How did you handle your first Job Interview?

Let's see, my first interview was to have a cool Resume ready, dress nicely, and just be myself is all that I needed to do. But eye contact is something interviewers look for, that and taking to long on questions. During my first interview, there were only 2 interviewers asking me questions but here's the interesting part, both were smokers and one of them ask me could we go outside and smoking continuing the interview, I agree, we were all outside and both smoking, I learned that having an interview in a comfortable position made it easier to be myself. I ended up getting the job because we were chatting like friends over a smoke. (Which is good because I have few friends who are smokers & I'm not)

What kind of interview did you have OT?

(Lesson learn, a lot of people seem to go into interviews the wrong way. It's just an employer's way of confirming whether or not they want to work with you. Not if you are qualified for the job or not, because all of the job qualifications and work experience are already in your resume)

I am shy as hell so I imagine it did not go well from a talking standpoint.

Luckily my people skills did not matter. I was 14 years old, big as hell, had just started playing football and hitting weights in high school, and all I had to do was haul Christmas trees for two weeks at a lot for some money. The guy took one look at me, asked me to pick up a tree. I did so, one handed, and he said I was hired.

It was more of a tryout than an interview. Fun job, nice guy. I think my appreciation for manual labor started with that job.

My first interview was with a large online retail business in the UK. It happened a few months after I graduated from university. I was nervous and scared, and prepared the interview a week early. My interview consisted of two stages and tests. The stage was like First interview - test - second interview - test - outcome. Despite not getting the job, I was deeply gutted and felt like giving up having put so much work into it.

In terms of eye-contact, I treated it as if I was talking to a friend.

Horribly. No one had taught me how to do a proper interview.

Second time I stuttered a lot but did make slight improvement. Got that intern job at a radio station.

It's really a skill you've gotta sharpen and hone everyday - communication.

Well my first job technically was a camp counselor or something like that. More like we were spare camp workers cause we really only worked one hour of our shift. There was no interview. I just applied, and they threw a bunch of us on a school bus to go to this camp. So I'm guessing our school faculty had the final say who got hired ?

My first real job was a lifeguard. I got someone's number who was in charge of filing vacancies in private residences. Never met him in person. But his job offers were legit, and I started working weekends at one pool. Then got asked if I can cover for a nearby pool. They liked me over there. So this other pool fired the other 3 lifeguards, and made me full time.

Like a boss

my first interview went really bad..

i was post military, wanted to do some bussiness in security, and the first moment in my interview he told me to close the door and i was struggling like hell with it, that moment i knew, i fucked up.

i was just so freaking nervous lol.. messed it up a big time.

I was terrified, shaking and winging it. But I thought I did ok for my first time.

It helps that I had warm and friendly interviewers that helped me feel more comfortable. I think that really helps when trying to find someone good. It encourages them to be more open and honest.

Hmmm, I never thought of an interview that way. Just a way for the interviewer/employer to decide if they want to work with you. As the qualifications are already there.

never been to one

seriously

i don't have any qualifications whatsoever

^So do you stream on twitch or something? Because unless you know someone in a company or join the military, chances are you're gonna have to face the music and go to an interview to get a job.

Not my first interview, but one of my firsts back in 2014 after I graduated from my first college, I applied for a marketing assistant position. I honestly had no idea going in what I could say to relate to marketing (I was a business mgmt major so I naively thought that having a degree was a shoe-in for at least an entry level job back then), but I dressed up, brought my portfolio and asked a couple questions during the interview like I was taught. It was a panel interview so two of the employees were there as well as the CEO of the company. Well, towards the end the CEO really grilled my ass. He goes "Look, I don't think you know what you wanna do with your life. I've got a son at home about your age who's just like you. I think you need to figure out what you want to do with your life before you come to an interview". He wasn't vulgar, but his tone and some other things that he said were kind of mean, but truthful. It was a kick in the pants for me to get my act together and prepare better so I can actually do a good job at an interview and impress some future employer.

