I blew my first interview. Here are some tips for you guys.

Don't be yourself, sell yourself. It's great that you're a kind person, and well mannered etc, but the interviewer really doesn't care. You want to pitch your skills and ability, and tell them how your skill set will benefit them.

If you have no experience, explain how your skill and potential will make up for lack of experience.

If you have no professional experience, show up with a fresh hair cut, in suit, pretend you're in the military and don't do anything until you're told to, like sitting down or speaking. Get there early so you can say you're punctual. You're ok with taking criticism etc.

If you're particularly good in something, hammer that topic with a LOT of detail, until they hint they want to move on to something else.

DACA: Say you're in the process of becoming a permanent resident>citizen(we technically are so long as reform passes) and that you've been given temporary relief until then by means of EAD. Let them know you DON'T need sponsorship.

So there you have it. I blew my first interview and the questions were mostly on my skill set, my professionalism, experience, what I can offer the company. I'm green to this world of interviews, and I blew it, but I think I'll be ready for my next interview.

GOOD LUCK.

It looks like you learned a lot from this interview! Usually candidates just move on without reflecting on what they did wrong and keep repeating the same mistakes at the next interviews, so I am sure that you will do much better in the next one. Best of luck!!!

I also posted interview tips in another thread, here they are again, these are more specifically geared for candidates without any experience.

For those that managed to get interviews even without experience.
Try to stay positive during the interviews, like if they ask you something that you don't know how or have never done, ideally you'll spin it to something that you do know how to do so that the question is answered on a positive note.


Example, "Have you ever worked a cash register?"
"No, but I have experience working with people that are in a hurry. At my church, I volunteered in food drives and I had to make sure people received their lunch so that the line moved fast and everyone was served on time. People would get upset if the line didn't move fast. As a cashier, I will make sure that the lines move fast so that customers are happy. Plus, I am a fast learner and I am sure I can learn how to use a register after a little bit of training. "

"Have you ever had office experience?"
"No, but I've had to translate documents for my whole family for the past 4 years. I also have to draft any letters that my family and friends want to send to their schools, employers and health care providers. I often had to fax and email them and I get X number of requests per week. Because I was the only source they had, I had to make sure that there were no typos or mistakes. As a result, I learned to be very meticulous with my work and make sure that there is no errors in them. I will bring the same level of high quality work here when it comes to organizing, drafting letters and taking memos"

So those are just 2 examples, but you get the point. Don't just answer No if you dont have the experience but mention a skill that you do have to "spin it" and make you look good. As a previous poster said, mention the skills that you do have on your resume.

For those of you that have babysitting/cleaning experience.

How did you get your clients? If you had to go find them or even if they are your family/friends you had to ask them hire you and trust you with their kids/trust you in their home. That is entrepreneurial/sales skill.

"Have you ever sold cellphones before? Have you ever had a sales job?"

"No, but I've babysat for the past 3 years. I had to get clients by asking friends to send me to friends that they knew needed babysitters or by approaching people at the park where I took my nieces. Because I didn't know the these parents personally, I had to go talk to them and convince them to trust me with their children. I would offer them to babysit for them 3 times at a discounted rate and if they liked me I would become their regular babysitter. I can use the skill of getting strangers to trust me to get new customers to sign up to this cellphone/bank/whatever service company is selling"

Informative thread, excellent tips. We should have a job section on DAP that addresses such.

OP, can you post the questions they asked in the interview? And can you also tell us the position you were interviewing for?

Thank you.

Great info/tips. I agree with Laker we really need to combine all these great threads that have been created into one single gigantic thread.

Mods and Nick is that possible?

Great information. Yes. Sometimes, you just have to spin off what you know.

I will try to sell myself even more. I didn't do it as much but now I see how important it is.

Yes, definitely sell yourself. Even if you have no skills relevant to the job, you can draw from your school experiences and record- if you're valedictorian or graduated with high honors, tell them what that says about your character.

Yes, that can be done. I am on my tablet now so I will do it later when I am on my laptop.

Great! Looking forward to it.