Anyone else hate job interviews?

[Bergen]

I have an interview in 30 minutes, and every time I think about it, a huge wave of anxiety hits me. It's on campus at my college, and the soonest interview time was an hour and a half after my last class. I was hoping to get some study time in, but, as usual, I've spent the last hour thinking about the interview. If the interview wasn't on campus, I probably wouldn't have even come. These things freak me out so much that I've actually skipped school before to prepare. Plus I feel like interviews are so phony. One sample answer to a question was "I love working under stress, and I find my best and most creative work comes when the pressure is on." I mean, if your line of work gets you excited okay, but really?

[Kuma]

Earlier in my career, I used to interview a fair number of candidates. (I do much less of that these days). The one piece of advice I can offer is: be yourself. It is REALLY obvious when people are rehearsed or, faking it, or just saying stuff they think you want to hear. I felt like saying "this isn't some sort of weird theatre performance -- I actually want to get to know you a little bit." I would try, as an interviewer, to really be myself -- hoping the candidates would do the same. The best of them did.

Yea, some people do work best in high stress environments. The adrenaline makes them more focused and more efficient. But certainly not everyone.

[Bergen]

Kuma, I definitely have to rehearse for my interviews or else I would get in there and completely freeze up. I do worry though that I end up coming off as too rehearsed. As for being myself, I feel like if I really were myself, I would never get the job. I was honest with them at one point. They asked if they called my previous employer, what do I think they would say I need to work on. Being a natural introvert, and a listener rather than a talker, I said that they would say I need to talk more. It's not that I have a problem with talking (my last job revolved around customer service), it's just I'm just better at listening when others speak. The look on one of the interviewers faces was a little discouraging.

Scopehypnosis, my interview actually did go well. If you read the above, then there was an instance or two where I felt like I wasn't too well received, but I've kind of surprised myself by how little I've focused on those parts.

I guess this interview was just the preliminary, and I'll know by Friday if I move on to the next round of interviews. I'm pretty confident that I have a good shot at it though.

[Kuma]

Bergen - my view is that if it is true that if you really were yourself, you would not get the job, then that is not the right job for you. I say that because you might be able to fake your way through the interview, but it is not realistic to fake your way through, say, 20 years on the job. You need a job where you can be yourself. That does not mean you don't act in a professional way, and behave differently at work than with your buddies, etc. but you need to basically be able to be yourself in order to have a successful career.

As to the "not always talking a lot but being a good listener," that might be a weakness for some jobs but for many jobs -- and for many interviewers -- that would be considered a strength.

Regarding "I definitely have to rehearse for my interviews or else I would get in there and completely freeze up" -- my guess is that's not true. My guess is your would do fine without rehearsing, and might even come off better. I like the idea of rehearsing only to the extent of thinking of 2 or 3 important points you want to make at some time during the interview, but other than that just going with the flow. It seems more natural and more confident, and since you don't know where the discussion will head, not being fully rehearsed allows you to be a bit more agile.

But of course I say all this without knowing you. On the other hand, I have a senior management position and have interviewed and hired many people, so I guess I do have some perspective.

[Dahila]

Getting the job is an art, you do not have to know a lot, but show the self confidence and job is yours. I do not know how to lie and never was good at interviews. Others who lie what about their skills get the job.

[briggs05]

Bergen- I have been out of work for a while now and have gone to many job interviews lately. One thing that calms me down is knowing that there is a somewhat limited number of questions that an interviewer can ask you. They're going to ask you about your previous work, your best qualities, why you stand out from everyone else, what you can bring to the company, what relevant experience do you have and so on. I've never been blind-sided by a question because they are all usually the same idea of "what can you bring to the company." As long as you have prepare for these types of questions, you should do fine. If you get thrown a curve ball, just try your best to answer it. You shouldn't over-prepare for an interview because there is no way of knowing all the questions that you are going to asked. Like Dahila said, it is all about confidence. Best of luck.