Who else hates interviews?

They're are not ideal, but you gotta learn to love them. Honestly, when an interview is going well it's pretty enjoyable. And when it's not, fuck that shit.

My interview technique is terrible. I get so stressed out and give random wtf answers. Can still remember a university physics interview Is mass a component of force - No. From someone who's never dropped a mark in a mechanics exam.

Ballsed up a trivial phone interview at my dream shop recently too, starting to piss me off. Live and learn though.

T

Glad I'm not the only one who realizes that behavioral interviews are genocide for brain cells.

I despise phone interviews, they're pretty much 100% bs and don't allow your personality to come across. Got called for one yesterday, totally caught me off guard and was forced to walk the HR person through my resume while getting in the car...fml

I hate talking on the phone in general. Even though I'm super introverted, I'd rather talk to someone face to face rather than over the phone. Somehow, I just feel more comfortable striking up a conversation in person and being able to see that person's reactions than doing informational interviews or job interviews over the phone. Is that weird or what (weird given that I'm an introvert)?

my worst interview question "find the area of the largest rectangle that can fit under a histogram"

Blalock:

Just got done with a phone interview. They're awkward as hell and ask stupid questions that usually will not reflect your performance on the job. candidates are forced to bs 99% of their answers

I had this conversation with friends yesterday where we talked about a mutual friend messing up interview for a school for the second year in a row. It's silly because the questions he messed up on ("Give me an example where you thought on your feet") are really easy to prepare for.

Point is, there are only so many questions that can be asked in an interview. - Walk me through your resume - Behavioral (Give me an example when..) - Technical (Walk me through a DCF)

If you feel like you don't do well on interviews, PRACTICE. Feel like phone interviews are a weak point? Get friends to practice with you in a variety of situations (e.g, walking into a car, on campus, etc). You should know your story cold and be able to have enough examples off the top of your head that you can answer any questions you want. Just like anything else in life, interviewing is a skill that can be learned and practiced.

Now regardless of how well you prepare, sometimes the fit isn't right. Interviewing is a little like going on a first date with someone. Sometimes the fit is right and things flow - conversation is easy and both of you are laughing. Sometimes it sucks. Maybe your interviewer had a bad day. Maybe their dog died. Maybe they were just reamed out by an MD. You don't know these things and you can't control them.

It's hard especially when you're first starting out because you'll place so much pressure on yourself to get that dream job that you'll get nervous because everything is riding on that one interview. The worst thing you can think to yourself is "I need this job so badly that I have to do well." It gets into your mind and affect performance. It's no different from really wanting to sleep with a girl and coming off as desperate. Even if she doesn't notice it consciously, something will feel off and that's enough to not move forward.

Instead, go in with the mindset "I don't know what will happen, but I'm going to put my best foot forward and let them learn about me while I learn about them." Treat it as a two-way conversation and you'll find interviews going along much smoother.

For phone interviews: Whenever possible, stand up and smile. Standing up opens up your diaphragm and the smiling thing sounds stupid, but works.

Kinda agree. I find it awkward talking about myself for that long.

Interviews are what makes or breaks a IB to PE

Behavioral interviews are a joke. If you are good at BSing people, which I think I am, then they are not too bad. But seriously, cmon? The interviewer and interviewee both knows these are bullshit questions so why even ask them?

Fuck Interviews.

If GS called and you didn't pick up... are you fucked?

Control the interview.

I've had to learn the hard way that the interviewer should do some talking as well.

If there's a dead silence, you're damn right I'm not going to let up on asking questions.

By the time that's done, interview is almost over.

I used to hate them. But, after a lot of prep and botched attempts, you start to get used to the whole thing. When you stop being interviewed and just have conversations with the potential employer it can actually be enjoyable.... Still nerve racking as shit tho when you first walk in.

OP - any chance you had it with GS?

I hated them when I didn't have much experience and my story was not as fluid. I don't mind it as much anymore because I was able to build up my story with relevant experience I've acquired over time. I just go in with the mindset that I'm a good candidate and any employer would miss out by passing me over while also keeping a mental note of flaws in my answers and what I can do to improve/any mistakes I made. I hate the BS questions that interviewers ask for the sake of having you jump through hoops and not really caring about the answer.

I just had a phone interview and it was terribly unpleasant. I've interviewed extensively in-person in the last few weeks. I don't tend to get the nerves for in-person, but for some reason for phone interviews my anxiety goes through the roof. There's something about telephonic communication feeling incomplete. You're ignoring a huge amount of information in non-verbal communication. I am extremely perceptive at reading facial expressions and body language, so during phone interviews I just trip up.

I'm the exact opposite -- love phone interviews. I used to do cold-calls all the time (soliciting for sponsorships...) and held a few telecommute jobs, so I guess it's something I'm used to. I usually ask interviewers to call my Skype number instead so I can use my headset, which frees up my hands and makes me feel more relaxed.

Seriously, how can you -not- like phone interviews? You can scribble chicken-scratch notes during case-esque questions, you can pull up cheat sheets on your computer to look at! I always have my resume open, along with a sheet that has bullet points for most of the generic behavioural questions (i.e. "tell me about a time...") Definitely calms my nerves; I'm always anxious during in-person interviews that I'll completely forget about an important point I want to make, but with a bulleted list open on my computer there's no way I can miss anything.

Last year, when I was interviewing for internships, I always had M&I's accounting cheat sheet open (I switched into finance fairly late in my undergraduate career so I was taking intro accounting during the time interviews were going on and still didn't have much idea how the statements linked together). Definitely a lifesaver.

Lost out on some amazing opportunities before learning to master the phone interview the hard way.

Absolutely hate it, especially when the cell phone signal was so weak that I couldn't even hear what the interviewer asked. I had to repeatly say "excuse me, what's your question again"? awkward as hellllll

I don't get you guys who are complaining about having shitty service or not having a good environment for a phone interview... First off, 90% of every phone interview I've done was scheduled via email ahead of time...the other 10% of the time I simply let it go to voicemail. If your in school, they'll understand; you could just be in class. Unless you fcked up and forgot what time it was, noone (atleast that I know) is going to hold it against you. And a weak signal?? Lock yourself in a room with a landline, a backup phone, a charger and a computer.