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Author Topic: I want to Work, I have the Skills
Synesthesia
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So why do I keep getting screwed over in terms of getting a job?
I had an interview yesterday, I asked questions and everything, but I got a call for the guy who set up the interview. He said I didn't get a job and that the interviewer said I wore my jacket and hat the whole time.
I did not. She pointed out that my hat was still on but I took it off. Plus it was 18 degrees outside! Freezing cold complete with wind.
And anyway, does it really even matter? I want to work. I have the skills. I need to work right now or I am totally doomed so why are these folks screwing me over when it comes to a job? This is a serious situation!

I think I will volunteer for studies and rob a bank now.

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pooka
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What weirdos. Depending on how long it takes to find something, I think you're better off.
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Synesthesia
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Maybe. It would have been a bit difficult to get to work right at 8 am anyway. The interviewer had rather nice eyes, but I really did take my jacket off. I just had it on the chair with me because it'S REALLY COLD!
I need to find something soon. It's been 4 months and I've got DOOM hanging over my head.

I don't want to live with my mother. [Cry]
I'm too big for her to hit with a belt.

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TomDavidson
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quote:
And anyway, does it really even matter?
Apparently.
Have you been to some interview training? I know it's silly and superficial, but being able to present yourself professionally in an interview is a trainable skill, and most people aren't born with it.

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katharina
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I think there are two sets of skills:
1) Skills to do the job.
2) Skills to get the job.

Tom has a good idea. Can you get some training in how to interview and get the job?

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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by katharina:
I think there are two sets of skills:
1) Skills to do the job.
2) Skills to get the job.

Tom has a good idea. Can you get some training in how to interview and get the job?

Maybe I need that. I've been tormented by several interviews over the last several months and failed somehow at all of them.
I even had a respectable suit with a zipper that foolishly zips on the side.
Maybe I need nicer shoes, or to somehow hold the hounds at bay until Spring when I won't need a jacket and I can walk to the train station without having to cough.

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Tresopax
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I'm not sure you want to work somewhere that won't hire you because you allegedly wore a hat and jacket during the interview - and then calls and gives that as the reason you didn't get the job.

If you have skills, there are jobs. Be persistent.

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Xavier
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quote:
I want to work. I have the skills.
I remember last "Synth needs a job" thread, you didn't seem to have any, at least none that were in demand: last thread
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MrSquicky
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Syn,
I mean this as gently as possible. From your interactions here, it seems likely to me that you may be presenting yourself in a unprofessional manner in the interviews. There are many red flags that I could see you raising for people interviewing you. As Tom suggested, there are services that will evaluate your interview skills and give you suggestions and help with what needs to be changed.

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Synesthesia
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I do have typing skills, computer skills, I score well on those torturours temping tests.
I've had it with temp work, so I have been trying for permanant or temp to perm jobs.
Most of the offers I've gotten have been for places that are too far away for me to get to.
Also at least back then I was able to get a new job within a few days. Another temp job, the one I lost back in October. It's never taken this long to get a new temp job. The longest I've been out before now was a few weeks. I'm with a lot of temp agencies and they say the same thing. No jobs with my experience or no jobs at all.
I'm so aggravated.

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erosomniac
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Maybe it's time to move?
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Jon Boy
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Computer skills are the bare minimum nowadays. It's just another thing that might keep your resume from going straight into the garbage.
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ReikoDemosthenes
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I know I went through a period where I had a very hard time finding work. In the end I found I needed to present myself differently, and I mean more than dressing nicer. I dressed well initially, but needed to learn different mannerisms and to give off a different air. And if you don't have the skills, make them believe that you can learn them and learn them quickly.

Also, make sure you have a firm handshake. I can't tell you the number of times an employer has commented positively on that after hiring me.

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pooka
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I got some really good pointers from an interview I had with Manpower. I didn't have a good "corporate persona". I mean, if someone asked me where I wanted to go in life, let's consider this. I was 36 and reluctantly entering the work force rather than staying home with my children, and I'm interviewing at a temp agency. I had a bachelor's degree in linguistics and was looking for work as a bookkeeper. It is death to be perfectly honest in those situations.

"If I had a plan about where I wanted to go in life, do you really think I'd be here?"


