Live and Learn: Real-live, Not-on-a-Phone Interviews

I had my very first real-live, not-on-a-phone interview the other day.  It was for a foodrunning/table bussing position at a restaurant.  Yay!  Sort of.  I’m not hugely excited about it, but 1. it’s better than nothing and 2. honestly, I don’t think it’ll be that bad.  (Mostly because I would get paid $400-500/week.  I’ve NEVER gotten paid that much.  IN MY LIFE.  Once, I worked a job 9-5, 5 days a week for six weeks and I barely got $500.)

At any rate, I did that interview and now I got a callback from another place for an interview.  This place is MUCH more convenient – I can walk there, should the weather allow it.  At any rate, it’s so easy to get there.  I can bike there when everyone go off to New Hampshire in a few weeks.

Still, I have to get the job so…

Things I learned from my first real-live, not-on-a-phone interview:

1. Bring your resume.
2. Smile lots.
3. DON’T SLOUCH! (Did I slouch?  I don’t know.)
4. Make sure you talk lots, but without interrupting him.  (There were a couple places in the conversation that I could have said something, but I wasn’t entirely sure that he had finished talking.  I didn’t want to interrupt, you know?)
5. Try not to sweat.  It’s hard in this heat, but I can’t help but feel that it took a couple points off my uncalculated score.
6. Make sure that you have the names right of the companies you worked for.

Things I did well (I think?)

1. I smiled!  YAY! Points for me.
2. I was relatively eloquent.  Surprisingly so for me, anyways, given that I usually stammer when I’m nervous or upset or anxious or…I dunno, breathing.
3. I did jump in where he began talking about taskloads and how, in catering, there’s always things to do.  That was good.
4. I think bringing my own bottle of water and refusing his offer of a glass of water was good.  “Hey, look at me being prepared!”
5. I was early.  Not sure how early exactly, but I was early.

I think that’s it.  It wasn’t a very long interview.