1. Listen to the question you are being asked. Jot down a note or two if you think that will help, especially if you’re feeling nervous.

2. Answer the question you were asked. If you don’t have a good answer, just do your best, but keep what you’re talking about at least on the same topic as the question asked.

look, this isn't my niche thing, I'm a horror babe, but I've noticed recently that a lot of young people really just do not understand the job interview process, which is really REALLY hurting their chances of being hired, even if they could do an amazing job IF hired so I'm gonna help as best as I can here.

Resumé:

Your resumé is basically a way to show your prospective employer what skills you have and what you can bring to the table. There are websites where you can look at how a resumé should be formatted, and google docs provides you with a free format as well so please use it.

What you SHOULD put on it:

First and last name, phone number, email. You can put your address if you want but that may do more harm than good if you live further away than the employer wants.

Your school experience. Even if you have only graduated high school, put that on there! Also the date that you graduated as well. Most jobs don't care about your GPA, but if you feel like the education section is looking a bit sparse, put it on there, it can't hurt.

Previous jobs. Outline how long you worked at each job, if you can provide an accurate start and end date please do. Outline your responsibilities for each job as well, employers want to see your experience.

If you are fresh out of high school and don't have any job experience, list your extra curricular activities and what responsibilities you may have had for them. As you gain job experience, remove this from your resume, but its good if you need to beef it up a little bit.

What you absolutely SHOULD NOT put on it:

Don't just write a paragraph about yourself, again, find a free resume format and use that.

Don't make jokes!!!! It is a professional thing and should be kept professional. I once saw a resume where this person wrote "I be about that money." DON'T DO THAT!!!!!

Basically you can't go wrong as long as you stick to a format and use spell check. Type-os happen, I do them constantly, thats why spell check is your friend! And if you really aren't sure, get a friend or someone to proof read it for you.

How to dress for an interview:

No matter what the job is, look professional for the interview! Try to avoid jeans and leggings, and never wear sweat pants or a sweat shirt. My best piece of advice is to buy one outfit that is your interview outfit. You don't have to splurge, you can find professional clothing at a thrift store. So long as you look well put together they do not care where your clothes came from.

What I recommend wearing is either a nice skirt, or a pair of slacks, a button up shirt, and a blazer type jacket. This goes for whatever gender, you can't go wrong with sticking to that! If you're someone who wears a tie, wear a tie. As for shoes, avoid sneakers if possible. Flats, heels, loafers, oxfords are all good. Do NOT wear flip flops or slides.

Brushing your hair is also a good idea. Makeup is never necessary but if you do wear it, its best to keep it to a minimum. Bright green eye shadow may look amazing, but if you have Mr. Fuddy Duddy bank owner interviewing you, he isn't going to like that. Understand your audience when it comes to your appearance. Make sure your teeth are brushed and that you showered and put on deodorant.

How to present yourself in the interview:

Be early!!!!!!!!!!

Be pleasant, smile! Smiling will get you very far. I know eye contact is a challenge for a lot of people, but do your best. I know that you'll be nervous out of your mind, but if you can fool your interviewer into thinking you're not, that can get you pretty far.

Don't appear too relaxed, however. Make sure you're sitting with good posture, not slouching in your chair. Be attentive, nod along with what the interviewer is saying. Try not to yawn if it can be helped.

Be sure to answer every question to the best of your ability. Responding with 'I don't know' and nothing more is going to put you at the bottom of their list. Even if you have to bullshit an answer, do it as long as the bullshit is eloquent and coherent.

Look up frequently asked interview questions and prepare an answer for them ahead of time. Most interviews follow the same script. They want to know your strengths and weaknesses blah blah blah.

Always thank them for their time once the interview is over.

RANDOM IMPORTANT BITS:

Sending a thank you email is not something a lot of people know about, but has become and expectation in the professional world. Once you get home from your interview, send the interviewer a short email thanking them for their time and consideration. I know this is weird and kiss ass like, but it is expected. This is more so for the corporate world, however, so if you're applying for a food or retail job, this isn't necessary.

