Job Interview...

[Duder456]

An acquaintance of mine said there would be job openings at the company where he works and I said I was interested so he referred me and now wants me to send my resume and cover letter to him... So now I'm terrified. I've never done a job interview and I'm not very good at talking to strangers anyways plus I'm quiet. My dad got me the job where I work now and I've been stuck here for 7 years too scared to move on.

I know if I just got out of here my life would be better since I am the only person working at my current job other than the boss so I don't have anyone to talk to or practice getting over SA. It will also pay 3 times more than what I'm currently making and that would open up a lot of things for me and let me move on with buying a house or traveling, whatever else I want to do. I want the job so bad but I'm scared to do the interview, as soon as I saw the message from him in my e-mail I just froze up.

Has anyone here gotten through a job interview succesfully? Any tips?

 

[Khodynka]

Interviews

Yes. Many. Let me qualify this though -- I think my symptoms are less severe than many on this board so what works for me may not work for everyone.

First of all, go prepared. Make sure that you know everything you can about the company and job and rehearse it in your head. This always helped me reduce the stress load since I have a crappy memory and was stressed enough without having to stess additional detail. Bring a resume (if applicable) and keep it in front of you. Bring a copy for the interviewer. I found it helps if you go to that mind-fuzz state and forget who you are or who you currently work for.

Practice in a mirror the things that you'd like to say to help you sell yourself to the interviewer. Practice the positives . Many interviewers don't know how to interview and will let you basically control the tempo and material you want to discuss. Write all the things you'd like to talk about in a notebook or binder and take it with you. If you hear the words "tell me about yourself", this will help get you out of that deer in the headlights state and focus on what you want to say. Make sure these things are the kind of things the interviewer would want to know.

Ping your friend on the types of interview questions he/she got when applying for the job. Prepare for the questions. In the interview, focus on your material. Volunteer to work for free for a week. That usually gets their attention since it shows your interest and dedication.

 

[nico82]

I agree with the previous poster, most people who interview don't know how. You also have an advantage as you're being referred by someone. That's how I got my last job, a previous work acquaintance referred me so it made the interview and hiring process alot easier.

But here I am again looking for a new job so I'll be in the same boat as you

You might find the following site interesting (I did when I was preparing for my last interview):

http://bhuvans.wordpress.com/2006/08/19/50-common-interview-qa/