So.. you have made it to the final interview with the CEO.

Now it’s time to cross the finishing line and land strong?

You have gone through the long application process and the first interviews, you have made it through to that all important interview with the CEO. Now how do you to take it to the finish line..

Remember, be yourself and show your personality, as well as showing your interests in the company. Make sure that you do your research and understand not only what the company does but know what the company stands for, their value proposition, corporate culture and how they do business. Making it to the final interview stage is not only extremely exciting but can shake up the nerves in even the toughest candidates. In this article we provide some tips you can use to ensure you have the best possible chance at sealing the deal and finding your new career home.

• Firstly, you need to be prepared for all the types of questions you may be asked from “How do you challenge yourself” to “Is there anything about our vision or mission statement that sticks out to you?”. Doing your research beforehand will show the CEO how confident and committed you are. There will always be those questions that will get your heart racing and palms sweating, at this point it is important to calm yourself and not stress out about it too much, there are going to be some questions that you are not quite sure how to answer or what they are wanting to hear. When a question has you stumped, be yourself and answer the best way you can. A good place to start, is to take that question and relate it back to a past experience and how you handled that.

• Don’t make the interview all about you, show some interest in the interviewer if it is fitting into the scenario. This is an easy way for the interviewer to understand your personality and your fit within the organisation, as well as creating a more calm, friendly environment.

• Do your homework and educate yourself on the company as well as the CEO. You want to go into the interview confident, knowing the companies culture, environment and future goals. Not only will this make you feel confident and prepared, but it will also make the CEO see you are committed and show great interest in the business.

• Prepare some questions that you can ask the interviewer. This will show them that you are interested in them as well as the company. This will make the interviewer become more interested in your application as you are showing that you are interested in what their organization has to offer. The fact that you have done some homework will beneficial in that the interviewer will acknowledge that you are taking your next career step seriously.

• And lastly, do not panic the night before and be sure to get a good night’s sleep, so you are on top form and at your best to impress.