Have been off work since early Dec. when we went out of business without warning. It’s been tough, mentally and financially. You begin to doubt yourself, you stop showering, you wear the same t-shirt day after day, you prowl CareerBuilders and send out resumes without any results.
Then all of a sudden - 2 interviews in 2 days! I can’t get in to see my hair person, but it will look OK, not great, with the use of product. I am female, and I would love to wear a dress, however my feet have swollen recently (too many potato chips?) and I don’t have any appropriate shoes that fit. So I will wear my standard black pants and blazer outfit and toss on a scarf and expensive earrings for flair. Also, I have a really nice purse, I think that goes a long way, don’t you?
Those of you who do interviewing as part of your management job - I want to ask what you are looking for, first and foremost, in a candidate. Is it flexibility, confidence, experience, enthusiasm, or ____________ (fill in the blank)? I am an RN, 53 years old, with 2 hip replacements. I don’t exactly feel enthusiastic, but I suppose I can get there with a little help. I am applying for one generic job that any RN could do (first interview, bad salary but no blood or cardiac arrests), and then the second job is very specialized and something I have 10 years experience in doing, but it was 10 years ago. Sigh. I have managed to keep up with what’s new in that particular field, and my skills are good but I may be a tad bit slow when it comes to the physical aspect of it. BTW, I don’t have to disclose the hip replacements, right? After the first interview, if they would actually offer me the job, should I say that I have one more interview before making a decision? Or is that considered bad business?
Any help, encouragement, etc. will be greatly appreciated.
If offered the first job, I’d say I’d like to think about it and get back to them by X. I’d reveal the hip surgery when given a physical and not before.
I’d personally be looking for competence, a good work ethic, and the ability to think and react calmly when things go unexpectedly bad. But I’ve never been in a position to hire a nurse.
Good luck beckwall. You know we’re rooting for you.
I interview for very technical jobs, so how much the person knows is the number one thing I look for. Don’t volunteer you did the specialized job 10 years ago - speak about it in great depth, so you show you know it.
Interviewing is like acting. No matter how you feel, you need to walk into that office, turn on, and knock them dead. Get your energy level up. People would much rather hire someone who sounds excited about a job, and who is positive.
I use open ended questions about what a candidate did. Think of short anecdotes about your strengths, and be ready to use them. You can say that you are able to do procedure X, but it’s a lot more powerful to say you did procedure X on a patient and turned the case around. Plus, think of sound bytes you want to communicate. Think of how the presidential candidates get their message across. You want the interviewer to remember you better than anyone else.
As for your question, it is always okay to say you need to think about it. In my work no one gets an offer right away. You don’t have to volunteer you are interviewing somewhere else unless they press you for a too early decision. If they ask, of course say you are.
My energy is up today and I feel great. I don’t really want to get an offer for today’s job, so I am just looking at this interview as a practice session which will allow me to show my strengths. We’ll see how it goes. I’m much more interested in the job I interview for tomorrow, and I feel quite competent and ready to display my knowledge and experience.
I’ve interviewed and hired for a technical job. But from both perspectives, interviewer and interviewee, I’d say the most important quality is confidence in yourself to do the job.
I just interviewed 9 people for non-technical positions on 3-4-08.
One of the questions we ask is, "What does “late to work” mean to you? I am always surprised at the number of otherwise qualified people who answer, “Anything 10 or 15 past the time you are supposed to be there is late.”
After interviewing people for 20 years now I still have no idea where this notion comes from. In my mind anything past the time you are supposed to be there is late.
That said, one of the best things you can do to get a job is be prepared. We try to get a feel for your aptitudes and abilities, stability, dependability, background, interest in the job, and ambitions.
Just remember when the interviewer asks, “What makes you the best qualified person for this job?”, that’s your time to brag.
We really want to hear you do that. It shows confidence.
I think voyager is right about getting the right energy level for an interview - although it’s not always a case of winding it up! I’m a very laid back guy - I listened to banging punk rock for 30 mins whilst waiting to go in for the interview for my current job - I need to be fired up.
Other people I interview myself are way too wound up, bouncing around and giving banal answers to questions because they’re not thinking things through; or just gushing mindless enthusiasm at me.
So there’s a balance to be struck here. You sound like you benefit from getting fired up, so rev up the energy levels and best of luck.
I totally agree. A high energy level doesn’t excuse lack of preparation or thought.
When my daughter acted, each audition was like a job interview. (Great preparation for real ones.) You absolutely had to have high energy, but you also needed to know the lines they sent you the day before.
Absolutely don’t mention the hip replacements. If you honestly think you can’t do physically do the job (I assume you’d be standing most of the time–can you do that?) then you wouldn’t apply, but barring that, there’s no reason to mention health issues. They aren’t allowed to ask anything except “Are you physically able to perform the job?” and your answer is yes if that’s what you believe.
Confidence is important, and so is being generally pleasant, especially when applying for a job where there is a lot of contact with potentially very stressed people. If you have proven that you have the technical skills, it usually comes down to who feels right and comfortable.
And yes, you can say you have other offers on the table and can’t decide right away. Especially if you wouldn’t be asking them to wait more than a couple of days.
Good luck! I hate interviews and I feel your pain, but you clearly have a lot of great experience–just let them know about it!