Another interview tomorrow?

I have two interviews lined up this week and I am super nervous because I've only been on 3 interviews in my entire life. Two of those were when I was 19. I'm really inexperienced when it comes to the professional working world. The whole thing scares me. I'm mostly worried about being stumped on a question and drawing a blank, and not knowing how to recover from it. This has happened before, and that's usually when the interviewer makes that displeased face and writes comments in their notepad. I also have anxiety so before an interview I'm usually internally freaking out. I think part of this is because I'm not 100% confident in my skills/abilities required for these two jobs. The interview tomorrow is less intense because the company is much smaller, but the interview later on this week will be very intense and they said there will be 4 interviewers asking me questions. 4!

The interview tomorrow is for a management position, and I'm not sure why they asked me to interview because I don't have management experience. I'm pretty young so I'm expecting him to take one look at me and assume I'm too inexperienced. But the interview with 4 interrogators (interviewers) will be much more stressful because their company is huge and my reference for my last job is being extremely flaky (they are not responding to me when I asked if I could use them as a reference). So even though I feel more comfortable in my skills to do that job, the hiring process is a lot more rigorous.

Any tips, tricks, or advice?

Oh, I know where you are CR. I went on a 'group' interview once and I was also very anxious. I always think your appearance, good eye contact, a warm handshake, enthusiasm about the position/company, and a smile go a long way on an interview and may be just as if not more important than any one thing you have to say.

Google 'what to do if you get stumped in an interview'. There are some good tips on-line. Try to forget the 'skills' you may or may not have and bring your best personal you to the interview. Plan to call a friend after the interview to review how it went. Knowing you have someone to process it with will help get you through.

Best wishes.

Good luck! If you can't think of an answer, you can always say, 'sorry, I'm drawing a blank, can we come back to this?' and move on from there. I've done that and it's been fine.

I try to act as if I am at a party or hotel bar meeting new people (which is weird because I hate meeting new people at parties). The more practice you get at interviewing, the better, so it's awesome that you have two scheduled in one week!

There are a bunch of websites that list interview questions. You should practice saying them out loud at home. That helps me with the anxiety because it's weird to talk to yourself at a normal volume. Once you get used to that you're a little stronger facing other people.

As others said, the best thing you can do is force yourself to be super cheery, especially in the panel interview. Likability usually trumps technical knowledge for entry or mid-level jobs.

Don't freak out about the manager title either. A lot of companies hand out titles like candy, sometimes so they can pay you less.

You can also research online questions that you can ask your interviewers. One good question can show your passion for your field or interest in the company.

Practice is the best thing you can do to help your anxiety. Good luck and I hope you get a job that you love!

Thanks you guys, I went to the interview today and the building was really shady, like, I walked into the main office and there was no one there, no receptionist, no one talking, nothing. I said "Hello?" and no one answered so I walked outside, walked around the building like twice, and saw stairs leading up to a second floor.

I walked up the stairs, down a hallway and saw a small door that had a small sign that said the businesses' name that I was supposed to be at. I opened the door, and it was such a small room that was poorly lit, it almost looked dim. I immediately felt like this was going to be a waste of time because of how unprofessional it all seemed. There was a huge video camera right in my face upon walking in, a flimsy sign on the wall that said the business name, a strange smell that almost smelled like marijuana but maybe it was new paint or something? And no receptionist. No one was there.

In the adjacent room I heard a man talking and an older woman talking. It was another candidate and he was doing an interview. My interview was at 10:30 and I walked in at 10:15. There were no chairs to sit down. He asked very generic basic questions and the whole thing felt unprofessional on the businesses' part. I understand it might have been a new company, but I just had a feeling like I didn't want to be there and it wasn't because I was nervous.

After I got home, I researched the business a little bit and realized it was based on independent contractors and is a very small business that doesn't look like it has much clientele, either that or its extremely new. I realized very quickly upon entering that small office that I didn't want to work for this company. I mean, there was one guy there, so as an office manager, who exactly would I be managing? And if the business is that new, I'd be worried about being paid on time.

So I'm going to decline that job and move on. I wouldn't want to work in that strange, bare, dimly lit office with no one around anyway.
I have compassion for new businesses, but for some reason I got weird vibes. Maybe its because I'm inexperienced, but I also think I should trust my instincts.

I'm glad that you have another interview lined up. Hopefully the next place will be legit and your experience today will help you to be less nervous. Today showed you that you have value and these companies should be trying to attract you just as much as you are trying to impress them.

Yep, I agree with you CR. Passing on this job sounds like the right move. The good part is that you went through with the interview process even though you weren't comfortable and, like WibblyWobbly said, you value yourself enough to say this one isn't for me.

Sheesh! 4 people sounds more like a grilling than an interview.

I think you did the right thing I'm glad you have another interview just go in there confident and make eye contact and everything will be good good luck

You must be highly qualified to have been selected for these interviews. A plus right there. I agree to trust your instincts and good luck!

