Hi yall after being on disability income for years and job searching for months I finally got to step two of the job search process: a job interview.
I am wondering if anyone had any tips for the job interview process? I am very nervous.
Clean up, dress traditionally, get there extra early so you have time to familiarize yourself with the location and decompress (breathing, stretching in the parking lot, etc.), and get into the building early to wait ~10-15 minutes before your interview is set to start. Do not bad mouth ANYTHING, be optimistic and portray yourself as an obedient worker but a free thinker. Make sure you drink lots of water the day before and eat before you go, try not to overcaffeinate. You can message me if you need hyping up or more information :>
Don’t bring your parents to the interview lol.
Seriously though, you’re interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Find interview questions examples to ask during the interview. You’ll want to find out if you like the work culture, if it looks like the interviewers like their job, how frequent overtime is required, etc.
Whether they give you a job offer or not, don’t sweat it. There is a lot going on at the company outside of your control that will affect them giving a job offer or not regardless of how well you did in the interview. I recommend taking the interview as a learning experience and practice with a friend beforehand. Doing well in interviews is a skill especially for technical interviews where folks can ask a range of questions while all eyes are on you.
Good luck!
Have a glass of water at the ready. It always helps to soothe my nerves and if I get stuck on answering a question, taking a sip gives me time to think things through. It’s also practical because if you’re doing most of the talking you’ll end up with a dry mouth and no one wants to croak during an interview. All this applies for both video call interviews or on site, in which case ask for a glass of water before you start the interview.
Be nice to everyone, from the receptionist upwards, and if you’re offered a cup of coffee/tea, offer to wash the cup yourself afterwards. Little things that show you’re thoughtful.
I once had a guy loudly complain that I hadn’t brought sparkling water to the session. Needless to say, he didn’t make it to the second interview
Congrats! Scope our the website for the company, sometimes they will ask if you’ve looked them up/made an effort to do research on them. Scoping out your interviewer on social media too, like linked in. Can make conversations flow more naturally if you know them a bit.
Finally, dress a bit nicer than normal, fresh clothes, iron them the night before so that you are ready to go. Probably goes without saying, but being showered, clean, and smelling great goes a long way in a first impression too. Finally, a firm handshake when meeting them. Good luck ^^
It depends on where you are and what sort of job you’re applying for as to what constitutes good advice.
If you’re nervous, are there any things that you can do which would help you feel in control? Some people meditate, some drink a bit of herbal tea, some listen to a particular type of music. Some might get a friend to take them through an interview roleplay, though you really need a friend who actually understands interviews for that to work.
The main thing to remember is that if it doesn’t go well the world won’t stop spinning … there will be other jobs, other interviews, and practice really helps!
Great job scoring an interview! Having worked in HR plus had a couple jobs, here’s my advice:
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look at the tasks you’ll be completing if you get the job and think about any experience you have that would helps demonstrate that you’re experienced and able to do that thing. Think outside the box! Your examples don’t need to come from the workplace if you use clear reasoning. Interviewers love examples.
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Pull a sample interview of common questions offline and write down how you’d respond to each question.
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Don’t take things personally if things don’t go well. There are SO many reasons that you might not get a position that have absolutely nothing to do with you. One big one is that companies often already have someone internal in mind but have to meet certain job posting requirements. Just keep trekking and the chips will fall your way eventually.
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It really depends on your field of work, but if it touches customer service (or even is just a job that will involve socializing with peers) at all then I think my biggest advice is to just be very friendly and approachable. Practice your regular conversational skills.
I think what tips will be helpful depend on the job you’re interviewing for. The interviews that I’ve performed rely heavily on behavioral questions. Consider reading up on the star method to answer your questions. Remember getting nervous is normal! You got this!
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/how-to-use-the-star-interview-response-technique
It’s perfectly fine to be nervous. Try to think of ways to break the ice. Even 30 seconds of small talk while entering the room will do a lot to comfort you. You might even say something along the lines of “Sorry if I seem a bit nervous, I’m just really excited about the job” (see point #2 below)
A job interview is really only about :
- Is this person qualified for the job
- Will this person like the job (to be engaged and stay s long time)
- Will this person fit well in the team
#1 and #2 require preparation. Read the job description thoroughly, browse around at the company’s web page, Google recent news articles, etc. and formulate good answers to common questions and write down examples that prove your point (see some of the other posts).
#3 can be a bit tricky to research, but can be done. Look at social media posts to get a feel for the culture to understand dresscode (both over dressing and under dressing can be problematic), understand industry jargon (and avoid controversial jargon/statements), etc. Understand this, but be true to yourself. Don’t wear flip flops for McKinsey interview and don’t wear a tuxedo for a handyman job.
So, one of my favorite questions for interviews is something like this:
“What are the top 3 things you would want any new person walking in the door to know?”
If they ask you to elaborate, you can explain this is a deliberately broad question meant to catch the kinds of important, organization specific things someone might not think to ask. It could be anything from “When the boss has his door closed it means he’s working on a key project, don’t knock just come back later” or “Never drink the coffee on Monday mornings.” It could also be: “A,B, and C are serious priorities for Management eventually.”
This sometimes catches people off guard (which is not a bad sign), but it can often yield good information.
Congrats and best of luck to you!
Someone on here previously advised to load the job description in chatgpt, tell it to do a job interview based on the job description. I thought that was a great idea. Be early for your interview. You don’t have to enter right away so you can be 30 minutes early but enter 10-15 minutes before your appointment, no earlier. Make sure you have a backup plan in case of traffic or transportation delays. Dress in business professional even in their dress code is business casual. Good luck!
Traffic is the main reason to be early. That way you are on time even if everything goes wrong.
I’m in IT, and I haven’t had to interview for a long time (knock on wood), but when I did:
My approach has always been “Your company has a need, I have a certain set of skills. Let’s talk, so that I can understand more clearly what your need is, you can understand more clearly what my skills are, and we can decide together whether I would be a good person to fill that need.” Think of yourself as a consultant going in for a first meeting with a potential long-term client.
Good luck, what’s the type of job? Interviews vary wildly depending :-)
Really depends on the Job Type/field. I have an excellent interview record, so I’m happy to give you some tips if you need them!