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Originally Posted by guilloche
For the group interview, do you mean that there will be more than one person interviewing just you? Or will there be multiple people being interviewed at the same time?
I'm familiar with the first situation - and have been one of the interviewers at my work! My boss liked to have a couple people from our team meet people being interviewed, so that we could see if we thought we could work with them.
We all know how crazy nervous this can make the person being interviewed, and they should be conscious of this. Just try to relax as best you can (yeah, I know!) and connect with people.
Remember that part of the interview is that you're also judging them - you're trying to determine if this place is a good fit for you. Even if you're sure that you'll love it and are desperate for a job, keep this in mind, and try to have a couple questions ready for the end (when they usually ask if you have any questions). Hard questions can be OK, but I wouldn't string together too many negatives, and I'd stay away from questions about benefits, vacation time, salary, etc... (you want to show that you're interested in the job and the people that you'll be working with, not in how much time you can get away from the job!).
I think that what is a good question to ask them can vary a lot, depending on the job. If you're stuck, you can always ask, "what do you like best about working here", "what are your biggest challenges here?", "what's it like working in this team, how do you guys function as a team, what are the group dynamics like?" - and if you get to talk to people without their manager, I always ask "what's your manager's management style? what do you like most/least about working with him/her?"
You should know, they might not be allowed to tell you anything negative. I had to take training from my company to be involved in interviews, and we weren't allowed to say anything negative about the job, because it could be construed as trying to sway someone to not take the job, and that could look discriminatory.
As far as answering questions... you said you want to be short and vague, but if you can manage actual stories, it would be better. Vague can look like you're hiding something, and not give them enough info to feel like they got to know you. Interviewers are told to ask these questions (that ask for examples from your past) as they're a bit more concrete then asking you to hypothesize about an imaginary situation.
So, for something like how you handled a difficulty with your boss or co-worker... can you think back and try to think of anything that could fit as an answer? Have you ever had a boss that you didn't get along with at first, but that you managed to work successfully with? Or a co-worker who caused you grief, but you eventually figured out how to deal with them? It could be as simple as... you had an honest conversation with the person, and you both began to understand how the other thought, and were able to make some minor changes to what you were doing to accommodate each others preferences.
This a good chance to highlight the things that you want them to know about you - like that you're a good team player, that you work well with others, that you're flexible and accommodating... etc.
Good luck! I'm nervous and excited for you just reading through this! I wish there were a better way to get jobs... interviews make me insanely nervous too!
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Thanks! I love your great answers! I'll take your advice! As for who is going to interview me, I have no idea! I just asked the lady I talked to and she said 3 people, yikes! And I might have to try to sell them a product on the spot according to what I saw on here! Right now I'm finding it hard to focus, so I'll have some last minute things to do tomorrow like get my nails done, and print out a copy of my resume and cover letter.
Anyways, I'm nervous as hell! I looked up a ton of stuff on here, including youtube and the good news is that sometimes employees get full sized products when training is done by retailers.
You wear all black which I can do-

You always have to look perfectly made up with perfect nails and hair though, ugh! And no one gets f/t hours, boo! Employees do get 25% off though and 50% off the salon!
Anyways, I'm upset now since last night the roof was leaking so I slept on the couch. Well, it's a good thing that I did as the ceiling feel on my side of the bed and there is now a huge hole in the wall!
OMG, scary! It's all wet and moldy in there and it stinks. I found a mouse in the room when I was cleaning stuff up. My husband was supposed to come home early to help fix things. That mouse is still on the loose, so I locked the door. ****!!!!
And we have no money to fix the roof! It'd cost 10,000 to do so! I talked to my dad today after fighting with him over other stuff and he might help us. He'll ask what my husband needs first.
Well, I sure hope that he does! I told him that I'm livid that he'd pay for my sisters Lexus and not help us out and claim it's because I'm married and she's not. WTH? What a lame excuse! Clearly he favors her! I had to threaten him by saying that he'll never see us again if he doesn't help out when he clearly can!
He didn't even offer a word of sympathy and neither did my mom. She flat out ignored me! Who the hell does that to a daughter they supposedly love? That's not love at all!
Interviews suck, and they're a nightmare for a shy person with social anxiety! I hope that I get the job! If I don't, there's always amazon, and Cost Plus (no interview was confirmed yet, but I left a message for the manager). I'll be getting an email from amazon for where the interview will be taking place soon.