It's important in these situations to forget about what I think and what I need. The main question on the table is what does the employer think, want and need, and am I able to give it to them.

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ClaudiaTherese
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Synesthesia, sometimes interview presentation problems are about the clothes or the shoes.

More frequently, I think, it is about body language and other nuances of interpersonal interaction. Eye contact, tone of voice, whether you are prone to interrupting or long awkward pauses, or whether you have verbal tics, whether you look nervous or frigidly uptight, or whether you look desperate and frazzled. These are *extremely* hard things to pick up about yourself without objective outside input.

Sometimes it is about more tangible things, but things that are still not clothes or shoes, such as having clean hair and no body odor. I do not direct this at you specifically (I've never met you! [Smile] ), but I say this part because I spent a year in a job specifically training medical students who were having difficulties getting accepted how to better present themselves in interviews. About half of them had noticable body odor, or visible dandruff or nits. These were not ugly people, and they were not dirty or disgusting people. They were anxious and intense people who focused on doing the job well, not on how they presented themselves.

However. The people who interview are generally looking for someone who can do the job well, and a part of most jobs is interacting with other people -- be it customers, or at work meetings with coworkers, or what have you. If those other people are uncomfortable around you, they will not want to be around you. In the case of some reasons for being uncomfortable, we say it is the uncomfortable person who needs to change -- e.g., if someone is made uncomfortable based on other people's race. But rightly or wrongly, for some things, it is the job of the person who makes others uncomfortable to change -- at least enough to fit in. This is true of people who talk too loud and interrupt others or who can't bring themselves to speak over a whisper, who wear offensive amounts of perfume or who have offensive body odor, who wear flashy clothing appropriate for nightwear or who wear clothing with rips and tears (for certain jobs, that is), and so on.

I have no idea whether any of these apply to you. I do know you are a bright, caring, and motivated young woman, and I know that some bright, caring, and motivated people I highly respected were being held back by a lack of awareness of how others felt and saw them, and a lack of understanding of the unstated rules (dress, body language, verbal exchange rules, etc) and why they were important (regardless of whether those rules were seemingly silly or irrelevant).

And nobody in an interview setting was going to tell them the *real* reasons they were not doing well in the interview -- it is embarrassing and awkward to shame other people, and to be frank about why you have a bad impression of someone else both requires self-awareness (and some interviewers can't pin why they may not have a good global response to someone) and makes you vulnerable. It's risky and has no benefit, and they are not responsible for the interviewee learning useful things from the interview. They are responsible for finding someone who is a good fit for the position and not doing anything in the interview process that makes the company look bad or puts their own job at risk.

So, if they have to give reasons, they point to "skills" or "experience" (of which they can usually find someone else with equivalent or better history in some way), or they say things like "hat" or "jacket" which don't really mean much -- but they can't be called on. (Sometimes, too, words like that can mean things inside the company like "I'm not going into specifics, but this person comes off as a little weird, and it's not worth the risk because we have better candidates.")

Again, I'm not saying this is what happened to you, but I am saying it is one possible explanation why what you hear may not make sense, and yet you may still go to interview after interview without getting anywhere.

----

It gets down to a few basic principles. You may not like them or think they are fair, but they are (I think) the principles that will shape your experience, and you need to know them.

1. If you are uncomfortable around other people, they will usually pick up on that and be uncomfortable around you.
2. If other people are uncomfortable around you and have the choice of picking some other qualified person they are not uncomfortable around, they will usually pick the other person.
3. They usually won't tell you the detailed truth about why you weren't picked. Most of us don't know why other people are uncomfortable around us, if they are, because we don't see ourselves from the same perspective and may not know the unstated rules for that situation.

and the good news:
4. All three of the above points can be dealt with by getting skilled help in how to interview well. Most people can learn these things, at least enough to make sure that their qualifications are the first and most memorable thing the interviewer sees, not an uncomfortable or discomforting person.

If you want to post the general area you live in, I bet people here can help you find interviewing resources in your area. Sometimes these are offered free at community centers or the like. At the very least, you might consider having a friend videotape you doing a mock interview. (This made me cringe -- it's so hard to look at yourself! -- but it opened my eyes to some things I didn't know I was doing during interviews.)

