I have been here for a while now, and I need a job, waking everyday and having nothing to do is definitely not exciting at all. I hate house chores, and I don’t want to keep doing them, so I started searching for a job.
When doing so, there are several steps you need to follow, first, writing your resume, I had mine ready, because I am one of those geeks that follow instructions and I was once told you should always be updating your resume so that when you need it, it is ready. Anyway, my resume was ready, so I decided to post it in one of those websites for jobs, (infojobs), but they made me write it all over again with their format. Well, copying and pasting is not that bad I guess. Then I started applying to every single marketing internship that I found, which of course are not a lot.
Then I started receiving calls for the interviews, I will not mention the names, for respect to the companies. The first one was with an advertising company that worked with banks, but they said no because I had too much experience… excuse me? Did you not read my empty resume?... they said that the chores they wanted the intern to do were to basic, what was it? Serving coffee?, because if that is the case, then yeah, fair enough, I might be overqualified.
Second interview, a company that works in drinks and snacks, this one went great, HR in there are amazing and I fit their profile incredibly, we had some team exercises, and we talked about ourselves and watched a presentation, that of course made us want to work there. Then we had a one on one interview with someone from the HR department. That one went awesome as well. Everything was so good, that I got a call the same day to tell me to go back for an interview with the marketing team, so I did. Yeah… well that one didn’t go so well. I guess they didn’t like my vision, because they showed me some graphics, and asked me where would I invest, and that was it. Never heard from them again.
Third interview, with a company on pharmaceuticals, now this ones were mean, first they call me to go and have a test, with basic stuff, maths, reading comprehension, and things like that. This was just the first filter, which I pass, so I got a call saying that I could go the day after for an interview with someone from HR, so I did, and I passed. Then they called me again for another interview with the marketing department, and this time I think I did good, however, it ended up because they needed someone who knew Catalan, and of course I didn’t. Now, WHY would they make me go so many times if I said clearly since the very beginning that I do not speak Catalan?
Well, this have been my few experiences so far, but I am still working on it, on the mean time, here are some tips to prepare for your interviews:
Always dress for the occasion and watch your body language, these things say more than your mouth
Keep your answers concise, unless they ask you to develop
Include quantifiable data, saying that you helped increase sales is good, but if you say that you helped increase sales by 20% from last years revenue, it is even better. Go into detail when talking about accomplishments.
Repeat your strengths, and relate them to the department’s goals and how they can benefit from you.
Remember to prepare your strengths, but more important, situations where you have used them successfully
Do your research on the website, and when you are in the interview, visualize yourself as part of the team, and let them visualize you as part of it as well, use their names and products or services for examples. (Just be careful that they can’t be misunderstood)
Always ask questions. Prepare them in advance, and look for opportunities to ask them during the interview. DO NOT ASK ABOUT BENEFITS OR SALARY. The types of questions you ask and the way you ask them can make a huge impression on the interviewer.
Maintain a conversational flow.
Keep an interview journal, I know how this sounds, but it is a great way to write things down right after the interview that you might forget otherwise. Review your presentation, questions you wish you had asked, what you would do different next time, etc.
It is consider polite to send a brief, concise thank you letter to the person that interviewed you. Restate your skills in that letter and why they should hire you.
