Are you good in an interview?

One time it got nasty...

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I play the bad cop and my partner plays the homicidal lunatic cop. We get results. Not good t'all.
 
Interviewing is one of those things where you think you don't need to prepare for it, but you do.

It's like giving a speech. Unless you're naturally skilled, you'll have a giant problem giving a speech without preparing because the pressure is different.

I did practice interviews for a job thinking it would be easy, but I did so bad. After a few days practice and reading the techniques online, I did a lot better.
 
My best advice to anyone going into an interview would be to have a handful of past work situations in mind where you handled pressure well, worked as a team, dealt with a difficult coworker, etc. and dear God BE SPECIFIC. At a previous job we had a position that was open for nearly a year and we would interview someone at least every other week. Probably 90% of the interviews someone would answer the first question with zero specific information and I would look over at my coworkers who I was conducting the interview with and we would all immediately check out.
 
I don't give myself credit for much but I gotta say I interview very well. I'm an agreeable and likeable person so I don't have to fake being nice. Makes me authentic and trustworthy.

But that in itself isn't all. You have to research the company through and through (org structure, products and services line, values, mission statement) and have it fit you and your past experiences. Then practice some standard interview questions such as "why did you apply for this position? "What make you the right fit for this company?" ""Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" "Can you give us an example of a time you had to deal with X scenario and what did you?".
There are always one or two questions I never saw coming so they can test how you are on your feet. It's ok not to have an answer right away. It's ok to look down briefly in a pensive state and mull it over 5-10 seconds but when you're ready to answer always look up and make sure you acknowledge everyone in the room (don't fixate on just one person).
Plus you dress for the position you're applying for, give a good firm handshake and look at them when you first meet them and try to have one or two questions for them at the end.
 
Oh and come with at least two references. Maybe not letters but at least have two people who already agreed to vouch for you. And if they don't ask for references in the interview, mention to them that you have references if they are interested. It shows proactiveness and preparation. Those qualities are important
 
Threetrees said:
I always thought I was an okay interviewee
I've had a couple, i dont think I've ever had an interview and not gotten an offer - maybe once

So anyway recently i got a new job offer, I'm on good terms with my previous employer so the past two ish months I've been helping interview replacement candidates

Holy shit people are terrible, even perfectly qualified candidates tend to just have shit personalities. We maybe interviewed 20 people
4 were actually good interviewees
Its wild

I imagine that most people are just bad at this skill
Click to expand...
People don't really get some practical education that they need in life. Did you ever learn how to put together a resume or write a check in a high school or college class? People need to learn some basic things about professional practice when they are young, but they often don't.

One of the best things you can do for your interview "game" is put together a professional portfolio. It's a great way to highlight things about your experience that you want to talk about in the interview rather than just having the interviewers pick away at your resume.
 
During the initial meeting and even early on in the interview process I act like I’m just there to hang out with the person/people. If I sense the interview is just a formality I won’t try very hard as the job is already in the bag. If I get the sense that it’s a real interview I start to assert myself and ask as many questions as I receive. This fucks people up. I don’t even care if I get the job or not because it’s fun to turn things around on people who think they are in control. Obviously this tactic has cost me several grocery stocking jobs but has done wonders for landing administrative type gigs which is a pile of dog shit for work anyways.
 
Philo-Publius said:
People don't really get some practical education that they need in life. Did you ever learn how to put together a resume or write a check in a high school or college class? People need to learn some basic things about professional practice when they are young, but they often don't.

One of the best things you can do for your interview "game" is put together a professional portfolio. It's a great way to highlight things about your experience that you want to talk about in the interview rather than just having the interviewers pick away at your resume.
Click to expand...
Yeah my parents and older siblings taught me all of this
 
Threetrees said:
Yeah my parents and older siblings taught me all of this
Click to expand...
Exactly. I initially learned from family as well, but what your family teaches you is only as good as their own professional skills. Why are we not preparing our youth with some of the things they need to function in the professional world? Maybe less of them would be doing the Antifa kind of bullshit if they had more tools to compete in the professional world.
 
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I did some stage work in high school and college. Nothing impressive, just local theater, but it helped me tremendously as far as interviews and presentations go.
 
i don't think i'm good at interviews, but i do end up landing jobs, so i suppose i must be doing something right or everyone else was even worse.
probably helps the last few i was recommended, that goes a long way.

i've asked my manager about this, and he described his impression of me as being blunt bordering on arrogant during the interview process, lol.
 
Threetrees said:
I always thought I was an okay interviewee
I've had a couple, i dont think I've ever had an interview and not gotten an offer - maybe once

So anyway recently i got a new job offer, I'm on good terms with my previous employer so the past two ish months I've been helping interview replacement candidates

Holy shit people are terrible, even perfectly qualified candidates tend to just have shit personalities. We maybe interviewed 20 people
4 were actually good interviewees
Its wild

I imagine that most people are just bad at this skill
Click to expand...

My first interview ever was shit, my second, third and fourth were mediocre. Fifth was decent, since then all were very good. I know my story by heart now, what I'm looking for, what I've done and I can improvise easily and bs like a pro. Since my second job, I only lost two interviews, one with JPMC where I was a bit surprised I lost (but the position I was shooting for was def above my experience) and one with a cyber startup where I was overshooting even more and lost by a tiny bit. I'm very relaxed now when I interview, I know my worth and it can't be shaken by interviewers anymore. The key is to not be desperate (or not show that you are - I had to do the latter in my last interview because I was escaping my old company for political reasons), and to have a clear command of your narrative.
 
I've been turned down once..

It was some suit and tie project manager gig for a french engineering company..

The form to fill in was 5 pages of bullshit and then some.. i declined to fill in the form and basically wrote AMA..

I also turned up severly underdressed.. (the form wanted to know how i dressed).. like all sherdoggers, amazingly if you want to know..

They reached out to me, i declined and said i was happy where i'm at, they insisted.. wanted to meet late in the evening in some rent an office place.. they got the level of interest they managed to spark in me..

So yeah, i do well in interviews.. strangely enough..
 
I literally got my construction job by answering the question why you applied to this job with

I need money and cant get any better job.

So yeah im great
 
Havnt had one in a while but looking back i was cringe as all hell. Still got the job though. Id be better at it these days.
 
I’ve only interviewed for a job twice in my entire life. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
BayAreaGuy said:
Interviewing is one of those things where you think you don't need to prepare for it, but you do.

It's like giving a speech. Unless you're naturally skilled, you'll have a giant problem giving a speech without preparing because the pressure is different.

I did practice interviews for a job thinking it would be easy, but I did so bad. After a few days practice and reading the techniques online, I did a lot better.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of people don’t practice what they’re going to do in critical high stress/intensity situation. Whether it’s canned responses or a high value target raid, rehearse. It’s not an interview but I’ve done a number of international working group presentation Q&As in French. I’d guess at the questions likely to be asked, figure out how i wanted to say stuff and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Had a lot of people believing that I was much more fluent that I actually was.
 
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