Still though, that one stung for a while.

I didn't...

I've had a total of seven formal jobs in my life (not counting occasional contract-based security or under the table bouncing). This is a bit long so I'm labeling the sections if you want to skip bits:

My actual interview history:

The first was at an office supply company working in the computer department. I was 16 at the time and was referred by an employee I had met, and I don't remember the interview being particularly stressful or painful. I just went in there, talked to the store manager, we liked each other and he thought that I knew enough about the topic area, and I got the job. I worked there part time for two years during high school.

My next job was an easy one to get, because it was a "mom and pop" used computer shop where the owner had met me while I shopped in his store. I took that job after high school and after the office supply store and worked there for almost exactly a year. The owner didn't want to worry about the day to day operation of the story so after I'd been there for a while I basically ran the place from open to close on the days that I worked. It was a pretty cool job for an 18 year old, but over the course of the year I watched our margins slowly erode as the industry changed and PC compatible parts got cheaper and cheaper, so when the owner offered me a minority partnership in the business I declined and looked for employment elsewhere.

I joined another "mom and pop" shop run by some buddies of mine from high school. It was fun, more innovative, and I was working with friends and people closer to my own age, but through a series of missteps they eventually ran that place into the ground hard and I had to look for a new job. No real formal interview here.

I took a job at Egghead Software back when they had brick and mortar stores. I don't remember the interview being particularly stressful but Egghead wasn't exactly "high stakes". I was there for less than a year before I had to leave for a family emergency.

Fast forward a year or two later and I took a new job at a different "mom and pop". Again, I was referred by work friends so they had an idea of my work history and who I was. I worked there for years before they eventually decided to fold the business.

I don't remember the exact timeline at this point, but I remember there were exactly two jobs that I actually got to the interview process for that I didn't get. The first was to work at IBM as a contractor. I took a technical aptitude test which I did okay on but they pointed out a couple questions I missed. This was back in the DOS and Windows 3.1 days, and I pointed out that there were actually multiple correct answers to a few of the questions because of how you could use the utilities listed (Format, Fdisk, Scandisk, etc) and that some of the questions were just simple "UI memorization" which weren't really a great test of knowledge. They were happy with the results and subsequent conversation and said that I was their first choice to hire but unfortunately IBM just went on a hiring freeze so there were no positions available at that time.

The second interview where I didn't get the job was for a different local "mom and pop" shop. I didn't know anyone there, but I needed a job and it was close to my house. I had a corporate contact from my previous job but I knew from past work that their office was 45 to an hour from my house, so it wasn't exactly my first choice. I took the interview, but the manager seemed very disorganized. Even though he had given me the interview time, he got the resumes mixed up and thought I was a different applicant. We cleared it up and he said that I should come back and try a "trail" day of work to see how I did. I showed up the next week with my toolbag in hand to find him puzzled because he had apparently forgotten he told me to come back and he explained that they decided to fill the technician position internally with one of their sales people. This was even more annoying than the last situation, but I politey thanked him for his time and left. This company folded less than a year later. No real surprise there.

Eventually, I called the corporate contact I had and asked him if he still had a job for me. He was thrilled that I called and I came out to the office for an interview/work day. Basically they were just confirming that their impression of me from when I worked for them as a contractor was still accurate and they hired me to start the following week. I worked there for four years before a friend from my previous job invited me to join him at a premier consulting firm doing large scale corporate IT consulting. I decided to interview with this new company because I was starting to feel pretty unfulfilled at my current job. I basically ran IT for this company for the whole state, and the place was a mess when I got there. But after two years I had things in pretty good shape, so I spent most of my days doing very little besides desktop support. I did IT in a non-IT company so I just supported the people who did what the company did. I didn't help the company directly.

