The first interview for a job is a basic indication that the company you are meeting with is interested in considering you as a potential new employee.

I'm sure this is a fairly basic and understood statement.

The important part is understanding the purpose of the first interview.

It really helps if you can find out ahead of time exactly who you're meeting with during the first interview to get a sense as to what will actually take place during the interview.

The first interview might be a screening interview with a member of Human Resources (HR) to assess your suitability to join the company. This interview might only focus on HR-type questions that attempt to determine your career goals, your personality, why you have left one company for another, etc.

Or you might find that the HR interviewer is actually qualified to ask you questions about the specific job you're being considered for. You might be surprised to find out that the HR interviewer knows more about your job or profession than you expected!

The first interview could combine an HR interview with a more hands-on interview with the hiring manager or it could skip the HR portion and go straight to a hands-on interview with the person who is doing the hiring.

The point is that ideally you will find out ahead of time exactly how the interview process is structured so that you can prepare for it and so that you can avoid any unexpected surprises.

The more information you have at your fingertips the better you can prepare yourself for all possible outcomes.

In any event, the goal of the first interview from your perspective is to answer all questions concisely and as well as possible, to gain more information about the company and the job and of course to proceed to the next step in the process if it's a job you are still interested in.

If this is a one-interview process, remember that you only have one interview to state your case and also to ensure that this a job you really want and is a company you really want to work for.

Knowing the interview plan ahead of time will help you properly prepare for the job interview process and not just the first interview, especially if the first interview is the only interview.