When I was searching for a job, I usually answered everything I fitted. So jobs that were way below my qualification were also ok, like jobs that met my qualification. In my country, you get money from the social office if you dont have a job, but they will always be nagging you as long as you dont have one. So it suits me more having a student job for half day (So I have time to search for another job.) then getting the same money from social office and have them always nagging me.
Before I write to a company I normally do a small phone call before, to ask if the job is still available. So often the companies pay the newspaper to show their job request the next 8 weeks, but after 2 weeks they already found someone. If the job is still available, I also question if they have special interest on some detailled information (Computer skills, languages, ...)
After that I normally create my "letter" to the company, I dont even know the word in english, so I dont think I should explain that to you, but normally there are plenty of explanations and examples on the internet, how this written "letter" from you shall look like, what kind of informations should be in it and so on...
After a week I normally call and simply ask, if my "letter" was received by the company, so that I can send another one, if the first one wasnt received whyever. If everything is ok, I add the question if the company already knows, about when they will be deciding about the job.
If I dont get to hear from the company I normally phone or mail every two weeks, to know if the job is still available. (So if they tell at the "Did you receive my paper calls." that there wont be any desicion until the 23.06. then I wait until about 07.07. until I call. If they only can tell me, that they dont know yet, I call again in about two weeks.) So dont nag them or beg them or whatelse, its simply about getting information. ("Hello, I wrote to you a letter according the job you offered in the newspaper as .... I only wanted to ask, if there already has been a desicion or if its still current.")
If they are interested and you get an invitation for a meeting i normally check the company in the internet. So what do they produce, what do they write themself about the profit in the last years, do they have contacts to foreign countries you maybe know the language.... Job interviewers want you to be interested in the company: The thing is I am not interested normally, so I am pretty bad in having "spontanous questions of interest", so I try to invent some obvious questions before.
When you have a job meeting, try to use phrases that show them that you would be interested in finding a job for a long time. So companies hire and fire you nowadays the second they need it, but on the other side they still want workers that would be willing to die for their company. So noone wants to works like that, for a company that will fire you anyway in the second keeping you will cost them a cent profit, so you have to lie about that too.
To do so I normally ask about the gone fiscal years, if the company is spreading, so are they searching for new workers to replace an old one, or do they have so much new contracts with other companies that they simply need more workers, what are the goals of the company the next years.... How much of the products market do they own in comparison to their cometitioners and so on... -.- Have there been new inventions by the company in the last years, so are they also develop...
If they ask you about the money you want to earn I normally answer with what I want to earn in one year, if the company will be satisfied with my work. So this lowers the chance of a conflict at the first meeting. The phrase with the one year shows them, that you are interested in finding a job you want to keep for a longer time, and there is less chance that they will be ending the interview because of you demanding more then they want to give a new worker and so on.... So instead of slamming him a number on the desk, he can agree to or not, you both can still discuss around.
If you get out of questions you can ask "standard questions" as: Is there a clothing rule in the office, so is it about suits for everyone, or only suits for the one having customer contact, so what do the actual workers actually wear? What kind of breaking possibilities are existing, so are there shops you can buy your middaymeal around, or are people bringing their own food and heating it.... What working times do you have... how big are the offices, how many collegueas are in the department the job is about, what kind of computer programmes are used in the company....
So from my oppinion: I simply work to have some money, that allow me to have my hobbies and thats why I want to work for a company. And because a company wont keep me, if they are not satisfied, and I wont get money if they are not sutisfied, I would try to satisfy them. But you are not supposed to tell so, so the job has to be the job you always dreamed of. -.-
The rest is up to you, and your special needs. So for example I accept that I dont fit into 2-person teams. So if I work alone its ok, or when I work in a group its ok, but I already lost a job because of my older working collegue not enduring to be 9h a day "alone" as it felt for him. So NT sometimes want to chat and have social contact, and if they have someone else everything is ok, but if an NT depends on me all day for having social contact he is a very poor person.
Another thing is, that I am from europe, so in other continents there might be other habbits.