Interview...Sh1tting It!!!

jamieh

Hey all,

I just got a call for a job interview on Thursday.

It's a really good job and I'd obviously love to get it.

But, Ive really really low self confidence and I'm nervous about the interview already...and it's not on for another 2 days!!!

Any advice??

Surion

Hy there!!
Firstly, and very importantly, start doing some slow breathing exercises. Deep breath in and a very slow release. Do it a few times every few hours between now and then.

Remember, it will be ok to tell them that you are a little nervous at the outset, they will be totally ok with it, promise! It will also relax you somewhat.

Now, forget what you think they must see/hear and start preping what you plan to say and cover - do a mind map on the subject including all the things you could offer them, relevant of course to the job description. Spend all this evening doing that (well...about 1-2 hours is MORE than enough) and learn this mind/spider map off.

You will then have done everything conceivably possible in preping. Bring some examples with you if it's the sort of role that will allow you too. Put them in a folder to carry and bring copy of your CV and job role. You can easily refer to it during the interview - but memorise the map.

Then, slow breathing and accept your going to be nervous - but focus it into your preping.

Hope it helps you and the very best of luck!!!! PM me if you need any further help.

Sur

seamus

Look at it this way - what you got to lose?

You're going in for an interview. You're going to have a chat to some people about the job, about whether or not you can do the job and about the company in general.

Talking yourself up is not something that comes easy to most Irish people, it makes us uncomfortable to say "I am great". Perhaps it's the Catholic education. But this is what you have to do. You have to spend an hour or less, honestly telling someone what you think of yourself. If you don't get the job, big deal. Someone better or better connected got it. That doesn't mean you're crap, it's just life. Ultimately nothing will have changed - you'll have gained some experience and lost nothing.

Take a piece of paper and write down everything you think you're good at that would be useful for the job. This doesn't have to be technical skills - personal and intuitive skills are equally important. Write them all down and be honest - nobody is else but you will even know this piece of paper exists, so you have no reason not to be unashamedly arrogant and cocky. Read it through a few times. Make sure you agree with it and acknowledge it. Then destroy it.

Keep those qualities in mind in the interview and say them. It's hard to say at the start, but nobody is going to laugh at you for saying that you're good at something.

Beetlebum

Deep breaths before you go in, arrive about 10 minutes early so your not flustered and give yourself plenty of time to get there in case there's traffic or Iarnoid Eireann f*ck up and cause delyas on the train (as if!). Nothing worse than legging it to an interview and arriving all over the place.
Know your CV inside out and tailor it so it's relevant to the position you're going for. For example, there's no point going for a job as a waitress and telling the boss that you're excellent at excel spreadsheets. Just make sure everything you tell them is relevant to the job in question.
The way you phrase things is important aswell. For example, instead of saying 'In my last job i had to open up in the mornings'.....it sounds much more professional if you say 'In my last job I was responsible for opening up in the mornings to ensure the place was ready for business'.
Little things like saying' I was in charge of...' instead of saying 'I had to do...' actually make a difference.
Act confident even if your not and take your time. Listen carefully and just remember that the interviewer is only human too and is looking for someone suitable. they are hoping you'll be successful, they're not looking for you to fail.
You really have nothing to lose but possible something great to gain. Research the company too. Good luck!!

biko

Practice the most common questions
If you can, have someone do a pretend interview with you so you can practice.

Put a few keywords/sentences on a notepad in front of you so you remember to bring them up. Also write down a few questions about the company and ask them. Bring this notepad with you and have it in front of you during the interview.

If you show interest in where the company are going, their organisation and possibilities for you to climb the corporate ladder they will be flattered in your attention.

If in your last job you had the opportunity to increase revenue or productivity you should bring that up: "I changed our routines which meant that we increased productivity by 20%"

muppetkiller

Remember this 90 % of the time in an Interview it's a personality test. Don't worry about being nervious as it's pretty common. Your CV shows what you're all about so just be honest and Know your cv back to front.
Don't go drinking 2 days before the interview or cut back on the coffee if you're worried about your nerves.. Get up very early before the interview and go for a walk/run to clear your head and give you that fresh/Awake look.
And best of luck
Oh and lots of questions for them ...it's much better for them to be talking than you

Kurumba

I'm like you when it comes to interviews so the one thing that I always make sure I do is prepare. Personally for me this is the key to keeping calm and staying focused and relaxed.
A few things I do to prepare me are as follows:

1) Research as much about the company as you can. Know about the companys achievements, products, how many staff, new products coming online, where their head office is etc. You can drop this knowledge in to the interview at some point and it shows you are enthusiastic about the job.
The question ' Tell me what you know about our company', nearly always comes up.

