How to Prepare for Your First Job Interview as a Graduate
A practical guide to your first graduate interview in Nigeria: research, common questions, what to wear, and how to answer when you have no experience.
4 min read
My first real interview was for a small marketing firm in Ikeja. I wore a suit two sizes too big, arrived one hour early, and when they asked "tell us about yourself", I recited my full name, state of origin, and secondary school. The man across the table smiled the way people smile at children.
I did not get the job. But I learned that interviews are not a test of who is most brilliant. They are a test of who prepared for a conversation.
Before anything, research
Fifteen minutes of research separates you from most candidates.
- What exactly does the company sell, and to whom?
- Who are their competitors?
- Any recent news, launch, or expansion? Check their LinkedIn, Instagram, and website.
- What does the role actually do day to day, according to the job posting?
Then write one sentence: "You help [who] to [do what], and this role does [what] to support that." If you can say that naturally in the room, you are already ahead.
The questions you will almost certainly get
"Tell us about yourself." Not your biography. Ninety seconds: what you studied, one or two things you have done that relate to this role, and why you are sitting here. End on the job, not on yourself.
"Why do you want to work here?" Connect something real about them to something real about you. "I saw you handle logistics for small retailers; I ran deliveries for my mother's shop and enjoyed fixing that kind of mess."
"What is your weakness?" Give a genuine one plus the correction. "I used to leave things until deadline. Now I break work into parts with my own earlier deadlines, and it has stopped happening."
"Where do you see yourself in five years?" Growth inside their kind of work. Not "as your boss", not "abroad".
"Do you have any questions for us?" Always yes. Ask about what success looks like in the first six months, who you would work with, or how the team measures results.
Answering when you have no experience
You have more than you think. School, church, market, family business, association posts, personal projects — all of it counts if you frame it as a result.
Use this shape for every story:
- Situation: what was happening.
- Task: what you had to do.
- Action: what you personally did.
- Result: what changed, with a number if possible.
Example: "Our departmental dinner had no funds three weeks to the date. I was on the planning committee. I approached eleven local businesses with a one-page sponsorship offer. Four agreed and we raised ₦180,000, enough to hold it."
That is experience. Prepare three such stories: one about solving a problem, one about working with people, one about learning something fast.
What to wear
Clean and simple beats expensive and loud.
| Setting | Safe choice |
|---|---|
| Bank, law, consulting | Dark suit or plain shirt and trousers, polished shoes |
| Tech, startup, creative | Neat shirt or blouse, plain trousers or skirt, no tie needed |
| Field or factory role | Simple smart casual, closed shoes |
Iron everything the night before. Shine your shoes. Trim your nails. These are not fashion notes; they signal that you take the meeting seriously.
Logistics that quietly decide the outcome
- Check the location the day before on a map, and confirm transport cost.
- Plan to arrive 20–30 minutes early. Lagos traffic is not an accepted excuse anywhere.
- Carry printed copies of your CV, a notebook, and a working pen.
- Charge your phone, then silence it completely before entering.
- Eat something light. Hunger sounds like nervousness.
For virtual interviews: test the link, sit facing a window or lamp, use a plain background, wear the full outfit, and use earphones. Have your data plan or a hotspot backup ready.
In the room
- Greet everyone, shake hands if offered, sit when invited.
- Sit upright, hands relaxed, feet flat. Look at the person asking, not at the ceiling.
- It is fine to pause before answering. Silence for three seconds reads as thoughtful, not slow.
- If you do not know something, say so and add what you would do to find out. Never invent.
- Speak about "we" for team work but be clear about what you personally did.
Salary talk
If asked what you expect, do not name a figure blindly. Ask what range is budgeted for the role. If you must answer, give a researched range and say you are flexible for the right learning opportunity. Never insult yourself with a very low figure to seem humble — it usually reads as low confidence, not value.
After the interview
Send a short thank-you message the same day if you have an email address: three lines, thanking them, restating one reason you fit, offering anything else they need.
If they said "we will get back in two weeks", follow up politely after two weeks. Once. Then keep applying elsewhere; treating one interview as your only hope is how people get stuck.
If you are rejected
Ask, once, if they can share what to improve. Many will not reply, but some will, and that feedback is worth more than the job. Then adjust one thing and go again. Almost nobody gets the first one.
Interviews are a skill, not a personality trait. The people who look natural in them have simply done twenty.
What role are you preparing for, and which question scares you most?
