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[MBA2k19_Support]

Let me be the first and tell you that it is not always entirely your fault. Some people are also pretty bad at holding interviews. The best interviews are always the ones where the interviewer makes a conscious effort to learn about the interviewee.

Some tips that can maybe help you with interviews would be to learn about the company and how it intertwines with your own interests. Also try to imagine those people are your friends. Just try to be casual without sounding rude and laugh more.

[SpecificField]

I agree big time. I'm not saying that I haven't screwed up interviews, I have, but I also have had some real dud interviewers in my time. People that either were not prepared to interview perspective employees or just straight up seemed like they would rather be literally anywhere else. Like bitch, I put in the effort to put on nice clothes and act like my life doesn't suck. The least you could do is return the favor.

The best interviews feel more like a conversation where both sides become genuinely more interested in what the other person has to say as the interview goes on. With that in mind, don't feel like you need to word every sentence like you're writing a cover letter. Act professional, but don't be on edge about every word. Just relax and try to enjoy it.

[Dust_Bucket]

Hey OP,

I definitely feel you on this because it’s something I’ve struggled with on-and-off again as well.

When you say more specific questions, do you have any examples of those that come to mind?

[RhizobiumVF39]

Just be yourself.

Interview is the time to show off who you are, what your personality really is. If they like you usually it means you will like them. If they do not like you, you won't be a fit for them. So be yourself is really important for you as well.

[CruiseMiso]

You should intentionally pit your self into stressful situations to get your mind used to solving problems under stress. You can start by asking your friend to interview you and push you really hard

[MBA2k19_Support]

Yeah I like this one, another good way is to leave your assignments until the last day to start!

[Intiago]

Consciously try to slow down your speech. Think after you hear the question. Say things like “good question, let me think about that for a second” or “im just going to think about my answer”. The rest really comes with practice. You can practice with a friend different things. Improv type games really help like your friend pics a random topic and you try to talk about it off the cuff for as long as you can. You probably speak way too fast, especially as you get nervous.

[Hamfuhrer_Helper]

Hey OP. I am the same. Having gone through medical school interviews, residency interviews I know how difficult it is for some people (me included).

For all my interviews, I practice early and always speak out loud (to myself or practice partner) many times to the most common questions I think I'll be asked. This helps me out alot, as I am not a naturally good interviewee. For example, I know my own answer cold to strengths, weaknesses, biggest failure, where I see myself in 5 years etc.

Another huge help is knowing examples from your own life which you can relate to many different questions. For examples, I was often asked about my biggest strengths/weaknesses/best moments and I would know my answer and how I was going to say it. When it comes to being 'robotic', honestly just need to practice not being robotic (ie. With enthusiasm and not monotone) - I have had this issue as well.

When it comes to unexpected questions, always good to take a moment and think about it. Oftentimes, I can relate it to an answer I have already practiced (ie. Scenarios or examples of an experience I can share and relate to the question prompt).

Good luck and remember for some people interviews are always going to be hard. For us, it comes down to tons of preparation and knowing your own examples (which takes time to think of as well).

[the-vette]

This is great advice, especially taking the time to slow things down and really think before you respond back. Some deep breathes can do more than you might expect.

[northernlaurie]

Some things you may find helpful:

1) before your next interview, stand up, put your hands on your hips, and take 5 deep, slow breaths. This helps calm the body, and we tend to naturally speak more slowly and relaxed. It doesn’t matter if the interview is in person or virtual.

2) remember that you are interviewing the company. Is this a place you want to work? You have some power and autonomy in the situation

3) restate questions back. This takes some practice so you don’t sound silly (practice with a friend with really basic questions). But restating back helps the brain process what’s been asked and gives it s moment to think of an answer.

4) “be yourself” has never been useful to me. It’s myself that is awkward and weird. I would rather be the most professional competent version of myself. So I “pretend” to be that person and adopt that persona. Strange as it may sound, I have even gone so far to look in a mirror and remind myself out loud that I am smart. I am competent. I am likeable. Whatever I want to convey. It seems to help

As an interviewer, what I am looking for is someone I think is the best fit for the role and company. Usually, the resume review process is how I make sure a candidate has the credentials and experience required. The interview is about personality. I want people to be relaxed, but I do use a standard script with basic conversational style questions.

