You get an email on Monday: interview on Friday, 10:00 a.m., somewhere in Ikeja, Abuja or Port Harcourt. You have five days, a phone with limited data and a nervous stomach. This plan tells you what to do each day so you walk in prepared instead of hoping to improvise.
It works for most corporate, bank, NGO and private-sector interviews. Government and paramilitary processes follow their own rules, so check our guide on military and paramilitary recruitment if that is your target.
Day 1: Confirm the interview is real
Before you prepare anything, check that the invitation is genuine. A real employer will not ask you to pay for "processing", "uniform", "training materials" or a "slot". If money is mentioned at any point, stop and read our guide on fake job offers that ask for money.
- Check the sender's email domain against the company's official website. A company email ending in a free address is a warning sign.
- Find the job on the company's own careers page or verified LinkedIn page.
- Search the office address on a map. Be wary of interviews in hotel rooms or at private houses with no company presence.
- Reply to confirm the date, time, venue, format (in person, phone, video) and the names of the interviewers.
Ask politely whether there will be a test or presentation. Many Nigerian employers add an aptitude test or a written exercise on the same day, and it is unfair to find out at the door.
Day 2: Study the employer and the job
Most candidates say "I admire your company" and cannot say why. You can beat them with an hour of focused reading.
- Read the job advert line by line. Highlight every duty and requirement. These are your likely interview questions.
- Read the company website. Know what it sells, where it operates and who its customers are.
- Look for recent news. A new product, a branch opening, a regulatory change. One current fact shows you did your homework.
- Look up your interviewers on LinkedIn if you have their names. You are looking for their roles, not their personal lives.
Save pages offline or screenshot them, because data and network can fail at the worst time. Write a three-line summary: what the company does, what the role does for it, and why you fit.
Day 3: Match your experience to the role
Make a two-column list. On the left, put each requirement in the advert. On the right, put one real example from your work, school, NYSC, volunteering or side business that proves it.
Use the STAR shape for each example: the Situation, your Task, the Action you took, and the Result. Include a number where you honestly have one.
A hypothetical example
Imagine you are applying for a customer service role and the advert says "handle complaints calmly". Your weak answer: "I'm good with people." Your stronger answer: "At my aunt's pharmacy, a customer was angry that a drug was out of stock. I apologised, checked two nearby branches by phone, and arranged pick-up for the next morning. She came back and became a regular." No invented glory, just a specific story with an outcome.
If you have no formal work history, use projects, class leadership, church or community roles, or NYSC community development work. If you have a gap to explain, prepare a short honest answer using our guide on explaining an employment gap.
Day 4: Practise the questions that always come
Almost every interview includes some version of these:
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why do you want this job, and why here?
- What are your strengths and your weaknesses?
- Describe a time you handled a difficult situation.
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What salary are you expecting?
Say your answers out loud. Reading them in your head feels fine, but speaking exposes the sentences that wander. Record yourself on your phone, which costs nothing, and listen back once. Aim for answers of 60 to 90 seconds.
The salary question
Do not guess a number at the interview. Before Day 4 ends, research the range for similar roles using the advert, people in your network, and professionals in the field. Then prepare a range, not a single figure. Our guide on reading a Nigerian payslip will help you compare gross offers with what lands in your account after PAYE and pension.
Day 5: Sort logistics, money and power
Many good candidates lose the job on logistics, not talent. Treat this day as seriously as the practice.
Travel
Do the route in your head, or check it with a trusted person who knows the area. Plan to arrive 30 to 45 minutes early and wait nearby. In Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt, traffic can turn a one-hour trip into three.
Hypothetical budget for a candidate coming from the mainland: transport both ways, a bottle of water, a snack and a small buffer for a ride-hailing fallback. Write the total down and set the money aside the night before, instead of discovering on the morning that you are short.
Documents
Put these in a clean folder, with one extra photocopy of each:
- Your CV, printed, on plain white paper.
