Anyone have any interview tips?

[Amylase_]

I have an interview tomorrow and the more I think about it, the more I get nervous haha.
Does anyone have any tips or personal experiences they can share that might help?
Also, do I wear makeup to the interview? WHAT DO I DO.
This would be my first job that isn't in fast food or retail ): I don't want to mess it up

 

[Birdjaguar]

What kind of job is it for?

How does your experience stack up against their needs?

Your interview attire should probably be professional and in line with what current employees at that level wear. Heavily dependent upon your answer to one above.

What kind of makeup are you thinking of using?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

1) Ask as many questions as you answer.

2) You should wear whatever makeup you think is appropriate for the job you are interviewing for. (opinion based on having interviewed female applicants, not personal experience with wearing makeup)

3) Assuming that you do not have a job now, if you don't get this one you are no worse off than you were to begin with. In other words, there is really not anything terrible that needs to be worried about.

 

[Amylase_]

What kind of job is it for?

How does your experience stack up against their needs?

Your interview attire should probably be professional and in line with what current employees at that level wear. Heavily dependent upon your answer to one above.

What kind of makeup are you thinking of using?

The job is for optometric assistant

I don't have any administrative experience... but I am very tech savvy and organized. Also the job description listed highschool as the highest level of education needed, however I will be graduating from university so I believe the skills I learned from uni should be able to make up for lack of experience. I'm a pretty quick learner too

Just foundation and simple eyeliner in terms of makeup

 

[Amylase_]

1) Ask as many questions as you answer.

2) You should wear whatever makeup you think is appropriate for the job you are interviewing for. (opinion based on having interviewed female applicants, not personal experience with wearing makeup)

3) Assuming that you do not have a job now, if you don't get this one you are no worse off than you were to begin with. In other words, there is really not anything terrible that needs to be worried about.

Oooooh good tips.
I especially like the third one, I really needed to hear that haha. That definitely calms me down

 

[Birdjaguar]

The job is for optometric assistant

I don't have any administrative experience... but I am very tech savvy and organized. Also the job description listed high school as the highest level of education needed, however I will be graduating from university so I believe the skills I learned from uni should be able to make up for lack of experience. I'm a pretty quick learner too

Just foundation and simple eyeliner in terms of makeup

Dress: Casual slacks or skirt with nice blouse with or without a light jacket.
Makeup: Err on the side of less. Not too much around the eyes. Just enough so you feel pretty. Little or no perfume.

Your job is mostly about making patients feel comfortable while you collect information and interact with them. Your job is to do the work while making them feel relaxed and comfortable. A poor bedside manner will sink you. You will be in close proximity to your patients, so when you talk about yourself let them know you understand that it is the customer experience that is important. If you are prepping them before they see the doctor, then you need to relax them with light conversation as you do your job.

Key traits:
Emphasize your ability to be accurate and stay focused.
You need patience to sit through the sometimes cranky attitude of patients. Let the interviewer know you are patient. Give examples.
You need a light touch when touching patients so they won't feel you are invading their private space. Let them know you understand that.

It is OK to pause before answering.

When they ask a question always try to answer with a real life example that is as close to the question as possible rather than a hypothetical.

Smile when your can.

Remember to breathe frequently.

Go into the interview with an understanding of their business. Have 2 or 3 questions to ask them about. Write them down on a piece of paper you keep in front of you.

Is this a new position or are you filling an existing position?
What does a successful employee here "look like"?
What skills or abilities are the hardest for your staff to master?
What has made your business so successful?
Why do your customers keep coming back?
What is the most important thing I could do to keep your success going?

Interviews work both ways. As they try to figure out if you are a good fit for them, you need to be figuring out if they are a good fit for you.

Good Luck!!

 

[warpus]

Google the company and read up on it, check their website if they have one, etc. It'll help you ask good questions, it might help answering questions too, and will make you look sharp if they start guessing that you probably did some research. I've found that it also helps psychologically to know more about what you're walking into. Maybe it's just me though - I don't like uncertainty. Either way, I highly recommend this.

 

[Borachio]

I know what not to do.