OMG you guys the interview went GREAT! This is the job I really want, and the interview went really good! I was surprised! Because I was so nervous...really proud of myself. One step closer to being 100% independent.

YAY! Keep us posted!

I just got a rejection email. They said "Unfortunately you were not considered to be one of the top candidates." I don't know what I did wrong. I thought it went great. Maybe I was just kidding myself. I was interviewed by 2 people and we even laughed together and they were smiling for the majority of the time and seemed very receptive to my answers. I answered the questions well and didn't pause or mess up or anything. I don't know

I feel like this is going to be so much harder than I thought.

CosmicRose - Just wanted to say sorry that you didn't get the position that you wanted (but good job on listening to your intuition on that first interview - it definitely sounded creepy!).

Interviewing is so hard. You can do everything right, and even click well with the interviewers, but not get the position. Sometimes they already have somebody else in mind, but need to interview people to make it look fair (!). Sometimes, it's not about you. Sometimes, you might just not have some particular skill that they need, but it won't be obvious. I've helped interview people at my job, and we've had really wonderful people that we all loved and wanted to bring on, but there was some key skill that they didn't have - it wasn't their fault in most cases, they were great at what they did, it was just, not quite a match with our needs.

I'm sorry. You just have to keep reminding yourself - it's likely not anything you're doing wrong. There's a lot of competition, and you have to keep trying!

You can totally do this! You've already shown all of us that you're smart, tenacious, and serious about finding a job and getting some independence! I have 10000000% faith in you! If you were local and my company had any openings that you'd be a good fit for, I'd recommend you in a heartbeat.

Good luck, and hang in there!

I am sorry to hear your disappointing news, CR. Guilloche made some excellent points. What you do next is important. Give yourself some space for the sadness ... and then keep trying.

It makes me really want to start my own business even more or in other words, become independently wealthy, because the whole system feels degrading. Like, proving yourself to be worthy only to be shot down by people who are better qualified than you, and constantly feeling inferior until you get the job, then being stressed out by the job itself.

The perfect job is out there for you. Don't get to down on yourself

LOL, that's how I feel, too. Whenever I am working somewhere, it seems like the place is run by circus monkeys. I start to think: if these people can run a business, why can't I? The past three companies I've worked for have been small businesses with the founders as CEO.

I'm sorry that other place didn't work out for you. The first one with no chairs sounds really strange. A lot of places don't have receptionists nowadays (bad move, imo), but no chairs when you are interviewing someone????

Rose...what kind of business? I'd be willing to help with building a web site or marketing or something! Free of course! My H came home one day and said he quit. I had a 3 month old, I think she was. Anyway, I got him into business for himself and we never looked back. It can be done! Sorry I did respond earlier, I forgot to subscribe!

Thank you for offering Hannabee, it probably won't be for awhile before I start my online website, that's going to take some time, maybe a year, I'm planning on starting it after I get a job so I have a stable income first because that seems like the smart thing to do right now.

After I did some research on the company when I got home, I saw that a few online client reviews for the business were written by the boss himself...lol. Unprofessional.

okay. I suppose "they" do say you are supposed to spend 40 hours a week looking for employment.... times are a bit tough, though. Good luck, you can do it!

That figures ... but not surprising, based on your description of the place. Good thing you recognized you are better than a place like that.

The whole system is pretty messed up. And, it only gets worse once you get stuck inside it!

I know it's easier said than done, but try not to let your employment status define your self-worth. You're awesome, smart, and tenacious - just because you haven't found the right position *yet*, doesn't make any of that less true.

I wish I had some better advice for finding something. Do you have any family friends that maybe can look for positions you might be qualified for at their places of employment? Sounds weird, but I only ask b/c my boss brought an 18-year old "friend of the family" to one of our team meetings today, because she's interested in the type of work we do. It was a bit weird to me, because I didn't have that type of support from my family, but maybe there's somebody in your life that would be able to help like that?

I don't know, I know it's a long shot... just trying to think.

Have you thought about or tried temping (sorry if you've mentioned this previously)? Is that something you'd be open to? I know a lot of people who have done that to get by while looking for something else, and sometimes when people do a great job, the company offers them a permanent job.

Good luck CosmicRose... hang in there!

Thank you for your ideas guilloche. I too, don't have family support and always find it odd when my friends talk about getting jobs from their parents, or even one friend who had his entire master's degree paid in full by his step-father. They are lucky. My mom just retired and my dad has been retired for years. My sister is struggling to find the right job as well. Most of my family is 2 hours away, and my uncle who lives close to me isn't in a position to offer me help in terms of employment. Just gotta find work on my own. I did consider temping, however because I'm planning to move out soon I'd rather dive into full-time work as soon as humanly possible. I've been going at it for 4 months, and from what some family members have said, it can take up to 6 months or longer sometimes. I'm curious how people pay the bills when this happens and they have rent to pay. It baffles me.