Are you preparing for a job interview and unsure what to bring? Don't worry, you're not alone. Chances are you've heard you should bring a copy of your resume to the interview, but there's more to it. 

In fact, bringing a well-constructed presentation can help seal the deal and get you the job offer. If you want to land a good position, a well-tailored presentation can help you make a great first impression on a potential employer.

Presentations are one of the best ways to test and prove strong communication skills to the hiring manager. Of course, this is not always expected during a job interview. However, in case the job description requires it, would you know how to prepare a great slide presentation using key points, bullet points, and other resources?

It’s safe to say that a well-structured presentation requires a presentation tool. For example, PowerPoint from Microsoft Office 2021. 

This article covers how you can make a successful presentation and land the job that you want so much.

Let’s start with the basics.

A job interview is a conversation between two parties, the company’s representative and you, the applicant. It usually consists of several questions and background information about you. It also includes your previous experience in the field.

They can vary depending on their structure and how fluid the conversation is. For example, in a structured interview – where questions are pre-established – the evaluator takes less time talking to you. 

On the contrary, an unstructured interview could last longer. This depends on how you answer questions, your inquiries to the interviewer, and more.

Usually, the entire interview process takes about three weeks. During this time, you can have between 3 or 4 meetings that are divided in this way:

1. Initial Encounter: Also called screening interviews. This is where you give your first impression and highlight your key skills to the interviewer. Most of the time, it consists of getting to know you and asking general questions about the company. It also works if you give honest feedback to what they ask. Interviewers will consider your communication style, open body language, and more.

2. Specialist Encounter: At this point, you’ll be talking with the lead employee of the area. You may also have audience members that include the initial recruiter and even the CEO. This conversation is to learn more about your skills and your background story. Prepare to be interrupted and further discuss what the company is looking for.

3. Final Interview: If you have the final interview means that the job is 95% yours. This conversation is to give you an offer and close other details about your hiring process.

Hiring managers take each interview process seriously. Because of this, here are some aspects that companies evaluate when you apply for a job.

When you go to an interview, you must be prepared to highlight your skills. Interviewers are looking to know more about you and what you know.

Start by accentuating your technical skills, including your background. Explain to the company representative how you obtained them – maintain eye contact while you do that. After your hard abilities have been clear, highlight your soft skills.

They will help the interviewer to understand if you can work with a team, if you can complete a task or how you can influence others.

If you have been contacted for a first interview, this means that your resume shows that you potentially have what it takes to work with a company. At least on paper.

During your interview, you must back this up by talking about your previous experiences. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing position, it will help to mention the previous jobs and activities that you’ve done before.

Interviewers will consider how similar your background is compared to what they are looking for to see if you’re a match. Make sure you highlight your achievements as well.

Your salary expectation is another aspect that will lead to a memorable conclusion with your interviewers. If you’re not used to discussing how much you are hoping to receive, a good idea is to analyze market offers beforehand and say a certain range rather than a fixed sum.

To tell a hiring manager how much you want to make per month, you can do a Google search for the pay rate in similar positions. This is how people tend to get that sort of financial information.

When you approach a company and you apply for a job position, you should be aware of the company’s culture. 

Interviewers look for people that are aligned with their vision and mission. They want to hire people who bring positivity and enhance their workplace.

One of the important things you need to add to your resume is references. You can back up your professional experience with people that have worked with you in the past. Just make the employer contact them, so they confirm that you fit the job role.

This is a great leverage against other candidates. The lasting impression that a company will have from you is a good comment from a third party.

When you go to a job interview, you have only one chance and a limited time to build rapport with the interviewer and the company itself.

As such, your focus should be on giving the best you got so they can have a strong resolution about you. If you give them time for research, clearing their ideas, and finding another candidate, you won’t get the job.

Most people get confident because of their resume and let their opportunity to land the job slip because of that.

A good presentation tells more than a resume with ten pages. In recent years, there has been an increase in companies requesting presentations to applicants. 

The main objective is to allow each candidate to present themselves and explain why they are the best fit for the company.

There are four main reasons to do this:

• Business owners want to ensure that you can make the company achieve its goals.
• A presentation tests your organizational skills and your ability to summarize the main points of a specific topic.
• They test how you pay attention to details.
• They test your preparation time, interest, and your skills to engage people.

So, for example, if you are applying for a job where you’ll have to develop a digital marketing plan and you’re asked to create a presentation, you can include things like:

• Research.
• Preparation.
• Interest in your ideal company.
• Support you've given to clients.
• The time you’ve been developing in the industry.
• Achievements you’ve accomplished. 

There are a lot more things that you can include. Be creative!

Almost everyone – for not saying everyone – needs to prepare for a job interview presentation. It doesn’t matter if you have a Visuals career, the best voice, incorporate the best technology, or have confidence in yourself. 

You won't get the job if you don’t have more than just enough information about the company you are applying for and a solid strategy.

If you want to give an impressive presentation, you need to know what it will be about. Ask your potential employers about details so you can have all the information you need to showcase your presentation skills.

Things like the topic, presentation’s duration, or type of audience matter. After all, it’s not the same to give a presentation to a CEO rather than to an HR. Knowing this will allow you to prepare your slides better.

Hiring managers don’t have much time to spend with each candidate. As such, you will have only a few minutes for the entire presentation according to the interview setting.

For example, imagine your guideline says that you must make a 10-minute slide presentation about the company’s product. 

You should include video clips and other visual aids and use the allocated time as perfectly as you can and not over it.

On the other hand, a maximum of 10 slides is enough, including an introduction and other key information. Make sure you get feedback and create a discussion unexpectedly. This is a sign that there’s actual interest and rapport.