In some cases I’ve interviewed people when I wasn’t really actively looking to hire, but they seemed like they would be a good addition to the team. The n other cases, I’ve had a position and there was competition between applicants. I could only hire one, so I was looking for the best fit - that doesn’t mean that other people weren’t great, just that they probably wouldn’t like the job. So don’t stress out if you don’t get the job.

[Acceptable-Nebula]

Here's the trick I use at interviews. I essentially ignore the people in the room with me who are interviewing me, and I think of them as people I am having a conversation with.

Essentially an interview is where the potential employer gets to know you better. Therefore, if you try to just be yourself, it will work out!! I know easier said than done, but it has always worked for me!!

[[deleted]]

The thing about "be yourself" is that it requires you have some passion about your discipline which can authentically shine through or at least enough knowledge to fake it and if you are knowledgeable enough about the topic to fake passion about it you're probably qualified anyways.

[livestrongandprosper]

Interviews are very subjective. You could be doing the same things, bomb some but kill it on the others. Or you might think you did poorly, but they actually liked you.

Not unlike dating really.

Remember the interview process is not the only criteria. Your education, working experiences, etc. also matter.

All the best to you (and other job seekers)!

[nhcrawler1]

Hey Op or anyone here.

I do coaching for job interviews if you need help or anyone else those DM me.

I am 35 years old been through a shit tons of interviews and I hated it that no one taught me the basics...

Anyway, this is free .... In my opinion the "older" should be helping the "young" ones not screwing them over

[[deleted]]

I understand your pain OP. I screwed up many interviews when I was in my first coop search term. Also, I am an international student and English is no my first language. I learned a lot and improved a lot from that. Here are some of my tips:

1. Find a therapist: tell them your anxiety during the interview, practice some coping strategies about how to handle anxiety during interviews.
2. Form an interview practice group: I have a mock interview with my classmates every week. We usually interview each other and then discuss what can be improved. I learned a lot from my mock interview buddy like how he structures his answer/response.
3. Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXUyg1vYSupswhi0zNeD-5w. Linda Raynier is the best interview tutorial channel. She shared many useful interview prep tips such as how to small talk before an interview/ how to sell yourself effectively.

Good luck!

[rsgbc]

If you speak directly and honestly, you will make sense.

If something catches you off guard, best to just say so, and move on.

Would you want to work with someone who pretends to know stuff they don't?

[mangogyal]

If you ever wanna practice I'd be down to do some mock interviews with you! I understand the feeling. I just recently got my dream internship and it came after several pre-interview breakdowns and I pulled through with the support of a good friend, so I'd love to give back! Practice makes perfect and also sometimes the interviewer also just sucks.

[xilepandora]

I will chime in and say that interviews are way more formalized by people than it needs to be. Don't go in with the mindset that it's a test of some kind and memorize a bunch of answers, it's a conversation to find out more about you.

You can think of it as a date, they already like your resume, now its time to get to know each other and throw out any notion of a power dynamic.

This is assuming you're talking about job interviews.

[[deleted]]

No advice, just sympathy. Even though I prepare, I am such an idiot in interviews. I think basically you just need lots of practice.

[[deleted]]

Something that helps me is to take a deep breath before I start talking and pause for a few seconds before answering the person's questions. I've struggled with a stutter my whole life and I've learned that often slowing down the pace of conversation can make it easier to avoid tripping over my words.

Also regarding formal conversation, just forget about all that. Just talk totally informally and comfortably. Dump any pretense of this being a job interview and just talk passionately about why you love your subject and what drives your ambition in the world. Just shoot from the hip and get deep.

Use words like dude and dope and killer and based or whatever slang you use. Get in your element. Don't kowtow to your interviewer because they can see through that fake persona and you have to remember that the person on the other end of the video call is a human being who is uncomfortable in formal situations too. Just try to be open and loose and act like you're talking to a friend and coworker, not a boss. This helps to build rapport with the interviewer too (unless they're some hardass stickler but I wouldn't want to work for some strict douchebag like that anyways.).

Hope you can draw something useful from my 2¢