Good luck. [Smile]

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Synesthesia
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Y'know, i'm beginning to seriously think I don't want to spend the rest of my life in the workforce dealing with corporations.
What I really want to do is write and do art.
The problem is in order to do those things, I still have to pay the bills and the rent...
So I can't win.

I did get a call about a possible position so I just have to wait for this guy to call me back again.

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ClaudiaTherese
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quote:
Originally posted by Synesthesia:
Y'know, i'm beginning to seriously think I don't want to spend the rest of my life in the workforce dealing with corporations.
What I really want to do is write and do art.
The problem is in order to do those things, I still have to pay the bills and the rent...
So I can't win.


I know. It sucks! When I was a kid dealing with the messiness of family life, I thought life would be simpler and more straightforward when I was responsible only for myself. I so wish I had been right. [Frown]

quote:
I did get a call about a possible position so I just have to wait for this guy to call me back again.
Great! That would be awesome.
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Synesthesia
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As long as it's not in Canton, Watertown or other places I can't get to ><

Hope he calls back soon.

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Shigosei
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What kind of writing do you want to do? Are you interested in fiction? Journalism? You can make money writing or doing art, but it's tough.

How do you feel when you're going in for an interview?

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Dagonee
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One other thing to keep in mind is that most of the time you interview for a job, there will be at least several other candidates who also have the skills. That's usually what gets you the interview in the first place.

When I did hiring, I would usually interview fewer than 10% of the people whose resume portrayed them as having the skills I needed. And I'd only hire one of those people I interviewed. And this was during the tech boom in a tight labor market.

The point here is to underscore how important the suggestions you've been given are. It's also to maybe make it seem less like you got screwed out of a job: almost certainly, the interviewer has every reason to think that the person hired has the skills you do.

The things people are suggesting about interviews are absolutely something you can learn.

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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by Shigosei:
What kind of writing do you want to do? Are you interested in fiction? Journalism? You can make money writing or doing art, but it's tough.

How do you feel when you're going in for an interview?

Fiction, creative non-fiction.

Mostly I feel cranky and annoyed from the freezing cold and having yet another interview.

I have got to figure out how to charm these people or something.

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Noemon
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quote:
Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese:
At the very least, you might consider having a friend videotape you doing a mock interview. (This made me cringe -- it's so hard to look at yourself! -- but it opened my eyes to some things I didn't know I was doing during interviews.)

Those poor squirrels. I really don't think the interviewer saw it coming until the moment you started pulling the poor little things out of your pockets and rending them limb from limb. As nervous tics go, that one's definitely a doozy.

But seriously, CT, that was a great post. Syn, it's worth reading over that a couple of times and really thinking about what CT's saying here. I know it isn't fun to jump through the hoops of learning how to present yourself in an interview, and a lot of people find it uncomfortable to do the kind of self analysis necessary to tease out what behaviors might be sending the interviewers "not a good fit" vibes on their own, but if you make the effort and do so I think that you're going to be pleased with the results.

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Mucus
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I think thats an important point. When getting interviewed, unless there are special circumstances, you do only have a small percentage chance of getting hired compared to other people with the same skills. Say 10% as an example.

So do not get discouraged. On the other hand, it is important to improve yourself, to up those chances. However, one must also realise that simply because one employer only hired 10% of those interviewed, does not mean that the other 90% take up pottery at home or something. They go out and try again until the unemployment rate is what, 5% rather than 90%.

So improve yourself, but do not take things personally and get discouraged.

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ClaudiaTherese
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quote:
Originally posted by Noemon:
Those poor squirrels. I really don't think the interviewer saw it coming until the moment you started pulling the poor little things out of your pockets and rending them limb from limb. As nervous tics go, that one's definitely a doozy.


Don't I know it, now.

quote:
But seriously, CT, that was a great post. Syn, it's worth reading over that a couple of times and really thinking about what CT's saying here. I know it isn't fun to jump through the hoops of learning how to present yourself in an interview, and a lot of people find it uncomfortable to do the kind of self analysis necessary to tease out what behaviors might be sending the interviewers "not a good fit" vibes on their own, but if you make the effort and do so I think that you're going to be pleased with the results.
Thanks! [Smile]

For clarity, I speak not only as someone who trained other people to interview better, but also as someone who interviewed horribly myself. I learned a lot by watching others and learning how to help them.