A lot of places expect a cover letter with the resume, ugh. Basically this is just a quick paragraph of you outlining why you would fit the role. Keep it short and sweet, don't beg for the job, keep it professional. Outline how your specific skills would fit the job.

Don't be too basic. What I mean by this is, you can embellish a little to make yourself sound better. This can apply to your resume or in person interview. IE: Your last job was washing dishes? Turn that into 'you were in charge of kitchen sanitation and organization.' Don't over embellish, however, don't make it seem like you were the CEO when you were the bartender, right?

When it comes to references, make sure you're putting down someone who will back you up and make you sound good. If you were fired from your last job, its probably best not to list that manager as a reference. Also, unless you have a ride or die bestie that will commit to the bit, its best not to list friends as references.

If the interviewer asks why you left a job that you hated, or maybe you were fired from, DO NOT BASH THAT COMPANY OR MANAGER!!!! That is going to make you look immature and also like you are hard to work with. Say something along the lines of 'I just didn't see myself as a good long term fit there, I have different goals and aspirations that I would like to explore in an environment that more fits the career I want.' again, bullshit until you make it. But whatever you do, don't say, 'oh that job sucked, my manager was a bitch, they weren't fair ect.'

RED FLAGS on their side:

A company should never ask for a picture of you prior to an interview. They also can't make you submit a video either. They should never ask your age, unless that is relevant to the job (like an 18 year old can't be a bar tender). They can NOT ask if you are pregnant. If you are clearly pregnant and they tell you they won't hire you because of that, you could have a suit on your hands.

Hiring you on the spot (when its not fast food) could be a red flag. Tell them you would like to think it over for a day or so.

Not being upfront about the salary is a no-no.

~Ina

My aunt is a hiring manager, so I’m just gonna dump a bunch of stuff at you that she’s told me.

Wear black slacks and a nice shirt, blouse or button up, and a blazer or cardigan over it. Keep jewelry to a minimum. Wear nice black shoes. No sneakers, boots, or sandals.

arrive early, a greet your interviewer with a firm handshake.

Remember: Your interviewer is just another human being, and in the interview itself they are on the same level as you. You are presenting yourself as a candidate, but remember that they are also presenting the business as a place for you to invest your time in. Stay professional, but there’s no need to be overly formal. If you notice something in their office, a sports team, pictures of kids, any merch, comment briefly on it to build rapport. Simple things like, what they thought of the game, or what their favorite episode of parks and rec were, can foster positive relationships even in a short time. I once got a women talking for 15 minutes about her husbands store because he and I worked for the same company. Pro-tip, people love talking about their pets.

during the interview itself, keep your posture engaging by facing the other person and leaning in slightly. Try not to be too rigid. If there are two, turn slightly to whoever is talking immidiately. Keep a notebook or folder with a copy of your resume with you, and a pen as well. Have a list of pre prepared questions written down, for instance;

‘how did your business respond to the COVID-19 pandemic?’

‘What are the expectations for me specifically, should I be chosen for the position?’ ‘

‘What does the day to day workload entail?’

‘Can you give me more details on *thing they mentioned earlier*’

‘What’s something you know about this business/position now that you wish you’d known when you started?’

The questions are the hardest part for me, so I try to prepare them ahead of time.

when they ask you questions, don’t feel like you have to answer right away. You can take a minute to think of your answer, or ask them to rephrase if it didn’t make sense. This shows you’re paying attention, especially if it’s not one you prepared for ahead of time. Typically you’ll be asked about prior experiences, times you worked through challenges or disagreements with your coworkers or customers, values, etc.

Always make sure that you right down what the advertisement said the pay rate was, and before the interview is over make sure you get the details on salary, PTO, and health care. Whoever said don’t talk about pay in an interview is an idiot, you don’t want to waste your time on a place that you can’t pay your bills at. At the end of the interview shake hands with them, thank them for their time and consideration and walk confidently out.