- Original and photocopied certificates (degree, WAEC/NECO, NYSC discharge or exemption certificate if you have one).
- A valid ID. NIN slip or national ID card, driver's licence or international passport.
- Names and phone numbers of referees. Tell them in advance, as explained in our guide on preparing your referees.
- A pen and notebook.
Phone and power
Charge your phone and a power bank tonight. Load enough data for a video interview, and download the meeting app in advance. For a video call, test your camera, find the spot in your home with the best network, and tell people around you the time. If power cuts are common where you live, have a backup: a second network line, a hotspot from a friend, or a quiet spot at a library or co-working space.
Day 6: Rehearse and prepare your questions
Do one full mock interview with a friend, a mentor or an older colleague. Ask them to interrupt you and challenge a weak answer. It feels awkward and that is the point.
Then write three questions to ask at the end. Good ones are about the role, not the perks: what success looks like in the first 90 days, how performance is measured, and what the team is working on now. We cover this in detail in questions to ask before accepting a job offer.
Choose your outfit now. Go for clean, ironed and conservative, a notch above what staff at the company wear. Check the shoes. Check that the clothes still fit. Lay everything out.
Day 7: Interview day
- Eat something light, even if you are nervous.
- Leave earlier than you planned.
- Switch your phone to silent before you reach the building.
- Be polite to everyone, from the security officer to the receptionist. Staff often share impressions with the hiring team.
- Greet each interviewer, wait to be invited to sit, and keep your answers focused.
- If you do not understand a question, ask them to repeat it. If you do not know something, say so, then explain how you would find out.
- Close by saying you are interested and asking about the next steps and timeline.
If you will face several interviewers, read our guide to panel interviews, which explains who usually sits there and what each one is looking for.
Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Memorising answers from the internet word for word | Use your own examples and speak naturally. |
| Criticising a former employer | Talk about what you want to learn or do next. |
| Arriving late with a long excuse | Plan for traffic and arrive early. |
| Saying "I'll do anything" | Show clear interest in this specific role. |
| Not knowing your own CV | Be ready to explain every line, date and gap. |
| Raising pay first, before any interest is shown | Let them bring it up, then answer with a researched range. |
| Exaggerating skills or qualifications | Stay truthful. Background checks and practical tests will find the gaps. |
How the plan changes in different situations
- Fresh graduate: lean on projects, internships, NYSC and leadership roles. Expect a graduate-style assessment with aptitude tests.
- Career changer: explain which skills transfer and what you have done to learn the new field, such as a course or a small project.
- Video or phone interview: add a quiet space, a charged device, a stable connection and notes beside you, out of the camera's view.
- Outside Nigeria (Ghana, Kenya, South Africa): the plan still applies. Check local ID and certificate conventions, and in South Africa remember that employers often ask for certified copies and a CV with referees listed.
After the interview
Send a short thank-you message within 24 hours. If you hear nothing by the date they gave you, follow up once, politely, using the steps in our guide on following up without being pushy. Then keep applying. One interview is not a reason to stop searching.
Frequently asked questions
What if I only have 24 hours' notice?
Do Day 1 (verify), Day 2 (research) and Day 3 (examples) in compressed form, then practise "Tell me about yourself" aloud twice. Sort your documents and travel before you sleep.
Is it fine to bring a printed CV if I already emailed it?
Yes. Interviewers often have no printout, and a clean copy saves them time.
What if the interview starts late?
It happens often. Stay calm and polite, and do not let it affect your mood once you are inside.
Should I mention other offers?
Only if it is true, relevant and useful, for example when you need a faster decision. Never invent one.
What if I am asked to pay anything?
Walk away. Legitimate employers do not charge candidates to attend interviews or to be offered jobs.
Your next step: take the job advert you are most interested in today, and build the two-column list from Day 3. It is the single piece of preparation that improves every answer you give.
Always apply through the employer's official website or verified channels. Genuine employers never ask applicants to pay for a job, training, or an interview.