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Remember back in school there would always be that one kid who was able to get the teacher talking and going off topic so the class had to do less work?
Basically learn to do that in your interviews. If you’re lucky enough to know the name of your interviewer beforehand, stalk their LinkedIn and try and find something they’re interested in. People love talking about themselves. If you can manage to get your interviewer rambling about something they like, they will come away feeling it was a good interview, and you’ll probably learn a hell of a lot more about what the job is actually like on a day to day basis.
I’ve found that the smaller the company, the higher the success rate doing something like this. Larger companies tend to have a more rigid interview structure or have multiple interviewers at once.
Remember that interviews go both ways. You are trying to see if this company is a place you want to spend half your waking hours. Ask the interviewer where they see themselves in 5 years. Watch their reaction closely. Do they sigh, or hesitate? You might get a telling bit of honesty out of them.
99% of jobs I applied to had no reply. Even when I would follow up several times they don’t answer.
One single job had an interview and I had a migraine and failed.
Basically every job I had was being at the right place at the right time and talking to the right people. Just chatting and saying I did X, Y, and Z. They come back with want to work for us? You start Monday.
The job market is crazy.
Don’t be afraid to ask why the position is open. Similar to the “where the interviewer will be in 5 years”, it can be revealing. Are they expanding, was the person promoted, did they leave and under what circumstances?
Yup, I’ve made a habit out of doing this. I want to know if it’s a new position or if I’m replacing someone. The latter isn’t necessarily problematic, but I want to know if the role has been filled by someone before who had coworkers who are used to how my predecessor did things.
At the end of the interview when they ask “do you have any other questions for us”, if it went well and you decide that you want to work there, ask about what your first day looks like compared to an average day after you’re settled in.
This can be a little social engineering push to have your interviewer shift their perception of you into someone that is already hired.
ALWAYS. HAVE. QUESTIONS.
If they ask about your weaknesses or growth areas, I’ve said something like this: “I like to ask questions about how my work fits into the bigger picture. Sometimes this can seem like I don’t want to do the work, but I just want to make sure I understand it first.” It’s a strength disguised as a weakness and I think I’ve gotten a good response to it.
Yeah, the “weakness” question is crappy. “Growth Area” is a better phrasing. People start to say things like “I talk too much” “I have poor communication” or try to spin it; “I’m so attentive to details, sometimes I have trouble with time management”. None of that is helping you.
The best way to answer is talk about something job related you’re looking to improve at the job.
Maybe you’re interviewing at a bakery. Pick something off the “menu” and say something like I’ve never had the opportunity to learn how to make a traditional baguette or something. You want it to be specific enough to not look stupid, you don’t want to apply to a bakery and say I’ve never baked cookies from skratch (unless its as an entry level assistant or something)
If I were asking the question, I’d simply say “what are you looking forward to learning at the job?” It accomplishes a few things A) tells the applicant the company is probably invested in their growth B) If the applicant is selected, it gives some insight into where to start the applicants training C) if the applicant says “I dunno I know the job already” it shows the applicant isn’t interested in learning.
Thank you! I’m going to start using growth area, or a variation of it.
The “weakness” question is nothing more than an opportunity to see that you have humility and introspection. Pick anecdotes that show off those traits.
Know your worth. Keep it real, but know exactly what you bring to the table as an employee and how much that’s worth. If you don’t know, figure it out.
When interviewing, pay attention to any point of conversation that implies that the role is less than your worth and ask questions. You may dodge a huge bullet.
This is good advice but my manager literally told me that I’m overqualified for the role I was applying and he’d prefer to have me in the office drafting.
I took the role I applied for because I insisted on it, only because the idea of working in an office sketches me out big time and I’d prefer to work in the shop testing and doing field service and ultimately make more money via overtime (industrial electrician work)
If you suck at interviews cheat, or get lucky.
I flunked the interview for the job I wanted, did well in an interview for a different position at the same company, new boss loved me and I have no clue why. She got fired the weekend before I started and I got moved into an even better job than I’d originally wanted.
For my only other interview ever, I got in because I literally just googled answers to the coding test on my phone just out of view of the camera, not that they were watching anyway. I’m glad I did too, that company was an unethical hell hole and it’s tragic that it hasn’t folded. I left after a couple of months and got abother job with the company from the first paragraph, no interview at all, and significantly better pay (more than double lol).
I seriously have no clue how people get jobs the normal way. I’ve tried, I’ve been trying for years and can’t get another interview.
This can backfire if the decision to select a candidate is too far away from your interview. If they did all the talking, then they will have nothing to remember you by.
Be lucky
Lie
That’s it really
Maybe make an application spamming bot
