more, give some specific examples of how it has been a challenge and how you have improved, but often if you give an answer like this, they will be satisfied and will move on to the next question.

• Five Words–I obviously can’t give the five words that describe you, but you should be able to think of these pretty easily in advance. Make sure they can all be positively applied to you as an employee, but they don’t have to be things like “hardworking” and “punctual”. Words like that can be used if they truly are high on the list of words that describe you, but you should definitely include words that indicate things about your personality such as “calm”, “energetic” or “sympathetic”.

• Others–There may be other questions that you have faced in the past, or that you are afraid of facing in the future, go ahead and prepare for those as well. Regardless, it is important to remember to pause before giving your answer, whether it’s one you prepared for or not.

4. Take Your Time–Often interviewees get nervous and then talk too fast and are scared of silence. First of all, it is very normal to be nervous at an interview, so people are often too concerned about hiding it. Secondly, pausing after questions and taking several seconds to breath and think about your answer will help keep you calm and speaking at a normal pace. It will also make you come across as more confident and thoughtful.

5. Paper and Pen–Take a small pad of paper and a pen with with you into the interview. It is an easy place to keep your list of questions and write down information gleaned during the interview. It also shows an extra level of interest and preparedness.

6. Look Forward–Look for any opportunity to enter into dialog about what you can bring to specific challenges faced by the organization. Don’t use presumptive language like, “I will do such and such to resolve that issue.” Rather, say things like “this challenge is exciting to me because if I were to get this position I could do such and such to help the team meet this challenge.” This can be tough, and you don’t always have these opportunities, but getting your interviewer to envision you in the position is extremely valuable.

7. Be You–Finally, after all of that, my primary advice is simply not to try too hard. Prepare as well as you can, but then go into it just planning on being yourself. They may catch you off guard, they may notice your hand shaking, don’t worry about it. Just react naturally, and let them see your personality. That is the real goal of the whole process, seeing who you really are and how you fit into their team. Leave all your standards of performance with the preparation portion of the process. Once the actual interview has begun, don’t focus on what you are or aren’t doing. Just try to relax, breath and enjoy the conversation. Going into an interview with humble confidence and complete authenticity is the ultimate key to success.

I’m a planner. Every big decision is cycled through my brain countless times. Every possible outcome is considered. Once the strongest arguments for and against have been culled, I pose them to my friends and relatives to get as many varied perspectives on the issue as possible. Then I cycle it some more. Then I take action. I do this simply to give myself the best chance for a happy future. Success? Read on.

First, it’s important to know that I’m in law school. I’m two months into my first year. I decided to go into law school after spending four years strategically pursuing, and failing to find, a fulfilling career in marketing and public relations. After each failed attempt the planning cycle began anew, and at the end I found myself enrolling in law school—finally facing a worthy challenge, and as I saw it, my last chance at catching-up with that “happy future” that had turned out to be surprisingly elusive.

As some of you may know, surviving the first few weeks of law school requires some pretty intense adjustments. Once I got through that and finally had a chance to take a breath, I realized that I had yet to care about anything that I had learned. After a brief moment of panic, I focused on the fact that this was the first month of the first year, and it was bound to improve. It didn’t. I got through midterms with respectable academic success, but that wasn’t enough to outweigh the fact that I still hated law school. That realization led to real panic—my last chance for happiness was slipping through my proverbial fingers.

Melodrama aside, to an introspective planner like me, things don’t get much more bleak. Of course my natural reaction was to figure out what had gone wrong. After a few days without shaving and eating nothing but cold cereal, it hit me. (For those of you anticipating an incredible epiphany about the meaning of life, now is the time to lower your expectations) As embarrassingly cheesy as it may be, I realized that in spending so much time and energy in strategically planning my perfect future, I had stopped giving myself permission to focus on what would make me happiest right now.

I wish that solved everything, but alas, focusing on what makes me happy doesn’t pay very well, and as painful as it has been to admit, I believe it is only a lucky few who can find that perfect career, getting paid to do what they love. For the rest of us the key is finding an enjoyable job that allows us the freedom to do the things that that we really care about.

Does this mean that I’ve figure out what that job is? Nope, I don’t have a clue, but in case you’re curious, it has made one thing clear—law school is not even close. So, tomorrow is the day I become a law school dropout. What then? I don’t know, happiness I hope, but I’m certainly not planning on it.