I'm still not very good at it, but I am definitely better. Like pooka noted for herself above, playing the game is hard for me. I know I am sometimes not supposed to answer the question as it is asked, frankly, but I hate that. It feels really weird. I have to remind myself that there isn't just the overt verbal conversation going on, but also a conversation of sorts (unspoken) about how I handle myself in stress, whether I know the implicit rules of the game, and -- unfortunately, I think -- how much I am willing to shape myself to fit what the interviewer wants.

But, you know, it is relevant to figuring out how someone will handle those things in the job, and that does matter to how well one can do the job, all things considered. I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

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The Amazing Squirrel Boy
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quote:
Originally posted by Noemon:
Those poor squirrels. I really don't think the interviewer saw it coming until the moment you started pulling the poor little things out of your pockets and rending them limb from limb. As nervous tics go, that one's definitely a doozy.

[Eek!]
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Synesthesia
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Dang it, why do they bother calling me if they are just going to give the positive to someone else?
Tomorrow I'll have to call about 10 of these places just to hear the same thing. Not enough experience, no jobs. It's hardcore making me feel cranky and fed up. I hate the game and how superficial it all is.

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dkw
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Syn, I think what you are demonstrating here is that you don't have the skills.

Specifically, you don't have the skills to present yourself in a calm, competent, professional manner. Instead you come across as a cranky, sullen person who doesn't want to be there. So why would anyone want to work with you?

You absolutely NEED the interview help that CT and others have been reccommending. You need to learn how to present yourself as someone who is not only able to do the job but also will be a pleasure to work with.

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TomDavidson
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quote:
Dang it, why do they bother calling me if they are just going to give the positive to someone else?
Consider yourself lucky. It's much worse to not get a call.
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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by dkw:
Syn, I think what you are demonstrating here is that you don't have the skills.

Specifically, you don't have the skills to present yourself in a calm, competent, professional manner. Instead you come across as a cranky, sullen person who doesn't want to be there. So why would anyone want to work with you?

You absolutely NEED the interview help that CT and others have been reccommending. You need to learn how to present yourself as someone who is not only able to do the job but also will be a pleasure to work with.

I am pleasant to work with. I couldn't have a better more polite attitude, but right now I'm just about worn out since October and stressed out with the IBS and asthma to prove it...

But i will see if I can find interview help.
But I'm beginning to think I'm being pulled in another direction...

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Primal Curve
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I generally do really well in interviews. A lot of it has to do with my ability to read the person interviewing me and cater my responses so that they most please that individual. This works best when I have a clear understanding of the position and its responsibilities and have familiarized myself the the company and its industry. That, combined with being freshly showerd, shaven and with a reasonably new haircut, I tend to do well. [Dont Know]
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pooka
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Have you considered tax preparation? It's not really math anymore, it's mostly working with computers and people, I think. And it will end abruptly in a couple of months, but I just wondered if you have looked into that.
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kmbboots
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Universities frequently need office staff. Pay is a little less than for-profit places, but it is steady. You might try that.
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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by pooka:
Have you considered tax preparation? It's not really math anymore, it's mostly working with computers and people, I think. And it will end abruptly in a couple of months, but I just wondered if you have looked into that.

I did try that, but the place was too far for me to get to on time...

But, there are two places in my neighbourhood.
Maybe I will try that again. I'm applying for hospitals, I got an interview for one and I'll try applying for jobs at Harvard or something.

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Tresopax
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quote:
What I really want to do is write and do art.
The problem is in order to do those things, I still have to pay the bills and the rent...
So I can't win.

You can win if you get a job that allows you to write and/or work with art AND that pays the rent.

Here's my suggestion: Go find some people who work with words and/or art for a living and talk to them about their job. See if you can find some people who are in jobs that you'd enjoy working in. Then ask them how they got those jobs, what steps they had to go through, etc. And let everybody who will listen know what sort of work you are looking for, and why you are interested in it.

