You're Hired!

Started by Limey-chan November 2nd, 2015 2:55 PM
  • 1252 views
  • 26 replies

Limey-chan

Batzu

He/Him
Mt Moon
Seen May 27th, 2021
Posted October 31st, 2020
2,523 posts
14.2 Years
Job interviews, love 'em or loathe 'em? Are you cool as a cucumber, unphased by anything, or does the thought of being grilled one-on-one in a small room have you on the verge of a breakdown? Any particular good (or bad) interview experiences? Anyone been the interviewer rather than the interviewee?

Interviews really don't phase me, although I think this is in part down to the fact that my last few have all been whilst i've already been in employment, so i've had nothing to lose.

I've also been fortunate(?) to have been on the other side of the table and be the interviewer. Some of the people i've interviewed have been absolute disasters, either too scared to speak, or all over the place and unfocused. Which is strange because I try to make my interview itself as casual and laid-back as I can.

Paired with Pigu

pastelspectre

Memento Mori

Age 25
he/him
The Pacific Northwest
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
2,156 posts
13.1 Years
Honestly I've never done a job interview before, just practice ones but even practice ones for me are nerve wracking because I have social anxiety and I am terrible at making even the slightest of normal conversation and struggle immensely to make eye contact. I'm bad at describing myself and how I feel. I've never had any bad or good ones, just average practice ones. The thought of doing a real one makes my stomach do a 360, though.
Age 28
Female
Scotland
Seen May 16th, 2017
Posted January 7th, 2017
283 posts
7.6 Years
I'm awful at job interviews, doesn't matter how hard I practice as soon as I get there I either forget everything i'm going to say or am so nervous I can hardly explain it. Another that happens I do is this weird nervous laugh which now I think about it probably looks super creepy lol

I have gotten 2 jobs through interviews but both were low level positions specifically for young people and I knew I was more experienced than the others applying.
Now I am applying for jobs everybody can go for I just don't feel confident knowing there will be people there with years more experience than me, its sucks because I know could do the job if I got it I just cant get over the nerves. :/
FC: 1547-6476-7772

Pave Low

Male
London
Seen 6 Days Ago
Posted December 15th, 2022
3,326 posts
14.8 Years
I'm still a ripe human so haven't had the chance to experience many interviews. I've only done one proper one, you could say. And it got me a job. It was really good though, I enjoyed it and it teaches you quite a bit. This was a one hour interview so there was a fair amount of pressure, I handled it well because I prepared appropriately and alas my wallet is being filled.

Tsutarja

Age 28
he / him
Florida
Seen 6 Hours Ago
Posted 6 Days Ago
27,325 posts
13.2 Years
I've had a total of four job interviews to date, two of which were formal and the other two informal (because I was pretty much hired at those points). They can be nervous if you don't know what they're going to ask, and they can be difficult to rehearse for for that very matter.

dad

big poppa

Age 25
Female
Seen June 13th, 2018
Posted June 12th, 2018
2,480 posts
8.4 Years
I'd like to think that I'm not too bad at job interviews. I've been with two interviewers thus far and one wants to bring me in for a third interview with the current team that works there and the second interviewer has already hired me.

Nolafus

Aspiring something

Age 27
Male
Lost in thought... again
Seen March 3rd, 2018
Posted March 11th, 2017
5,722 posts
10.9 Years
I've had one job interview. After handing out at least twenty resumes, I finally got an interview and it ended up landing me the job. It was really intimidating, but I'm really good at acting calm on the outside, so the only thing I really came across as was more quiet.

I actually applied for a different position than what I got. I got called back for a second interview, where they told me they already filled the position, but they offered me a spot elsewhere in the store, and here I am today.
PairPC sister

Sonata

Don't let me disappear

Age 27
Male
Indiana
Seen 1 Hour Ago
Posted March 25th, 2023
13,619 posts
10.2 Years
I've been in a few interviews, and I've hated every one of them. The one I did for Toys R Us I had thought went well, but as it turned out I just barely made the cut for employment and that was due to someone else not responding to their calls immediately. Then I had an interview at McDonalds that was just a complete failure. They had open interviews and the questions they asked weren't anything like what kind of skills I had or anything, they were just asking about stupid **** like if I were a tree what kind of tree would I be and what my favorite food, color, drink etc was. Then I had an interview at steak n shake that I guess didn't go too terribly? I was still unsure of how to answer a lot of the questions she gave me but I still got hired. And now I'm supposed to be looking at doing an interview with the district manager around the middle of december so that I can look in to being trained to be a trainer which will pretty much double my income which would be nice. Though I've heard those interviews are really tense and that if you don't answer even a single question exactly the way that they want then they'll reject your submission and then you have to wait like 6 months before you can try again.

