Your school’s career services office and your previous employment situations have likely prepared you for the fact that you’ll need to draft a résumé and a cover letter in advance of a job interview. But all interviews benefit from some additional advance planning.

For one thing, you’ll want to be well rested and alert. From personal experience, we urge you not to skip meals—more than a few of our students have had growling stomachs during interviews! You’ll also want to consider the context and be dressed appropriately for the occasion; this is especially important for official job interviews, where you should match or exceed the dress policy at that place of business. Also remember to plan what you should bring with you to the interview: copies of your résumé to a job interview, for example, or your medical history to an interview with a new doctor.