Interview Rules

During my interviews while looking for my first job as a "real person" I kept getting the remark along the lines of, "thank you for dressing up." Now does that mean that they have people they interview who do not dress up for the job they want? during one of my final interviews with a company and the interviewer commented on my tie I just had to ask the question, how do people dress for interviews around here? He chuckled and said "you wouldn't believe what you see come through that door." I thought dressing for the part was just something people did no questions asked. you want a job, go to the interview looking as good as you can. Apparently, these simple things aren't considered by people interviewing for new positions.
A recent article on monster.com showed ten simple rules to follow while in an interview. They are simple to follow and can really mean the difference between a job and a bad first impression.

• Do your research - understand who and what the company is before stepping in their doors
• Look sharp - dress for the part, shows confidence if you look ready for the interview
• Be prepared - have extra resumes, paper to write on and questions to ask, shows you took the time 
• Be on time- be there early, I shoot for 15 minutes early
• Show enthusiasm - want the job and show it!
• Listen - active listening can go a long way
• Answer what was asked - ask questions to make sure you understand the question
• Give examples - this is very important, without an example it is just an empty statement. (I met my money goal by doing xyz. This is how they helped.)
• Ask questions - this goes back to being prepared, show some initiative and want to learn
• Follow up - it is your last chance to market yourself. I  like to send regular mail and make sure to mention something we talked about that was either off interview topic or a question that I may not have had an answer for. make it personal. 

These rules will certainly give you more of a fighting chance to land that dream job or even the first job.