Keiran

[b]Rock Solid[/b]

Age 31
New Jersey
Seen March 14th, 2022
Posted July 25th, 2018
2,441 posts
12.1 Years
I've had 3 real-life interviews in my whole life, all for the same company. Just had the third a few days ago, and it was for another promotion.

I don't mind interviews if the interviewer understands that open-ended behavioral questions suck, and forgoes them. In my last interview, he asked about my experience for the position I was applying for, what I would do in certain situations, and to talk about a time I went above and beyond for a client. It went very well and I'm excited about it.

I have held dozens of interviews for various things over the past decade, all the way from guild/clan interviews in various games to hiring people for my current place of work. So I know what to look for and how to preform well in my own personal interviews.
Mod of Trade Corner| Pair | Trainer Information

When kings upon the main have clung to pride
And held themselves as masters of the sea
I've held them down beneath the crushing tide
Till they have learned that no one masters me

shhimsleepin

DreamEater

Non-binary
The Seven Seas
Seen May 3rd, 2016
Posted November 12th, 2015
25 posts
7.5 Years
I dont mind interviews, I am really really good at them but I HATE talking on the phone to a future employer. I enjoy the fae-to-face interaction of interviews so they can gauge me based of of my reaction and the way I handle myself.
...and then there were none
SHHIMSLEEPIN ✖
CREDIT
signature by myystogan




zzT

✖ D r e a m E a t e r
✖ D r e a m E a t e r
✖ D r e a m E a t e r

Norou

Drifting away into an illusion

Age 27
Male
Canada
Seen January 23rd, 2023
Posted April 20th, 2022
56 posts
12.3 Years
I've had one job interview so far and I managed to get the job, but the management at that place was awful. They pretty much hired anyone who showed, they had to rush the whole process of hiring their employees because the place was opening up in less than a month. So I ended up leaving after a month and now I'm walking dogs in the area. I'm making a lot more doing this than I did working at my old job.

I was nervous during the interview, it also didn't help that the manager and store owner were nervous too. They asked me basic questions and some of the "what would you do in this situation" type of questions. Overall, I thought I did pretty well and I got a reply back in three days.

£

You're gonna have a bad time.

Age 31
Male
"england would also be acceptible"
Seen November 3rd, 2019
Posted November 5th, 2017
947 posts
9.2 Years
one-on-one
oh wishful thinking. My worst interview had me outnumbered with three university doctors vs me. That said, my best was three v one as well, except they actually took their time and didn't cut across each other to strike fear into me! Some interviewers just don't play fair.
Sarcasm, its what social able people have, you know wen you go out and meet chicks just not on forums 1,000,000 miles away from you and you ask them what color underwear they have. - Aristotle, 355 B.C

$ ¥ £

Flushed

never eat raspberries

Seen November 4th, 2017
Posted May 18th, 2017
2,301 posts
9.7 Years
My only interview was for Dunkin' Donuts, and the manager was chill, she hired basically everyone on the spot, and it helped that my friend worked there. The interview was also in the lobby, so it was as informal as it could get. I was nervous leading up to it, but fine during the actual thing. I just didn't know how long at a time to keep eye contact haha

Aquacorde

⟡ not everything is sink or swim ⟡

Age 29
she/her/he/him
Ankh-Morpork
Seen 8 Hours Ago
Posted March 15th, 2023
12,275 posts
18.9 Years
im good at interviews but my fav one so far was my most recent

she responded to my application immediately, scheduled the interview for four days later, met me, sat me down and discussed what her company is all about and how it works straight up, invited me to discuss any relevant experience and basically made the whole thing into a big conversation where i could show her who i was as well as what i had to offer. was really nice.
marie & casey & rosey
groc x aquacorde x juno 4ever | rp is just collaborative writing
join rp: ultra sinnoh

noa

sleeping cutie

Age 30
Female
Seattle
Seen November 29th, 2020
Posted July 20th, 2020
5,474 posts
7.6 Years
I've done countless interviews and they never get any less scary for me, though now I'm more prepared. I always know what to say but the words never come out right. A big part is I'm bad with eye contact and hate when people are staring at me.
When the interviewer really makes an effort to make the interview comfortable me though, I can tell- and it makes it a lot easier. I've never really had a disastrous interview but there have been some where I walked out and thought "Yikes... That was bad!"