I remember being interviewed by someone who asked:
"How do you feel about working for a woman supervisor?"
"That depends on just how deranged you are," I replied. (I really did say that. And I didn't get the job, but then I didn't want it. And I thought it an extremely foolish question.)

More seriously, I think the interviewer (and the interviewer) make their minds up during the first 30 seconds of an interview. The rest of it is pretty much a formality, imo.

After all, what criteria does an interviewer have to go on when making a decision? It really comes down to how they feel about you, and how you feel about them, whether you'll make a good employee for them, or they'll make a good employer for you.

HR departments use all sorts of techniques to try and sort out the good candidates from the bad. From hand writing analysis to psycho metric testing, and it's all pretty much useless and pointless, imo. They either like you, and you like them, or they don't.

 

[bathsheba666]

Prove you have an independent mind.

Then, agree with anything they say.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Some simple 'Jedi mind-tricks' work for some people.

Listening to masculine music can raise testosterone levels, even for women, which improves confidence. Certain kinds of rock & hip-hop are the most obvious examples, things with heavy bass lines.

Striking a "Superman/Wonder Woman" pose for a minute or two can raise testosterone and lower cortisol (a stress hormone released by our adrenal glands).

YMMV, of course, but there's no reason not to give these a shot. Break a leg!

 

[EgonSpengler]

HR departments use all sorts of techniques to try and sort out the good candidates from the bad. From hand writing analysis to psycho metric testing, and it's all pretty much useless and pointless, imo.

I've been reading a lot about hiring and job-hunting the last few years, and it seems like the "science" of finding employees is a shambles. For instance, people with surnames in the first half of the alphabet are more likely to get interviews, because people in HR departments just get tired of looking at resumes, which are all the same and tell you next to nothing. We can put hundreds of gigabytes of computing power in the palm of your hand, but still the best tool anyone has come up with for sorting job applicants is the alphabet.

And like you say, interviews tell you next to nothing about potential employees. The best jobs I've had are those when I managed to circumvent the interviewing process altogether. One job I actually did get through an interview, my boss later told me he was glad he hired me even though he thought my interview was poor. I've heard that a minority of jobs are filled today by the old fashioned resume/cover letter-interview method, and most now rely on referrals.

 

[Perfection]

Remember, interviewing people is a pain in the butt. Anyone who is hiring anyone does so because they're really feeling pain, they got stuff to do, it's not getting done. Find that pain, and show them that you're the cure.

 

[warpus]

I think it might be also worthwhile mentioning that interviewers are not only looking to make sure that you have the right skills and education for the job - but also quite possibly that your personality would jive with the rest of the team and the "office atmosphere". They want a person to not only get stuff done - but also easily integrate with the other people that they have and the philosophy they have for office etiquette, etc. That fact flew right over my head many times when I was first looking for a job. Oftentimes HR would rather hire an extrovert who doesn't know anything over a super quiet introvert who's got all the right skills. So coming in with the right skills, education, experience, AND personality, can be a great boost for your chances.

 

[Amylase_]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll definitely keep all these tips in mind

Okay.... time to get ready and stuff, interview is in a few hours... wish me luck!

 

[TheMeInTeam]

You want to stand out in a positive way, but it's hard to engineer that. Some helpful things:

- The more you know about the position and can walk through how you can contribute to it, and the better you can ask questions about the specifics of contributing to that position, the more impressive you'll be from a "can this person do the job reliably" perspective. This isn't the only thing that matters, but it's really helpful to not gum it up.

- You want the person interviewing you (and others that work there if possible) to be able to picture how you'd fit in there and have a favorable impression. Referrals have a big advantage here because people know them already. Being able to read body language (certainly something I had to look up how to do because it wasn't natural) and make connections with those in your workplace helps single you out as a candidate.

- It helps to be well acquainted with the organization as well. I'll mirror what warpus suggests in this regard.

- I have no idea with make-up, sorry. That's outside my expertise. If I'm on the other side of the coin (aka the interviewer), I'm not paying attention to this unless it looks overdone or you look like you're on 3 hours of sleep or something. I don't think the position you're applying for is overly dependent on being amazing in this capacity, just professional.

