Is it Okay to Bring Notes to a Job Interview?

You have a job interview coming up, and you have prepared relentlessly for it. You have gone through the company’s website and other references such as news articles. You have rehearsed answering some common interview questions. You are even prepared to answer some not-so-common questions that you think might come up in the interview. But what if you forget something? What if you can’t remember the answer to something you have already rehearsed? Would it be okay to bring the notes you have created to the interview?

Yes! It is totally acceptable to carry notes with you to the interview.

What kind of notes are acceptable?

While it is completely acceptable to bring notes to an interview, not everything is acceptable. Here are a few things which are acceptable to use in an interview:

• Important questions that you want to ask the interviewer about the role you have applied for, or something about the company and the nature of work.
• Important points you want to remember from your research about the company, such as key statistics or a news article that caught your attention.?
• Bullet points about your key achievements in previous organizations and relevant numbers or statistics.
• Your resume, which you can refer to in case you cannot remember specific numbers regarding a certain project. You can also keep extra copies of this in case you need to hand them out.

Tips for the notes

First, you must ensure that your notes are neat and clean. You don’t want to bring out a stack of pages with your notes written haphazardly. Ideally, you should have everything jotted down on a single sheet of neat and clean paper. The notes could go up to a few pages, but ideally, you wouldn’t require that for a job interview.

Second, you want to ensure you have written only important and key points and not made rigorous notes as you did in college. You will be glancing at the notes and not reading directly from them, so the points should be easy to read at a glance. Keep this point in mind also if you’re going to take notes during the interview. Taking notes can be acceptable if you want to jot down important points about your role or something else. Also, ensure you check with the interviewer before you begin taking notes.

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Does bringing notes create a bad impression?

No, it doesn’t. Bringing notes and willingly referring to them gives your interviewer the impression that you have a neat and organized problem-solving attitude. It tells the interviewer that you are willing to take help from technology – or in this case, your notepad – to expand the use of your memory. While it shows that you are an organized individual, it also shows that you are serious about the job opportunity. Bringing notes also boosts your confidence, and you will be less likely to fumble when you know you have a sheet you can refer to.

It is a good idea to note down five to eight thoughtful and intelligent questions that you want to ask the interviewer at the end. Most interviewers will ask you if there is anything that you would like to ask them. Referring to this list of questions will make it easier for you and also leave a good impression about you.