Imperator161

Seen February 5th, 2023
Posted July 31st, 2020
1,415 posts
14.7 Years
I think it can be difficult for the interviewee to judge interview performance. Sure, it's often easy to tell if an interview was a complete disaster or not (as in, you couldn't answer any questions, froze like a deer in the headlights, started swearing at your interviewer, or gave up and left an interview partway through), but a lot of interview answers may be interpreted differently by the interviewer than by the interviewee. Moreover, different interviewers have different personalities. Some try to put you at ease even when things are going terribly, while others prefer stress interview tactics that make you feel like things are going horribly when they're actually going quite well. Plus, interviewers can write you off immediately if they're having a bad day. (On the flip side, sometimes interviewers will seem to give you the benefit of the doubt on everything, which is always nice.) Overall, I'm not a huge fan of interviews, and I'd say my performance is so-so, judging by my post-interview success rate. I do realize interviews are valuable, but they cause me a lot of stress in advance, and it's frustrating to travel all the way to an interview for five minutes' worth of potentially making a good initial impression (since let's face it, initial impressions really shape interview outcomes, and they're very brief).

I have been the interviewer before, and I like doing that much better than I like being the interviewee. That being said, it's hard to get good at distinguishing among candidates until you've seen a lot of them, and I haven't done that much interviewing in my life.

As an interviewer for some student groups in college (some of my first interviewing experience), one thing I found interesting when I was on an interview panel is how much my fellow interviewers' opinions of each candidate varied from my own. While there are certain trends (most people liked the "best" candidates better than the "worst" candidates, fore example), it's definitely subjective at times (perhaps less so for certain fields, but subjectivity is a big part of most interviews I've been involved with).
Diamond FC: 1504 2172 1147
White FC: 1721 2860 5156
3DS XL FC (X): 2466-2669-5197

Klippy

L E G E N D of

Age 31
Male
Disneyland
Seen December 4th, 2022
Posted February 19th, 2022
16,371 posts
17.4 Years
I've been stressed about a few interviews, but I seem to do well in them for the most part. I've only interviewed once and not gotten a job and it was because the hiring manager got fired. :P
Age 28
Female
Scotland
Seen May 16th, 2017
Posted January 7th, 2017
283 posts
7.6 Years
I'm awful at job interviews, doesn't matter how hard I practice as soon as I get there I either forget everything i'm going to say or am so nervous I can hardly explain it. Another that happens I do is this weird nervous laugh which now I think about it probably looks super creepy lol

I have gotten 2 jobs through interviews but both were low level positions specifically for young people and I knew I was more experienced than the others applying.
Now I am applying for jobs everybody can go for I just don't feel confident knowing there will be people there with years more experience than me, its sucks because I know could do the job if I got it I just cant get over the nerves. :/
So I actually just got a provisional offer of employment from my last interview, seems it wasnt as bad as I thought!

Sylphiel

Between your fantasy and my reality
Seen March 28th, 2023
Posted January 9th, 2023
13,114 posts
18.5 Years
I think it's the anxiety beforehand of how I'll do that gets me the most, since eeehh I'm always worried about "what if I say something I shouldn't" (not like anything bad, but maybe mess something up and ruin my chances). Actual interviews don't seem to be too bad, although I'm still really nervous during them. :X I am not cool in the least when it comes to that ah ha.

(I still remember the mock interview I had to do one time as part of a class. Got recorded on camera and had the interview played back to me. Oh my god that was embarassing to watch, every other sentence out of me was punctuated with "um", I swear. ._.;; eek. )

Have never interviewed anybody myself, so I can't say anything there.

TwilightBlade

All dreams are but another reality.