It is possible that many artists will say they had to work another non-artistic job while pursuing their true interests after hours. But if that is the case, you should not view your for-pay job as separate from your art. Instead you should view it all as part of your career - as part of your personal business model. If you need to have interview skills in order to a get a job to pay for your writing time, then for you those skills are as essential to your writing career as owning a pen to write with is. Approach it with the same zeal as you would approach doing the difficult background research for a novel, because it is just as much a part of your job as a writer.

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ClaudiaTherese
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Spot on, Tresopax, and great advice.
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theresa51282
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I am guessing if you are getting plenty of interviews but keep getting turned down that you probably are lacking in interviewing skills. I taught interviewing for a year at a university. I was surprised at first by how many of the students who were bright and articulate on paper came across very poorly in the interview. It really is its own unique skill set.

I absolutely agree with all the other suggestions about getting interview coaching or help. If you can't or won't do that, consider at least picking up a text book on interviewing. It will likely have tips that can help you. Video taping also helped a lot for many of the students. It is amazing how many things we do that we are unaware of doing. Another exercise that is helpful is writing down a list of questions you are usually asked in interviews. Then write down your answers. Next, have someone ask you the questions. Practice answering them outloud while in your interview attire as well as while acting as if this were a real interview. After, assess for yourself how you felt. Did you feel you presented yourself well? Did you answer the question that was asked? Did you answer any underlying meaning or concerns the question might have held? Was your answer or an appropriate length? Then ask the interviewer what they thought. Ask them the above questions. Also, ask them to tell you what your answers were. You may be suprised to learn that they are hearing something different from what you think you are saying.

All of these skills and exercises are probably available at a local interview skills training location but if you can't get to one or don't have one near you, you can practice on your own and without going out into the cold. Good luck to you.

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Belle
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Syn, you've mentioned twice about having trouble getting places on time. That is absolutely 100% essential, in interviewing and in the workplace. You should always arrive a little bit early to an interview (not too much - around 5-10 minutes). A

Why can you not consistently get somewhere at 8:00 am? Showing up on time, dressing properly, knowing to remove overcoats and hats - all those are things that have to do with that intangible "professionalism" that so many people are looking for in candidates. The good news, as has already been said by Tom, CT and pretty much everyone else in the thread is that you CAN learn it. Look at your local community education centers and see if there is an interview skills class available. Many times they are low cost or even free. I think you'd benefit from it.

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Synesthesia
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I bet it's because I do weird things with my fingers.
I make great eye contact. (in fact the interviewer had very nice eyes, I've never seen anyone with that colour before) But I do bizarre things with my fingers. I also talk softly...

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theresa51282
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Do you want to change your habits to get the job or are you unwilling to change for a job? You sound like you fall in the latter category. If this is true, then there is no reason at all to be shocked when employers turn you down in favor of someone who is willing to be what the company wants. Doing bizarre things with your fingers and talking softly are both negatives in an interview. I am also wary of the fact that you noticed the interviewers eyes so much. Perhaps, you are not concentrating on the right things in the interview. You want to be picking up on clues from the interviewer about what type of person they see themselves as and what type of person they are looking to hire. You always want to be slightly more formal than the interviewer.
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BandoCommando
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I have recently been enjoying the website www.wikihow.com. My google homepage always has a daily "how to" link, and I recently came across this one. It has some pretty good information on how to answer that pesky interview question "What is/are your greatest weakness(es)?"

A brief search on the topic "job interview" yielded several hits on their page. Being a wiki, I can make no guarantee that all of the articles are good, but there may be some useful information held within.

Syn, best of luck!

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Noemon
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quote:
Originally posted by Synesthesia:
I do bizarre things with my fingers.

Like what?
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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by Noemon:
quote:
Originally posted by Synesthesia:
I do bizarre things with my fingers.

Like what?
I move them around too much... Sort of wiggle them or something. It's probably one of several weird habits.

I miss the days when an agency would just send me on assignment without an interrogation. In an interview for St Anthony's Shrine I had 3 people interviewing me. Two at one time then a third! [Wall Bash]
I feel like i'm in Sims 2 or some sort of reality show where someone is drawing all these little figures depicting all the points I'm losing. Shame I can't see those.

