D'oh! (Interview protocol)

[Giggle Goose]

I had my first really big "grown up" interview today for a job I want very badly.

Things went really well; one of the interviewers said she can tell I'm a warm and open person; they were impressed with my GPA and language abilities, blahblahblah.

I brought in samples of my writing from business classes in college and I answered all of their questions pretty tactfully (I think), but I let the word "like" slip in just once.

It's a pet peeve of mine when people, especially young adults, use "like" as a filler word at work and in class. I know it's a nevous habit, but I was reeeeeally mad at myself for letting it slip.

Oh well. This was just a chance for me to share my experience, and if anyone else has any interview advice/stories, what have you, I'd love to hear them.

[COMINATCHA]

Im sure they didn't even notce it, they would have been blown away by your skills that it wouldn't have mattered if you had said "like" even more than once

I had an interview yesterday.

It went really well except when it came to the question:
"What are your strengths & weaknesses?"

I start listing all my strengths (some of which may have been slightly exaggerated) & the guy is really impressed.

He then says "Okay now what about your weaknesses?"

What do I say to that??
"I don't have any!"

Oh my god, how up-myself must I have sounded??

I was so nervous, it was the CEO of the company, I didn't want him to know any of my weaknesses cause then he won't want me. But I didn't mean for it to come out sounding like I love myself, lol.

He just laughed and said "So your perfect then?" and I sheepishly tried to cover it up by saying "Well I don't think I have any weaknesses that would affect my ability to do this job well."

Hopefully I didn't screw that up!

[Chanlin]

I don't think letting a little slip such as using the word "like" one time would hurt your chances, especially since most interviewers understand nervousness. As long as your not a complete nervous wreck your good to go. Heck, I've read from some interviewers that how you handle yourself when your nervous is part of the interview

@ GiggleGoose

Same thing as above about nerves. Sounds to me like the CEO realized your were nervous and said what he said to break the ice and give you a chance to recover from an obviously unwanted slip up on your part

I personally always answer that question with a very honest flaw of mine. There are times if I get involved enough in a project I tend to have a one track mind and neglect other things. But all it usually takes is a kick in the pants from a coworker or a higher up for me to get back on track.

The thing about the flaws is not to gush out every problem you have. Its more of a "Do you recognize your own flaws and how do you deal with them?"

[Giggle Goose]

Gah, I can't believe they pulled the stupid "weakness" question on you, Comi!

That's probably the biggest cliche out there. You have to sound humble and competent at the same time! That was a nice save at the end about how it shouldn't affect how you do the job, however. Meanwhile, the interviewer should be kicking himself in the ass for asking such a question.

Thanks for the support! I'm going to write some nice, like, thank you letters.

[SnarkyPie]

One of my favorite teachers in high school would always call us out when we used filler words such as "like" or "um". He was very influential, to the point where I went on a college visit and almost shuddered at the amount of filler words used by one of the student speakers.

[Giggle Goose]

Well, they must not have noticed. I got the job.

They called me on Monday to tell me they would be making a decision this week. I'm on pins and needles until Thursday afternoon when they tell me that they have selected me.

I figured this would be a good thread to break the news. The best part is that there is no customer interaction whatsover. The salary is also about $9,000 more than the average starting salary for my major; so I must be doing something right here.

It's not that I would never work in customer service again if I had to. But after about 8 years of it to put myself through school? --------> for now!

[Arm]

congratulations!

That's fantastic

[PepperElf]

I haven't heard anything against "like" really. Especially since it sounds like it wasn't overused.

The one main thing I've heard about job hunting is... spelling on the resume. Not that anyone here has been misspelling stuff... it was just something my mom was talking about to sis and I the other day