Get those job offers by preparing properly for your interview. Most candidates don't - simply because they haven't learnt how. The right way to prepare for an interview isn't to rehearse answers to all the questions you expect to be asked nor to "research" potential employers by quickly flicking through their web sites. You'll need a completely different mindset.

Starting with a very clear view of your target employment sector and the type of job you want to apply for, work at understanding the wider context of the job. This is how employers think. Adopt their pattern of thinking and you'll instinctively answer their questions in ways that make job offers more likely.

Working on the context of the job vacancy from "outside -in", what are the marketing changes, technological developments and financial pressures and so on that confront your target employment sector right now? If the sector's being hit by rapid, destabilising change, for example, candidates should show they've "hit the ground running" in previous jobs.

Zooming in one level from employment sector to potential employer, what are the organisational implications of these various developments? Candidates for new public sector jobs should emphasise their past triumphs in painless cost-cutting, for example.

The next part of preparing for interview involves reviewing your career history (anything older than 10 years back won't be that helpful). This is the bit most candidates do, but usually don't do in enough depth. Know your career history in enough detail to give at least 3 good different examples of your achievements in every aspect of your work a sensible interviewer might ask about. Be able to explain the value to your employer of everything you did, using figures (eg performance data) to back up what you say.

Lastly, remember interviewers are human too. Prompt the recruiter to ask job-relevant questions that are to your advantage (eg "You mentioned success in driving upmarket share is a key goal for your client - I helped my company become market leader in my last job; should I explain how I did it?"). Similarly, most interviewers can't interview and take decent notes of the interview at the same time - so help them out. Leave behind with their your interviewer brief notes of the achievements directly relevant to that particular job and company.

Linda Whittern is Director of Careers http://www.careers-partnership-uk.com/ Partnership (UK). She has contributed to government policy consultations on national career guidance delivery and ran one of the 38 outplacement services providers picked by MoD for inclusion in its "Guide to Commercial Outplacement for Service Leavers". Careers Partnership (UK) provides flexible, user friendly redundancy counselling and outplacement services for individuals and employers. Get your career back on track fast with our help.