So I took the interview at this new company, which twelve years later is still where I work. Even though this was another referral, that doesn't get you much besides the opportunity to interview to prove your chops because this company is highly technical. I took two(?) technical phone interviews to verify my ability, which at the time focused on stuff like OSI model, DNS, DHCP, networking/IP, Windows troubleshooting/administration, etc. This was followed by a series of in-person interviews with two directors for the company. They asked me questions about how I would deal with architectural questions for large scale enterprises, which was something I didn't have much experience with yet but I did my best. For the technical screenings they were looking to get an idea of how good I was at what I did. For the in person interviews, they were looking for how I could interact with people and for the larger questions they didn't figure I'd know the answer, but they wanted to see how I tried to figure out the answer. To see if I'd approach the situation I had little experience with logically and with confidence, even if I didn't yet have the tools to get to the answer myself.

My actual interview advice based on that history and experience:

These days I'm on the other side of that interview process and I can tell you what we/I look for. For technical chops, don't tell me you're an expert in something that you aren't. Be honest about your abilities, because if the interviewer knows what they are doing you won't be able to bullshit them and even if you could, getting your foot in the door into a position that you aren't qualified for won't really do you any good. When I ask people questions, I don't grill them for getting something wrong. I'll try to "lead them to water" to see if they have the knowledge but maybe didn't understand the question. I'm not trying to trip them up on technical minutia, I'm trying to gauge what they actually know.

Some of the things that are important for interviews would be to to present yourself well. Be formal, but relate-able. Part of an interview is to see not only if you can do the job well but if you'd be a good fit for where you are going work. You need to be able to articulate yourself well. This is critically important. If you can't string a coherent sentence together because of language skills or nerves, that's a big problem because even if you are the best candidate in the world if you can't show people that then nobody will ever know. Remember, at the end of the day it's still just a conversation with another human being. Don't psyche yourself out over the fact that it's an interview.

Honestly, I could even make a "Matrix" analogy with the "There is no spoon" bit. The way I always explained that part to people was I'd ask them to think of a balance beam. Anyone with even a bit of coordination can probably walk across a 6" balance beam that's a foot off the ground. It's pretty easy for most. Now take that same balance beam and put it 50' above concrete. Could you walk across it so easily then? Assuming no modifiers like wind, the answer (whether you believe it or not) is "yes". The task is no more difficult, the beam is the same width as it was, but you psyche yourself out because the stakes are higher. If you believe that it's harder, then it actually becomes harder. You can to truly understand and believe that the task is no harder or easier than it was before. It's the same with an interview. At the end of the day, it's a conversation with another human being. If you're qualified and they like you, you'll get it, but worrying like crazy about that then you only make it harder on yourself. A good interviewer can see through bullshit. I can't tell you the number of phone interviews where I rejected the candidate because it was obvious that they were Googling answers as we spoke.

-Byshop

Got the job after my first interview. Most interviews afterwards have been terrible.

Worst being one for a supermarket where he kept asking trick questions, the one that stood out the most to me was about what shifts I could do and I said since I lived near by and have no other commitments I'm very flexible in when I can work. He then badgered me about how I must have an ideal idea of when I'd like to work, so I gave him a time so he'll move on to the next question, his response was "you see what we're looking for here is someone who is flexible, so it poses a problem that you want to work a specific shift"

In hindsight I'm glad I didn't get the job, working for that guy must be terrible.

On my first proper interview the job I actually wanted not just to please job centre in getting my benefits I tried less of an effort. One thing I knew that they where desperate as I knew that 2 people just walked out for no reason. It was coming up to busiest time. I lived close to work. They already said I was only person for interview. This too was from a spec letter asking if there where any jobs knowing that there where. Interview lasted 5 mins and he said can you start Monday. It was working in a boarding kennels with dogs and cats I lasted 6 years be for I had to leave on ill health.

My first interview was a group interview with 4 other candidates. I was 16. I was the only one dressed formally. I don't really remember much other than I was a little nervous but got the job.

