Let's face it no one wants to employ a quiet, shy person do they?! Every job description asks for a confident, outgoing person.
I applied for a job online a few days ago and the questions asked whether the person can talk to people, be friendly, confident, outgoing and so on.
I'm screwed aren't i?
I know what you mean, but honestly I think that a lot of the employers ask for a confident, outgoing person because they just want to make sure you're not a drug addict or something.
In reality, there are a lot of companies out there who don't care whether you can interact with your co-workers or not, they just like you if you show up and get your work done. As long as your supervisor likes you, who cares about what anyone else thinks? I have worked in office environments mostly, and there are all kinds of personalities there, including some shy people. In my experience, they are respected as long as they do their work and don't slack off.
The way I look at it, as long as you can get through the interview, and make a somewhat good impression, then it's all good. The interview is like a game, where each question they ask you has a specific answer that they want to hear. And so many of the interview questions are exactly the same from job to job! So even if you answer timidly or quietly, if you give them the answers they want to hear, they will likely be impressed.
It's really ridiculous to play this game, but a lot of people (including confident, outgoing people!) really do not know what answers to give. Examples:
Q. Why did you apply for this job? (Usually the first question asked)
A. Some people would say "I like customer service," or "I need the money," but the company doesn't care what YOU want. You have to say something like, "I feel that my past experience would greatly benefit your company, and based on the details in your ad I believe I could offer a lot to this position." That shows that YOU care about THEM (and that you have read their ad carefully!)
You can also prompt them as you answer this question. Prompting means directing the line of questioning so that you get to elaborate on your skills. So in addition to the above, you could say, "Also I believe that my past experience at ABC Corporation has given me skills needed to handle customers on the phone." This leads the interviewer to ask, "What kind of skills?" Then you list them. This way you take the interview where you want it to go instead of just answering questions like you're talking to a cop or something.
Another big one they always ask is "Do you work better in a team environment or independently?"
It's kind of a trick question. Of course the answer they want to hear is that you can do both! So the answer is simple... "I feel I function well both independently and in a team environment, but if I had to choose one, I would choose working independently since I would be free of distraction blablabla"
Also, another popular one is "Tell me about a time when you had a problem with a co-worker. What did you do to resolve it?"
A lot of people will answer that they've never had a problem with a co-worker which the interviewer will no is BS because everyone has, so you have to say something like, "I once had a problem with a co-worker who was way too bossy. I confronted her politely about it and we worked it out, and eventually we became good friends." Who cares if it's a complete lie? It tells the interviewer that you are able to work out problems on your own, you're not a psycho and that you won't bother your boss with any problems.
There's also two that they pair together. They first ask "Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?" Most people will say, "I want to be in upper management" or they'll talk about their personal life, "I want to have a car and a house and 2 kids" and then the interviewer will follow up with "What about 10 years from now" and the person will reply, "Ummmmmmm..."
So for those, you want to answer directly without going into specifics. Like, "I would like to be working for a company where my skills are being utilized and I feel like I am working to my fullest potential." Then with the 10-year question, "Again, I would like to be working for a company that I feel is the right fit for me, and where I feel that my various strengths and skills are being utilized, etc. etc."
There's actually a bunch of websites with answers for interview questions. It's so stupid that they play this game with potential employees but they want to make sure you the type of person who gives them what they want, ya know?
So if you memorize the answers to typical interview questions, you will get better and better at the interview. And once you've got the job, you can just act how you want to act. Like I said, your employer isn't going to fire you for being shy, unless you work in sales or something that truly requires an outgoing personality. But for most office work, data entry, customer service, call center, warehouse work, i don't think they care as much about your personality as you might think they do.
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