Things To Do (Or Not Do) at a Job Interview

I have been through a lot of job interviews in my day. Some I have done really well on and some I have totally tanked and I mean tanked. Those are the ones hardest to forget and even now I cringe over them. In the past year and a half I have had more interviews than the average bear simply because the job market is difficult and hard to come by. So, I have developed a bit of a criteria in my interview process. It is still in development and probably always will be. I'm about as fickle as a pickle when it comes to work life because I get incredibly bored very easily. This is not good. I blame it however on never being in the right work position. This philosophy lets me off the hook. I mean really though, how stimulating is it to sit in a cubicle and analyze numbers and data all day? It might be awesome for some but for me, but not when you suck at it. With that in mind... Always have 2 resumes. One for the jobs that pay the bills and one for the jobs that would totally stimulate you creatively and take full advantage of all the talents that are dying to be exposed and if you had such an opportunity to take such a position, you would jump at the chance because sometimes paying all the bills isn't worth the years of boring data analysis. Long enough sentence for you? But wait, there is more! If you already have such a job, then I'm extremely jealous. You have reached nirvana :) Dress the part. For instance, if you are applying at a hip, urban place where all the employees are rockin cool tattoos and 'CoExist' tee shirts then by all means show off YOUR tats and your 'Free Tibet' shirt. It shows a sign of solidarity and sends a kind of 'I'm totally picking up what you are throwing down' silent message. If you apply at Starbucks, show up in black and tan. This tells them you are ready to start immediately, interview be damned. A bakery? Explain you have a cupcake tattoo. Nuff said. Boom. Hired. Even better? A gluten free bakery where you explain your gluten allergies in detail. Don't confuse the 2 resumes by accidentally bringing the creative resume to the medical position interview. They really don't care about your cookie baking skills unless it means you will donate them to the office on a regular basis. Don't ask for more money than stated on the position until they actually OFFER you the job. Only then do you pull the 'I'm a single mom' card. Same goes for the company discounts, PTO, schedule requests and the bennies package. Always keep looking for jobs while waiting to see if they are going to hire you because if it is a job you really want, chances are you aren't gonna get it. Trust me