2)Print off a load of sample interview questions from the internet. Write down your answers to each one and at the end read over all of them again. I have been known to print off between 7-10 pages, granted a lot of them are duplicate questions but that helps me get my thoughts flowing and get me in the frame of mind for the particular job i am going for. This is the best I find because once the interview starts you can answer most questions without being too hesitant. This will help keep you calm and in turn you will feel confident.
3) Know exactly what clothes you are wearing on the day. Have everything ready and hanging up the night before.
4) Know your route to the interview, how long it will take you etc. Allow for traffic etc.
5) Bring a brolly in case it rains, you will feel icky if you have to sit through the interview in wet clothes.
6) Print off some more interview questions and keep writing answers down!!! I promise if you do this and loads of this it will help you no end.

Take deep breaths when your there and smile and be confident. Remember they wouldn't have asked you there if they thought you weren't a real candidate for the job!

Good luck!

P.s, and don't forget to bring a list in with you of questions you have prepared for them. Even if you don't have questions make some up.This always comes up too!!

prendy

if your confident in your own ability and have an interest in the job your being interviewed for then it'll show thru on the day.
i was nervous goin for interviews but once i get in and start talking all the nerves just go.

Tigger

i'm no doctor but valeriana in health shops is a calmative that i've used sucessfully in the past for interviews and public speaking ask them they'll know

Dalfiatach

The trick is to remember that most people love to talk about themselves, even if you yourself don't. So the best way to get through an interview if you aren't a confident speaker is to turn it on its head.

The first question is usually "tell us a bit about yourself" and you should have a semi-rehearsed spiel, just a minute or two, mostly relating to the job, why you ended up in this area, maybe talk about family or close friends or an old teacher who work in the same area and inspired you to get into the same field, that kind of thing. The important thing here is to leave the impression that this is a job you are actually interested in doing, not just doing it for the money.

Then you start taking control of the interview by asking them a few questions. They ask you something, you try and finish your answer with a question for them. About the history of the company, the products, what countries they deal with....9 time out of 10 the interviewers will be more than happy to ramble on and you can just make comments like "Oh really? I'd love to visit China some time" or "I loved German for the Leaving Cert" or "So what's the difference between your Widget and Sony's Widget then?" - all in a cheerful, curious-about-everything tone.

Before you know it 45mins to 1 hour will have flown by and you'll go away with them having a good impression of a cheerful nice guy who was easy to get along with. And that's 80% at least of doing well in interviews. And with luck, they'll have done most of the talking, not you!

A few years back my second interview for a job was with the MD of the company, and nearly all the time I was in there I managed to steer the conversation first onto GAA (he was a Kerryman, they can never resist a good football conversation) and then onto a rambling discussion on the influence of Sun Tzu on medieval Japanese bushido culture (he'd been reading the latest fad Management book which was babbling about how to apply The Art Of War to business situations, I'd been playing a lot of Shogun : Total War and could plausibly bull**** my way through it). Got the job.

Get them talking and keep them talking. Usually works.

JayoCluxton

Some great advice there for ya mate and I'd second it all. Remember, they are not there to beat the sh1t outta you or anything - unless the interview is in the Bridewell!!

But seriously, a little trick I use is to think of the worst moments of your life that you have come through (tbh mine are very close bereavements). I always think that if I got thru that well nothing ever after is gonna be as bad.

Haven't had nerves for anything (interviews, presentations) I have done since.

Don't let it take over your life til Thursday, cos you know on Friday you'll be kicking yourself for getting so het up for days.

Relax and go for it - you'll be grand!

jamieh

Thanks a mill for all the replies lads.

Every one of them is really helpfuk....much appreciated

thebiggestjim

1) Know your CV inside out, this is all the interviewers know about you.

2) Presuming its not lies whats on your CV, the people interviewing you know your level of experience and will ask the appropriate questions. Interviewing is a skill and a good interviewer should make you feel comfortable to get the most out of you. They know you might be nervous.

3) Dealing with challenging questions can cause people to get flustered and think they are doing a bad interview and thus perform poorly for the rest of the interview. Remember with challenging questions the interviewer might be looking for how you deal with the problem.
e.g. Technical Q you dont know the answer to. Break it down in to smaller parts, tell the interviewer, if I break the Q down I can answer this part and this part and with more information I could answer the entire Q. Interviewer will be impressed because you showed you can analise a problem to find a solution.

4) If you completely don't know an answer and can't break it down don't bull****. Say you don't know and move on.

5) Know a bit about the company, a few products, how many employees etc.

6) Have a few questions for them.

Good Man/Woman and good luck.

Jim

Spoony2

relate your jobs in the past to the role/ roles of the job your doing

exceopt that your nervous and no you have nothing to loose.

bring an mp3 player with you with some music that gives you that go get them attiude. before you go into the veiw itle give you a buzz of possitiveness make shore its music that make's you feel positive.

i think that all i can put forward but good luck:)

Dave!

OP, try not to get too worked up about it. I've had a good few interviews at this stage and I still hate them... It's always nerve-wracking, I'm always panicking days before it, and they always go alot better than I thought. The interviewer/s is just a person, not a robot. They're not trying to attack you, not trying to catch you out (for most jobs), and they just want to establish what kind of person you are.