My further advice would be to avoid even posting selfies on your actual page and going by a pseudonym, or even making the page private if you can (but obviously that's not feasible always. If you have a blog you're selling things on, going private is going to hurt your business), and generally try to be sort of anonymous. I know most tumblr users aren't big selfie people anyway lol.

I know, I know... Tumblr isn't the first place you think of when you think about sites to get good interview advice, but I wanted to share the dumb advice that has nevertheless worked for four of my (now ex-)coworkers.

Here it goes:

Put googly eyes on either side of your webcam lens.

Ridiculous? Absolutely. Effective? You bet. Simply put, it helps remind you to look at the webcam lens (AKA: where you need to look to make 'eye contact' with the interviewer). Doesn't even need to be googly eyes. Use a sticky note with a drawn or written reminder to look at the lens rather than stare at the screen. To your interviewer, you watching your screen makes it seem like you're constantly looking down.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Ink, of course my interviewer knows that I'm looking at the screen, not looking down. They understand that it's the closest we'll get to making eye contact in an online meeting."

Will they? Will they really? Tell me honestly that you think 45-year old Dave from HR is going to say, "Huh, they didn't really look at me. Ah, I know, it's because they were looking at the screen rather than the webcam lens! Never mind, hire them!"

No, sorry. I'll go ahead and call bull.

That's not me saying that Dave from HR is technologically illiterate. But we make a lot of judgments about people - including whether or not they would make a good employee - based on nonverbal cues, such as posture, facial expression, or eye contact.

In this scenario, Dave might realize what's happening if he stops to specifically consider why he didn't like you as much as he liked the candidate he spoke to in-person, but it's more likely he'll end the call and say, "I don't think they have what the company is looking for."

Now your application is in the garbage based on a simple nonverbal cue that you performed, but it was misconstrued.

She asked why did I quit my last job so I explained that because there wasn’t a career path and she immediately goes “Same here!” I explained to her that I’m well aware of it but I’m interested in working for a museum. At the end, she showed me 5 exhibition leaflets they’ve done in the past and asked me what I like about them. Tbh I started criticizing the designs in my head the minute I started looking at them (because of my designer instinct lol)

All I could think about was things I didn’t like about the designs When she saw me quickly flipped through all 5 leaflets, she literally says - are you done? Are you ready to talk about it? (in a rude manner) I was like - hmm am I supposed to talk about what I like? And she says I can also say things that I didn’t like LOL so I started criticizing about one of the leaflets, I listed a few points and she suddenly goes - Then what do you like about them!? 🤡

After the interview,I looked up her name on google I found out she’s a senior designer so I assume she approved those leaflet designs even if it may not be designed by her She might be pissed that I’m criticizing her works 😂 I feel so dumb cause she simply looks like an old housewife to me I thought she’s some supervisor who doesn’t know design at all LOL Im always being honest at interviews and sometimes it’s hard to filter what I say when I’m unprepared😅 I need help

1.  That company doesn’t deserve you (or anyone else) if they are going to treat the people who interview with them that poorly.  Interviews are a two way street -- meaning while they are interviewing you to see if you fit, you should also be interviewing them to make sure this is a place you would really want to work.  Would you really want a woman who was so inconsiderate to a job candidate to become your boss?  

2.  Pretty much everyone has blown an interview at some point or another.  It happens and being unprepared for the question is one of the main reasons people give less than stellar answers.  That’s okay.  So consider this practice and think about what might have been a better way to answer that question.  Next time someone asks you something similar, you’ll be prepared.

As for my own bad interview stories?  Oh, man, I have MANY stories I could tell.  Also, I’ve often thought that if I ever wrote a book for money - it would be about interviewing.  I have tremendous experience in this area.

To keep it manageable - I’ll put the rest of my thoughts under the cut.