I actually prepared for my interview ahead of time. I took a class to prepare you for certain questions that might come up, and with a camera recording you while you respond. The outcome you see for yourself on the footage. While you look at yourself on video, you see all the things you should not be doing.

Always look at the person eye to eye, twitching is a no, eye movement tells whether your lying or not, males with long nails show no interest in caring how you look, biting your nails, ect, ect. This stuff can help prepare you for a good job.

As for the way you got your job, well you either just got lucky or its just a place where you don't have to be business like. Its probably a more casual atmosphere which is cool, if thats what you were aiming for. Unfortunately, i didn't have that choice. I have work outside the main bosses office, and represent the staff. At times i wish i could be more normal, and not looked at so importantly.

My job consist of working with Billionaires, and important people like CEO's, the mayor, chief of police, ect. You get the point.

Preparing or how you interview went, would depend on what type of position you are going for. Glad your interview went well.

As for how i did on my first interview, i obviously nailed it.

Pretty well I guess. I got the job the day after.

Hard to say what to do because they purposely ask questions to throw you off course.

One interview I had zero experience in the job. All the questions were related to the job & guess what I couldn't answer any of them. Problem is how is one supposed to learn anything if they don't hire new people ? I asked that knowing I bombed the interview.

Another one I was interviewed by three people. Each person asked me varying questions the one that threw me off was "When was the last time you did something creative ? What did you do ?" That was for a paper mill job.

Another interview for water testing gave me the scenario, On your way to work the first day you see water bubbling from beneath the ground & it appears the ground might cave in and its right beside a busy road. What would you do ?

I wrote down, "call the police & continue to work."

They'd all got up to go get a coffee or something expecting me to write some kinda fucking essay. I was like hey I'm done. They were surprised and responded "already? Oh ok.... " glances at what I wrote then says, "Thats it?"

At this point I could pretty much sense I wasn't getting the job. There was 5 people and one guy just scowled & he was the one who said "thats it?" I replied, what do you expect me to do leap from my car and heroically direct traffic and then punch into the earth and pull the broken pipes out and weld them with my super eye beams ?

Three people laughed, mr. scowly just scowled.

To prepare for an interview I'd research the position first. Then I'd be prepared for random questions thrown in like, what do you do for fun, what do you read, what have you painted etc.... they don't want fucking robots... yet.

So bad that I got the cops called on me!... :^)

I can't stress enough how important being able to speak clearly and articulately is. At one of my previous jobs I had a co-worker who worked in sales who (and I'm not exaggerating here at all) sounded like Butthead and Beavis and Butthead. He started every sentence with "uhhh" and had the same tone and cadence as Butthead. I even called up one of our old co-workers in common and did a Butthead impression on the phone and told him I was this guy and I actually had him going for like a sentence or two.

If you can't articulate your thoughts when I'm interviewing you, I can't expect you to be able to carry any sort of credibility with a client and I'll disqualify you for that very quickly.

-Byshop

As usual when I'm nervous I was very quiet and I only answered questions. But I got the job. Might have been the only candidate lol. I had many jobs after that and I actually got pretty good at interviews in terms of having the right attitude, body language, etc. Maybe now I should focus on having the right attitude on the actual job.

I was nervous and quiet... so at least I was myself. And no, I didn't get the job. I finally got my first job only because my uncle was a supervisor there.

I was 17 and I was on summer break. My mom had been bugging me to find a job. I was sleeping and it was around noon. She came into my bedroom and kicked the bed and told me to wake up. She said I found you a job you need to go for the interview. She was going through the paper and calling on jobs for me while I was sleeping. So I got up and she handed me an address. I was hung over from partying all night. I went to the address and it was a auto detailing shop. I walked in and said I'm here about the job opening. The guy asked if I had a good driving record. I said yes and he hired me on the spot. That was the extent of my interview. This was back in 1994.