 

[Zkribbler]

This is not a personal experience, but it happened to my brother durin on-campus interviews:

Halfway through the interview, he stood up and said, "Gentlemen, while you've been interviewing me, I've been interviewing you. I've decided you're both a couple of jerks, and I wouldn't want to work for any firm who uses you as their representatives," and he walked out.

Out in the lobby, the other students waiting to be interviewed were amazed. "Did you really walk out of the interview?" "Yes, of course. I knew I'd never work for them, so why waste everyone's time?" And blah, blah, blah.

The door to the interview room opens as a student walks out. One of the interviewers calls out. "You're the second student in a row whose walked out on us."

"Yes, I know," says the student, and he comes over to my brother. "You're right. They're both a couple of jerks."

Moral of the story: You don't know yet if you want the job. While they interview you, you interview them.

BTW: The advice given in the posts above (dress appropriately for the job you're applying for) is the best advice there is. You're comment that you're a fast learner should definitely be mentioned during the interview.

As for questions for you to ask, I've always favored, "What's the most important thing I'll be doing to help you." My reasoning is: the employer is not so much interesting in giving you a job as (s)he is in making the employer's job easier.

 

[Amylase_]

Woah Zkribbler, your brother sounds badass haha

So the interview went well... I think?
At the end they asked for references, so I gave them a couple, and they said that they would check in with them and would call me sometime next week to let me know if I'll be getting a second interview.

Which is a good thing right? They wouldn't have asked for references or stuff if they didn't like me in the interview right??

But now I am confused what the difference is between the interview I just did and what they would do in a second interview

 

[Leonel]

If they ask for references AND are calling them, I would say that is definitely a good sign. In fact, besides them offering you the position, I'd say that's the best sign you can have.

BUT in my experience, all the good signs in the world are worthless until you get that job offer. I remember I interviewed for an engineering company and the interview went over the half hour slot and one of the interviewers was my bosses boss so she knew exactly what I do at my current place. Plus they asked for my references and I even got an email from the senior copy writer saying that they've narrowed it down to me and another candidate. Even before the interview, they handed me a thick, stapled stack of papers that let me know what benefits they provided which you'd think would be one of the great signs. Yet in the end, I didn't get it.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Woah Zkribbler, your brother sounds badass haha

So the interview went well... I think?
At the end they asked for references, so I gave them a couple, and they said that they would check in with them and would call me sometime next week to let me know if I'll be getting a second interview.

Which is a good thing right? They wouldn't have asked for references or stuff if they didn't like me in the interview right??

But now I am confused what the difference is between the interview I just did and what they would do in a second interview

First interview is screening...saving the effort of checking references on people they don't want to hire anyway.

Now they will check references on you and anyone else they liked.

The second interview for those they liked and who passed the reference checks will be focused on determining who would be the best hire in terms of pay and longevity.

The position has a starting wage range. In the interview you just had I'm betting there was no discussion of where in that range you might be starting.

There was already probably a little probing, but in the second interview there will be direct investigation of your intentions. You said you are close to your degree. Does that mean when you get your degree they will be back in the interview room replacing you? That sort of thing.

After the second interview they will know who they can hire for the low end of the starting pay and who will cost them more. They will at least think that they know who is looking at the job as a quick filler on the path to the rest of their life and who might 'join the family' and who would 'join the family' but then figure out their future cost too much for them to stay at the long term pay they expect to be paying. Those are the key points that will differentiate among the remaining applicants.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

Woah Zkribbler, your brother sounds badass haha

So the interview went well... I think?
At the end they asked for references, so I gave them a couple, and they said that they would check in with them and would call me sometime next week to let me know if I'll be getting a second interview.

Which is a good thing right? They wouldn't have asked for references or stuff if they didn't like me in the interview right??

But now I am confused what the difference is between the interview I just did and what they would do in a second interview

Second interviews are usually just to verify they've made the right decision. This definitely doesn't apply to 100% of jobs, but usually if they like you enough to call you back for a second interview, it means they're already 99% of the way towards making you an offer and just need to reassure themselves that they're right about you, you'll gel with the team, etc.