Age 31
Female
Florida
Seen 7 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Day Ago
7,098 posts
16 Years
I'm a nervous wreck during interviews trying to stay calm, speak intelligently, maintain eye contact, remember what I what to say asdfghjkl nope. I had two interviews for a cashier position wut. I had one interview for my current job at a tax prep firm. Lead supervisor intimidated me, but took a real liking to me...
I've had a dozen interviews in total for places I didn't get any offer to, though. It gets better with practice.

G0!d

Male
Philippines
Seen January 9th, 2017
Posted December 21st, 2015
259 posts
7.6 Years
Currently working in the Human Resource Department of a certain company. Usually tasked to do initial screening of the applicants. I can say that once you are on the other side of the table (interviewer), there's not much of a difference than being the interviewee. You lead the conversation, try to phrase a relevant follow-up question, stir back the conversation if its getting astray, etc. The effort put in by the interviewee is the same as what the interviewer does, maybe a lot more.

Though we are the interviewers and we hold the power during job interviews, we still get nervous and pressured every once in a while. So I think it's normal for the interviewees to feel the same. Just make sure that when going on an interview, you are prepared mentally and emotionally, focused on getting the job and being natural.
“Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Dreg

Done after the GT.

Seen July 11th, 2016
Posted July 11th, 2016
1,496 posts
11.2 Years
It doesn't help with job interviews that I have bradyphrenia and the interviewers don't understand. I can't give you a straight answer due to my condition, which was how I was unemployed for 4 years, and that was hell. I know if I have been terrible in them, but there has been a few of them I did do well at, and overhearing some of the interviews that did take place (2 of them weren't behind closed doors) I felt as though I was outclassed.

There were 2 that I was screwed out of the job due to lies from the interviewer themselves as to why I didn't get it. One of them didn't require experience but said that I needed experience to do the job. Then went on to lie again and say that my personality was poor in the interview when it wasn't as we had a good laugh at the time. I went into an absolute meltdown over it because after that I felt that I wasn't gonna get a job, didn't matter how bad or how good I did because I felt that the interviewer/manager was just there to screw you over.

Raine

Age 29
Female
Ontario, Canada
Seen December 16th, 2017
Posted October 5th, 2017
3,722 posts
9.3 Years
Being that my academic program includes 3 terms of co-op, students can have plenty of experience doing interviews during their job application process. Thankfully, I've only needed 1 interview per term to secure the position; one being in-person for a web developer at the government, and my current job was a phone interview for a major financial institution. Both of which were, surprisingly, mainly behavioural questions and not a slight mention of technical skills.

Either way, both went great since I had no trouble securing the jobs, but that didn't mean I wasn't nervous, especially for the first one. I had never had an interview, never mind a job, prior to my first co-op term so it was definitely nerve-wracking being faced with 4 people + 1 on the phone, eye-balling and internally scrutinizing you. Regardless though, I personally think that my interview and people skills are above average despite the lack of experience. That interview came with a written test that I had no awareness of, but was relatively easy considering it was HTML/CSS-based, of which I've been doing for 7+ years.


I'm bad at describing myself and how I feel.
You're definitely not the only one. I'm positive that many others face the problem where without context or being in the situation, it's quite difficult to talk about yourself without being overly confident or negative. It's a balancing act and knowing what you should and should not say, and at what moment.

I don't mind interviews if the interviewer understands that open-ended behavioral questions suck, and forgoes them.
What's wrong with behavioural questions? Heh. I think those were my ticket in securing the job since I had a background and previous experience in psychology so it made for good conversations.

Ho-Oh

used Sacred Fire!

Age 31
Female
QLD, Australia
Seen June 5th, 2022
Posted April 23rd, 2022
35,988 posts
17.5 Years
Had 100% success at interviews. First job I got without needing an interview, I really loved that job still gonna give them an Xmas card this year despite being on other side of country lol, second job passed interview only person he decided to keep. Third was more a telemarketing thing so they'd take anyone and I don't really consider it a job cuz I only tried it for four days. Fourth was at same franchise as first but in different state and again passed. Last was only about a month ago for ~m y e r~ (the most srs business job I've had and although it's only Xmas casual it's p good). It was also the only formal interview process I followed. Technically also got freelance job for a magazine but that was decided before the 'interview'.

So yeah once I get to interview stage I'm good (I have a great portfolio too, two work experience references, a degree and three work references). It's just getting the interview is hard lol