Bad Interview Experiences

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I went to an interview for Cold Stone Creamery a week ago on Wednesday.

I don't know what I expected but when I got there I noticed there were far too many people there and I started to worry.

When I went through the back door I noticed everyone was filling out forms and I got nervous. I'd only been on one interview before, and it was a group interview.

Same deal here, I was immediately crushed; there was no way I was going to get the job.

Truthfully, I spaced out (I was standing next to the ice cream churner) until this one girl started talking. She went on a serious monologue and I think the interviewer might have gotten annoyed too. Once she actually shut up I spaced out again until it was my turn to speak.

Normally it would have gone great, since he asked about my interest but there were just too many other girls in the room, 8 others to be exact.

I tried telling him what mine were and answering anything he asked but I just couldn't focus. I felt really self-conscious about my interest, I mean compared to all of theirs, I felt really childish.

I am not and never was an over-achiever, but I think that day I became painfully aware of how different I am from other girls.

Not even my age either, these girls were 17-19yrs. old and they had more to show for themselves than I do at age 20.

Anyway, then we had to sing. It was a song to the melody of 'If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands.'

If your happy that you came here, take a bite.
Cause you know that Cold Stone does it right.
So we'll raise our voice and holler just to thank you for your dollar
And we hope to see you back tomorrow night.

A bit ironic, no?

It was hard to fake enthusiasm when I just felt depressed. I think my voice just came out awkward and I stuttered out the last bit of the song.

Needless to say, that's definitely not the right job for me but, it just feels like I'll never get a job. I'm getting desperate. I feel like a burden to my family; I feel like a moocher. I want to help out but it's hard when interviews go as badly as that and I can't even make eye contact!

Uh, I just feel like a loser but that's not really anything new for me. I wonder, though, is there any place that would not mind hiring someone like me?

I mean, I can't offer much, but strangers seem to like me, even if it's not mutual.

Anyway, I hope it's not just me that feels this way...

Sorry for such a long post again!

When they ask about your interests they don't mean your obsessions, hobbies, etc. You're suppose to say things about how you like working with people, are wanting to get job experience as you think it will help you with your college degree, how you want to work your way up to managing and crap like that. They don't ever want to know about you as a person.

Don't feel about about the whole thing. Look right now every job that gets advertised will get hundreds if not thousands of applicants because of the economy. Just like on the news they talked about this job fair held for high schoolers and it got crashed by thousands of older adult employees that have been laid off and are desperate for work. The competition is fierce for work right now.

Really? Even though they actually phrase a question like; "Tell me about some of your hobbies?"

And I did not actually speak of any of my obsession, I said that I like to self teach.

Oh they actually said the word hobbies? How weird. That's not kosher interviewing questions and must be something they just ask younger people. Maybe they want to make sure you are wellrounded and what they call mentally healthy and that you have hobbies. Even still its a set-up question. If you said rock collecting or something equally unpopular they wouldn't like that. They would prefer answers like you volunteer as a cub scout den mother and enjoy teaching workworking skills or that you enjoy swimming because it helps increase your endurance for the lifeguarding job you volunteer at every summer at the local pool.

I would assume that they asked about hobbies because they don't expect teenagers to have a whole lot of work experience.

But yeah, whenever an employer asks for details about you, they want to know stuff that will be relevant to you as an employee. The interviewer was probably looking for hobbies that describe how you interact with other people, you as a team player, you having experience with customer service or keeping people happy, you being responsible for something, etc.. It is possible to come up with some off-the-wall stuff, but if you're somehow able to tie it all back to relevance to the job, it'll look favorably for you.

I had some interview training at my job, because I work at an IT company and I am supposed to be working for different clients. And the question about hobbies or interests depends a bit on your age and work experience. But the most important part about it was that your hobby has elements that are useful or necessary for your future task.

In one of my earlier job interviews I made the mistake to get enthusiastic about my hobby. In later interviews I got better at that part, but is still a difficult thing.

oH MY! Again, I give a seminar on this topic and could write a book about it! My crazy mad experiences.. why? Chalk it all up to Asp.? The Cleveland Opera woman named 'J'once interviewed me, and although she had the problem, she kept looking at me with disgust and puzzlement during the interview, asking me if I was 'distracted'. WELL DUH! WITH THE BLARING OPERA MUSIC SHE HAD ON THE CD DURING THE INTERVIEW, YES! She was told about her loud music. See, people don't like criticism of any kind. They don't like anyone telling them that what they do is wrong.