The only thing you can do really is prepare.

1. Print out your CV, get a pen, and start going through out. Have some points on every aspect of it... go into detail on your work experience, your hobbies, college course, etc.

2. Then find a list of common questions and go through them, writing out points for each.

3. Research a bit about the interview... Ask mates who may have been interviewed by them before. GOOGLE for info on it... also check on boards, esp. the work/jobs forum. I had an interview in Xtravision a while ago and if I didn't check before-hand I wouldn't have known that a roleplay was involved. Also had an interview in Marks and Spencer and knew to practise specific/difficult questions as opposed to just knowing my CV.

4. Research a bit on the company. Wasn't expecting to be asked "what do you know about [my current workplace]?", so stuttered a bit on that question. Rookie mistake! Just learn a bit about it on the internet for example. How many stores/offices, employees, is it an indigenous Irish company? etc.


It's never pleasant being interviewed... But just make sure you do your preparation and you should fly through it. Depending on the job (Im gonna assume that it's part-time, but may be way off) it'll be max 20 minutes.

One thing that I often find myself doing is thinking about it like I'm a politician being interviewed by a reporter or somethin It makes it a bit easier to enjoy... You've done your research and preparation, you know for the most part what to expect and so you can fire out your prepared answers. Occassionally you get a curve-ball, nothin you can do about it except try to wing it. If a politician f*cks it up it'll be in the papers and it's a big deal....... if you f*ck up an answer in an interview the worst thing they can POSSIBLY do in the WHOLE WORLD is: not give you the job.

So don't get stressed You've got absolutely nothing to lose.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Dalfiatach

thebiggestjim wrote: »

4) If you completely don't know an answer and can't break it down don't bull****. Say you don't know and move on.

+1

If you really don't have a clue, don't even think about blagging it. There's a knack to knowing when a subject comes up and you know enough to be able to show you know a bit about it (but would like to know more - always good for interview points); and on the other hand trying to blag a subject you know nothing about.

If you don't know, just say you don't know, and again turn it back on them - "Sorry, I've never come across that in my previous positions so I'm not sure what you mean. Could you explain that more?"

Freely admitting that you don't have a notion about a particular area, but are more than willing to learn about it if you get the job, goes down a hell of a lot better than trying to pretend you know all about it when you don't. When it comes down to it, the guy who admitted he still has much to learn but is eager to learn it will always get the job over the cocky bull****ter who clearly didn't know what he was on about. *

*Apart from in Sales, where confidently talking pure bollocks is seen as a positive thing.

Miss Fluff

Hey there OP, you will fly the interview so don't worry Stay positive, keep calm and there are lots of good tips on here which should help http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=62583

thebiggestjim

Let us know how you get on regardless of outcome.

Jigsaw

Wish I'd noticed this thread earlier!

I had an interview this morning for a brilliant job and was told they would let me know whether or not I was getting a second interview by the end of today. I've heard nothing yet and I am a bag of nerves.

Interviews themselves don't really scare me too much as long as I am adequately prepared. The thing that gets me is when you are currently in a job you don't really like and you are trying for something you really DO want, it's the fear of the rejection and knowing you have to soldier on. You just wish they would give you a chance to prove yourself.

jamieh

Hi lads,

Thanks again for all the replies. All really helpful and much appreciated!!

Interview actually went ok this morning. I had two guys interviewing me, both of them relatively high up.

Most of the questions were relatively straight forward. But one question threw me altogether. "What are the challenges facing our organisation in the next 5 years!!!" I really didn't have an iota!! I couldn't really come up with a plausable answer.

Other than that it was ok. I don't think I did well enough to get the job but we'll wait and see

Dave!

Well done jamieh, looks like the job was a bit more than a part-time one, yeh?

That's certainly a tough question.

Wait and see how it goes Good luck

jamieh

DaveMcG wrote: »

Well done jamieh, looks like the job was a bit more than a part-time one, yeh?

That's certainly a tough question.

Wait and see how it goes Good luck

Cheers bud

JayoCluxton

jamieh wrote: »

Hi lads,

"What are the challenges facing our organisation in the next 5 years!!!" I really didn't have an iota!! I couldn't really come up with a plausable answer.

And they were 2 senior guys!!! I'd have said "Jaysus lads if yis don't know that we're all fcuked!"

But seriously - glad it went well for ya and fingers crossed!

bronte

Hope you get it op, that was a tough question!

jamieh

Hey all,

Just got the job offer

Thanks a mill for all the advice and support

Jamie

eldeabroad

jamieh wrote: »

Hey all,

Just got the job offer

Thanks a mill for all the advice and support

Jamie

yayyyyyy WD

Dave!

Well done! Good luck with it

thebiggestjim

Congrats, good luck with the Job

bronte

Excellent Jamie! Hope you enjoy it!