It’s what you do before the interview that really matters. Preparation is the key. Start with the job ad and anything else you’ve learned about the role. That will give you a picture of what they are looking for. Then you need to find how to prove you’ve got those abilities and skills.

This is something you need to get a grip of. If you start missing deadlines you might be finding the door.

The first place to start is clarifying what you need to have done and by when. Identify what is important, urgent and so on. And then allocate how long the tasks are going to take. Another thing you should do is figure out where you’re losing time. Is it with people coming to your desk for a chat, is it answering irrelevant emails, is it spending time on personal phone calls? When you know what it is that’s distracting you, get it to stop.

The two year period that you’re talking about is interesting.

It’s an economic bet that companies are making that all will be well in 2011. Companies in 1929 that made the bet that all would be well 1931. They were wrong. The people who make this bet may also be wrong. So going away for 2 years on the expectation that all will be well when you get back may not be in your best interest.

The vast majority of people you’ll meet will tell you “no and stay put”. I’d say weigh up your options.

On the other hand if you’re the last in and the company isn’t doing great, you should begin to look elsewhere. There’s an odd logic to a change of job now that most people overlook; if a company is hiring in the current market it is either one of the few companies who have kept their debt levels and overheads low and are sustaining growth, or it is so grotesquely mismanaged that it is expanding its cost-base as it slides towards insolvency.