Tag Archives: job application

First Job Interview

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I’ve always found it incredibly uncomfortable to brag, boast, or talk up myself. It’s something that I had been coached not to do, until I had to prepare for college and job interviews the past two years. With interviews, there are so many unknowns – the interviewer, the questions, the environment – that it feels impossible to prepare.

When I applied for my first job, I was so nervous. It was at the local library, a place I had been volunteering for year, and I wanted to step up and try for a paid shelving position. I had a friend that worked in the same job there, so I knew it was low-stress. It was the sort of job that you could wear whatever you want and listen to music on earbuds as you worked, and had relatively flexible hours. In short, the perfect high school job.

In preparation for the interview, I looked up practice questions online and spoke to my reflection, thinking about eye contact, body language, and tone (Tip #1: Scripps CP&R offers mock interviews http://www.scrippscollege.edu/careerplanning). Personally, I know I don’t always sit very still, so I tried to think about that as I practiced. (Anyone else a hand talker?)

Finally, the interview day rolled around, and I was still nervous, but a healthy amount so. I knew that I had done what I could to prepare, and I just had to get dressed and go. I knew that my work ‘uniform’ would just be street clothes and a name tag if I were hired, but I still dressed up in order to give a good first impression (Tip #2: Dress or overdress the part for the interview, aka always dress nicely)

When I got to the interview, I shook my interviewers’ hands (Tip #3: Have a firm handshake, not a limp hand or an aggressive grip) before we began to chat. I answered their questions honestly (Tip #4: Be real with your interviews, but also remember your audience) and worked in informational nuggets about my related experience and made sure to make myself shine (Tip #5: Show off yourself and why you’d be good at the position, but also try not to brag).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the interview, I shook hands with my interviewers one last time and thanked them for their time. Afterward, I sent an email to follow up, nothing long, just reiterating my thanks and saying that I was looking forward to hearing back (Tip #6: ALWAYS say thank you, it shows your interest, and it’s a nice thing to do. If you send an email, keep it simple).

After what felt like years of waiting, I did hear back with a job offer from the library. I responded right away to confirm my interest and subsequently celebrated the good news with my family (Tip #7: Respond promptly whether or not you get the job, thanking the person for the offer/their time).

Funny enough, after all of that, I found myself working a different job my senior year. The library position fell through because of conflict of interest problems – as a member of the Library Board I couldn’t work at the library. I interviewed at Hy-Vee, a Midwestern grocery store chain (“Where there’s a helpful smile in every aisle”), as a prospective Courtesy Clerk (aka cart pusher and grocery bagger) and was hired as a worker in the floral department. Even though I didn’t end up with my first choice of job, I ended up somewhere where I was still very happy (Tip #8: Be optimistic). My coworkers are fantastic and fun to talk with, my managers are nice, and I’m surrounded by flowers (as well as Italian and Chinese food – we’re next to those departments) every time I work. It could easily be worse.

I wasn’t kidding about the ‘helpful smiles’ bit! It’s part of my job description.

 

4 Tips for Answering That Tough Job Application Question

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My first semester of college was a definite challenge, as it is for many people. On top of the stress of classes, being in a new environment, and making friends, I was trying to figure out what medications I needed to manage my bipolar disorder. Come finals week of that semester, I had figured out the right dosages and was feeling better than I had in years, but the process had been stressful enough that I had to drop down from four classes to three classes and move out of the room I shared with two other students into my own single room. Basically, during my first semester of college I was fighting my own brain, and it was a terrible experience.

What you just read is the raw material for the story that I used on my last job application when asked, “What is a struggle you have overcome?” Now, how can you spin that story so it’s ultimately a tale of overcoming something? Here are a few tips!

  • Make your answer all about how you solved a problem. The moral of the story needs to be how you solved a problem, whether that problem was the faulty wiring in your brain or the heavy workload, or anything else. Just think about how you “fixed” whatever struggle you were facing.
  • Don’t stray too far from the truth. I’m a writer, so I absolutely understand the impulse to make your story seem more intense than it truly was. However, when it comes to these stories, don’t  stray too far from the reality of what happened. Avoid the possibility that you might be caught in a lie. In any case, everyone has overcome something in their lives; I’m sure you can think of some problem you’ve had to solve. My own story about coping with my mental illness certainly doesn’t make me sound particularly heroic, but it doesn’t have to: it just has to be about how I applied a skill to a difficult situation.
  • Rephrase the question. If you’re having a hard time thinking of how to answer the question, try rephrasing it in your head before answering it. A question along the lines of, “What is a struggle you have overcome?” can be rephrased in a few different ways. For example, “How did I make my tough situation less tough for myself?” or “How did I use my skills to solve a problem I faced?”
  • Highlight an important skill you learned or demonstrated. Make sure the reader knows that your story taught you something that is relevant to the job you’re applying for, whether it was how to manage your time, how to prioritize, how to put your trust in a coworker, or basically anything. Alternately, show how the situation gave you the chance to apply a skill you already had.  I “fixed” the problem I faced during my first semester of college by knowing when to ask for help, which was a skill I already had, but was able to apply in that situation.

I hope these tips have been helpful, and can help you write a better answer to the ever-so-popular question along the lines of “Describe how you have solved a problem.”