First, you must know yourself. You must recognize your career goals and know what experience you would like to gain in your next assignment. You should know your key strengths and weaknesses.

Interviewing should be seen as a job in and of itself. It represents an opportunity for you to sell yourself and an opportunity for the employer to evaluate your qualifications, attitude, enthusiasm, analytical skills, communication and presentation skills and confidence.

Whatever the environment, interviewing revolves around the use of questions. The first thing you should do when asked a question is be sure you understand what is being asked. It is important to be specific and concise in your responses.

There is your perception of your worth in terms of base salary and bonus and then there is the realistic market value of what the employer is paying for that new job.  Often times candidates feel undervalued with their current comp plan.

When you are working with a recruiter that is representing you to a client you must trust the relationship and be open and honest. If in doubt tell the truth.

When discussing  the details of your current compensation: Base, Bonus, Stock, RSU's, LTI's, vacation time off...