Getting any kind of job starts with one thing: the interview. Well, not any job, but in order to truly make a living, you’ll likely have to go in for an interview at some point in your life.
Interviews reduce hiring risks, identify the best talent, enable personal connection, and can also help you determine if you may need additional training.
People have to know what to do for and at an interview, and it’s better to know this skill as early as possible because for students, interviews provide a personal, face-to-face connection that brings applications to life, allowing them to showcase personality, passion, and character beyond grades.
Key skills to ace your next interview include studying questions that the interviewer could ask, being prepared for some unexpected questions, and looking your best. Most importantly: be sure to be on time and get your meeting location straight!
Body language and behavior are important; be kind, show respect, maintain eye contact, sit up straight, don’t be nervous, listen to what your interviewer is saying, focus, ask questions of your own, and reiterate your interest in the position. Also, while you’re being interviewed, bring a notebook and pen and take notes.
Finally, send a thank you email to whomever interviewed you within 24 hours of the end of the interview. Follow up with them if you haven’t heard back in the specified time, which is around five to ten business days, and inform your references that they might be contacted. (If you would like to learn more information career education has more).
Interviews can be scary. Like for Karlie Farris, who said “I work at Dunkin and I didn’t prepare that much at all for my interview. They gave me around 24 hours until I had to go in. It wasn’t that stressful and pretty easy. They asked me questions like ‘When are you available?’, ‘Do you do any stuff after school?’, ‘How are your grades?’, ‘What hours and days would you feel most comfortable working?’”
Some things you may want to bring/are good to bring are “your Social Security Number and ID – driver’s license” A thing that you have to do is fill out “an application online before an interview.” Karlie’s advice for those who are trying to get a job is to “take the first opportunity you get especially if it’s the one you really want.”
Miley Gumbert says that, “I work at Myle Stone Day Care” and a good way to prepare for an interview is to write questions that you want to ask them or what you are curious about like “I wrote down questions I wanted to ask my employer like what my pay would be, if there was a dress code, and what my hours would be, and the interview was not stressful at all. I heard about this because my foster mom told me about it.” Advice Miley would like to give to those who are trying to get a job is “Be sure you are prepared and ready for the interview and dress appropriately.”
Don’t worry so much about being interviewed! Prepare as much as you can and hope for the best, but you may not always get the job. They can be nerve-wracking and perhaps even terrifying, but the more you practice, the better you’ll do!