Hiring managers are employees. This means that they’ve probably passed through what they are going through right now. As such, they will look at the content you use for your slides and how interesting it is.

If you want to stand out, focus on your project and spend enough time polishing details and creating something unique. Your work will be compared with other candidates, so yours should be almost perfect.

When you are creating a presentation, you need to make sure that you practice the topic enough. You must turn into an expert. This way, you won’t need to see the presentation deck or any other way of looking for notes.

The idea is that you don’t memorize word by word, so it doesn’t become “stiff”. You should have a clear structure of how the slides go and make a dynamic presentation out of it. While you practice, you can also take care of your facial expressions.

We know sometimes you’ve heard that improvising is a good thing. However, when it comes to your speech in a presentation, that’s the worst thing you can do.

Creating a script will help you avoid blind presentations and guide you through the entire process. The script is also a structure that you can use to know the order of your slides and have a fluid transition between them.

You can think about scripts like paper notes that you write, so you don’t memorize everything. It’s like when you were in college.

You can have the interview ready, the best design elements, and printed handouts. 

You can also have a strategy to bring commercial awareness to a company. But, if you don’t show you’re the best candidate, employers won’t be interested in you.

Here we have developed the top tips that will help you stand out from the crowd and increase your chances of landing the job:

1. Don’t give a memorized answer.

2. Try to arrive early for the interview.

3. Take deep breaths to think about your answers.

4. Pay attention to the questions.

5. Use relevant examples.

6. Expect tricky questions.

7. Explain what makes you unique as a candidate and as a person.

8. Start strong and articulate your speech.

9. Take a deep breath once in a while to control your stress.

10. Explain your interests in the company.

11. Discuss the company’s approach and show interest.

12. Keep eye contact and maintain a clean image.

13. Ask about each stage of the interview process.

As the last tip, before you start your meeting and the PowerPoint presentation. We highly recommend you record yourself speaking and going through it from start to finish. 

This way, you’ll be able to measure how long it takes you to finish the presentation, catch mistakes, and see if it fits in the allotted time.

Here are the key takeaways to building a slide-short presentation that impresses the industry leaders of your niche. Follow them if you want to make sure you're preparing a great presentation.

The title slide is just created to use as a decoration for your presentation. It can include your name, a message, images, the main ideas you’ll be talking about, and more.

It can be a great source of pre-introduction to your topic. You can also use it to start a small talk for a limited time and aim for a more dynamic presentation.

The intro slide could be used to show the index of your topic. If you want to make it more familiar, you can add information about yourself, your professional expertise, your picture, and more.

The biography allows you to introduce yourself to the interviewers and let them know a glance at what you’re expecting to achieve in the future. 

As a general rule, make sure you include information relevant to the company.

If your slide design allows it, you should add your professional background to the presentation. Even if the company already knows about you, it’s helpful to remind them of your expertise.

Just like with your professional experience, you can break down a list and mention your educational background. Make sure that the knowledge you’re mentioning is relevant to the job you’re applying for.

As an optional slide, you can include quotes from multiple sources. For example, you can cite coworkers, a boss that taught you a lot, your grandfather, etc.

This way, you can show more about yourself and express your feelings. Interviewers can use this to know more about your strengths and weaknesses.

Let’s be honest, everyone loves a case study.

Including at least one in your presentation is one of the best tips you should follow if you want to deliver top information to your interviewers.

You can show what you achieved and how you do it. For example, if you are an email marketing expert, you can show successful templates you used in the past.

Companies love to know that you can bring something else to the table. So, you should include a few proposals you may have to improve processes or simply explain what you would bring as a new team member.

Stay calm. If you reach this point, it means that everything goes as it’s supposed to.

The closing statement is the slide where you summarize your presentation. Make a strong closure and advance to the final part.

You can use the final slide just as the Title Slide. Leave it there while the interviewers speak and ask you some questions.

You can also include your contact information and/or Linkedin URL so they can review your background.

The PowerPoint Deck allows you to give a presentation a new look using all the available design templates. 

Of course, this is not mandatory, but it helps you make an impact compared to other candidates who may not use templates.

The design will immediately grab the attention of your audience. It is helpful to look at your interviewer’s company website. You can imitate their colors, so they find something familiar in your slides.

To prepare a job interview presentation, you need slide software. The best choice for you is to create a presentation document using PowerPoint 2021 – the newest version of the Microsoft suite which allows you to use the freshest templates and functions. Don’t rely on outdated software from a few years back, as it may make your presentation look unprofessional. 

This software is part of the Microsoft Office 2021 suite and brings many tools you can explore to deliver a great interview.

Below you will find the steps you need to follow to create a presentation with PowerPoint:

• Open PowerPoint.
• Go to the left panel and click it.
• Choose New.
• You’ll get to select if you want to make a Blank Presentation, which will create a document with a white background.
• If you don’t want to create one from scratch, you can use one of the templates available.
• You can add slides in the Home section and select New Slide.

Once you have established the number of slides you want, you can start editing and creating a layout for your presentation.

If you don’t have PowerPoint 2021, you can still obtain it at a discounted price.

You can use third-party sellers such as RoyalCDKeys to find Microsoft Office 2021 CD Key and get your presentation software at once. 

After purchasing the serial key, you can activate Office and then use it with all its features to make the best slide presentation.

Now you know how to create a powerful presentation for your job interview. Start sending resumes and preparing slides to showcase your skills. 

Make sure you use all the tips we have explored here to domain the interview process and receive as many calls as you can from employers.