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MrSquicky
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quote:
in fact the interviewer had very nice eyes, I've never seen anyone with that colour before
This is likely a red flag. Spending time admiring your interviewers eyes is possibly going to come off as unprofessional and potentially creepy.
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dkw
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quote:
Originally posted by Synesthesia:

I feel like i'm in Sims 2 or some sort of reality show where someone is drawing all these little figures depicting all the points I'm losing. Shame I can't see those.

That is what the interview classes that people have been reccommending are for -- to let you know where you're losing points.
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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by MrSquicky:
quote:
in fact the interviewer had very nice eyes, I've never seen anyone with that colour before
This is likely a red flag. Spending time admiring your interviewers eyes is possibly going to come off as unprofessional and potentially creepy.
I don't think she noticed. It wasn't as if I was batting my own eyes at her. But I was giving direct eye contact.

I wonder if The Massachusetts Unemployment service has something like that. I'll check.

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Valentine014
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I must be having some deja vu. I swear I have read this same thread about 10 times. A search tells me I'm not wrong. There has been a thread about you bemoaning about not being able to get or keep a job about every six months for the past five or so years. Seeing your posts today tells me you haven't followed our advice in any of those threads. Do you want us to help you or are you just looking for sympathy? I think the people here who have posted some very thoughtful replies deserve to know what you want us to do for you. Synesthesia, I feel for you, I really do, but these threads on this topic are just getting old.
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Synesthesia
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Not having a job is getting old.
I've gotten more skills since 2005. The bright side is at least I am getting calls about jobs. (Even if they are too far for me since I don't have a car.)
The main problem is relying on temp jobs to improve skills. According to most of the temp places I've contacted, there's been a dry up of temporary jobs. According to this girl at PSG there's been a slow down since October 2007 when the whole real estate thing started.
I don't know if it's my failure at interviews or the economy or both.
I just want to vent because this is driving me completely utterly crazy.

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TomDavidson
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quote:
I don't know if it's my failure at interviews or the economy or both.
Both. It is harder to get a job than it used to be, but it sounds like you're also very bad at interviewing. You can fix the latter problem; there's no point bemoaning the former problem, which is out of your control, except to perhaps consider which types of jobs are in high demand and work to acquire the necessary skills for them.
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MightyCow
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quote:
Originally posted by Synesthesia:

I miss the days when an agency would just send me on assignment without an interrogation. In an interview for St Anthony's Shrine I had 3 people interviewing me. Two at one time then a third! [Wall Bash]

You sound really frustrated, and if that's coming across in the interview, it's a bad sign.

I'll give you an example of a time I interviewed candidates for my last job (when I was leaving). I had about 40 resumes, most of which were completely unqualified or unprofessional. One woman sent her resume on pink paper with a picture attached - the job was a Webmaster, not a model - I didn't need a head shot.

After I threw away 35 of the 40 resumes, I called the other 5 people to set up an interview. One of them couldn't find time to interview, so he was out.

Of the four who arrived, one clearly had misrepresented herself on the resume, because she couldn't answer simple questions. Out!

A second person seemed somehow preoccupied or distracted the entire interview. He couldn't seem to pay attention to what I was asking him. He seemed nervous. It was difficult to speak with him. Out!

The two others both seemed fairly equally qualified. One was much easier to speak with, had interesting stories to tell about his past work experience. When I brought him around to meet the other employees, not only was he excited to be interviewed by more people, he had good questions and answers for all of them.

The second was equally qualified on paper, but just wasn't very fun to interview, and didn't seem like he was happy to be there. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he had already been on 10 interviews that week, and was tired of being asked the same questions. Of course, maybe the first guy had too.

The difference is, the first guy made me WANT to hire him. He made it easy. I didn't care how many interviews they had been on, I had already spent a week going through crap resumes and interviewing unqualified applicants. The guy who made my job easier is the one I wanted to hire.

Interviewing isn't only about you, it's about the interviewer too. Something important to know.

My lesson here, if you've read through my long-winded BS [Wink] , is that it's a lot more than having the skills and wanting to work. You have to make the interviewer want to hire you.

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HollowEarth
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It sounds to me like you ought to consider taking any job you can find right now, such that you can work toward being able to get to all of these other jobs.
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