Interview advice?

[Warwithin]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently trying to get my first *real* job as a Marketing Intern for Quicken Loans over the summer. That being said, it's my first real experience with interviews, etc.

I had a phone interview and felt like it went really well a couple days ago. They asked me pretty standard questions (Tell me more about your resume, your GPA, things I have listed under "projects", etc.), and, after about 30 minutes, the interview was over.

I'm not sure if it's standard protocol for interviews, but the woman set up a second interview over the phone with her supervisor for this Monday. Do you all think that's a good sign - or is that how these interviews typically work?

And does anyone have any advice as to how I should handle this second phone interview this Monday? I'm new to this.

[Maharishi]

I'm not sure if it's standard protocol for interviews, but the woman set up a second interview over the phone with her supervisor for this Monday. Do you all think that's a good sign - or is that how these interviews typically work?

And does anyone have any advice as to how I should handle this second phone interview this Monday? I'm new to this.

I'm sure the setting up of a new interview on the phone is SOP, the phone interviews are only to weed out obvious idiots. With that in mind, I would say the key to the next interview is not screwing up, as they are about quickly eliminating people they don't want, rather than narrowing down who they do.

Big things:
- Make sure you're in an area with great cell reception if you aren't using a landline.
-Make sure you have pen and paper available in case you need to jot down stuff, you don't want to put them out in any way.
-From my phone CSR days: Smile, it actually really affects your speech pattern and sound when you speak when smiling. Make sure to be making occasional acknowledgments if the person is talking for a long period of time, I toss in an occasional "absolutely" or "definitely or "i understand" to seem like an active listener. As hard as it is, try not to be nervous, as it's a self fulfilling prophecy.

[Deleted]

Tip for in person interviews: Be pretty.

It's actually really sad how often that'll get you a job:/. Not that I'm complaining, gotten me one many a time.

[Austilias]

Not only did I have to do an interview for my job (naturally, though the position had only 10 vacancies, with over 600 applicants, and I applied late) but I also interview for my job on behalf of the Department for Social Development here in Northern Ireland, so I think I have the credentials to give you a few pointers

1) Dress smart; that doesn't mean you need a suit, smart casual will suffice (as it does in my job indeed, I usually wear some smart looking black trainers which were about £120, black/grey jeans and an overcoat that was about £200, usually with a black shirt or something similar underneath).

2) Smell good; Lord knows it's unpleasant enough to talk to someone who smells of sweat/BO in real life when it's not a part of your job, but if you're the one who's actually wanting to be talked to/have some interest shown in them (not least when some of my interviews can be 3 hours+, which is sometimes demanding and means first impressions with the selected respondent is everything) then it's never a bad thing to be a little too liberal with the showers/body spray/after shave.

3) Have a fair idea of what to say in advance, and plan for the unexpected; when i'm interviewing people for example, they ask what makes me different to the usual Market Researchers who often plague people via cold calling and the like, and in such situations I usually present my ID and explain that NISRA (the agency) is an official government agency, which is usually enough to give them the sense of trust they need. As for you however, they might ask you "What makes you so different to our other applicants?", in which case you should do your best to sell yourself reasonably, but draw the line at boasting/arrogance.

4) Have the right personality; this is usually the sucky catch in such situations. Some people just don't handle confrontation/close social situations well, even if its a casual interview. Stuttering/Fidgeting really speak volumes when it comes to your self-confidence, though fortunately for me, anti-social in the extreme though I am beyond my work (I really don't have time for people), I can put on a professional and courteous front which usually has me winning over my more hesitant respondents. If you're shy, then that's something you're simply going to have to overcome; that, or learn to fake confidence.

That should be enough to maybe help you on your way for now, let me know if you have any more questions

EDIT: Having taken another look at your original post, I would also strongly advise a thick skin. I'm fortunate in my job because not only do I work for an official government agency (which has a good sense of formality/professional reputation), but also one that sends out letters at the beginning of the month to selected respondents informing them that an interviewer (me) will be calling at their address this month, so they have a lot of forward notice which really helps with my response rates. Your potential job however sounds like it would be 'cold calling' which is more less forgiving and can really wear people down; both the interviewers and the people on the other end of the phone. Best of luck naturally, but I can tell from experience, and my girlfriend can tell you better, than it is not the most pleasant of work at times

[saffi]

before the interview : see yourself doing the job from day to day, and think up questions about situations that might arise in your daily joblife (things like : "so how do you organize meetings in this group? do you have a culture of teambuilding exercises? what did you do at work yesterday" etc).

This will do two things :
1) make you seem more confident to the employer (you have already envisioned yourself getting the job), which might make them think that you genuinely believe you are good enough
and 2) it'll give you a sense of why you'd want to work there (or not, if you find out that this really isn't THE job)

[eriseis]

Go to Glassdoor.com (yo, mods, if this is considered an ad by any stretch, don't ban me, please ). Glassdoor is a website where people rate and review employers, people also put up details of interviews with those companies. It's done wonders for me.

Also, most companies will do multi-round interview. The largest cycle I've had myself for an analyst job consisted of 2 phone interviews, an in-site interview with 4 people and a (skipped cuz they really needed someone) last phone interview.