Kristil, If you feel good about it and want the job, be sure to send a follow-up note or email to the person.

I interviewed for a job in 1990 that I REALLY wanted. I hadn't been at any other job for very long and the boss wasn't going to hire me because she needed someone she could count on to stay. I sent her a note about what a great fit I thought it was and how much I wanted the job and she changed her mind and hired me.

I worked there for 5 years and she is still one of my closest friends.

Good luck on your interviews!

Yikes! My interview got me with that last week. I told them my best trait was being being able to multitask and work well under pressure. She got me with my worst though, I don't remember what I said! But a few minutes later I had mentioned my divorce and somehow it came up that I was divorced twice and she said "There! You didn't do so good at that!" I don't think she meant to say that, but it was pretty funny at the time, and I fully agree LOL

I took my interview to be a good learning experience, even if I didn't do as good at it as I really wanted too.

They hit me with the where to you want to be in 3-5 years question. I hate that one! Life has thrown me so many curve balls that I just live for each moment or block of time. Doesn't mean I am less stable (which is what they were looking for - someone who wasn't going to move away in 6 months)

Hope all went well with you today. I had a good lead myself with my Rep #2. I am going up to meet with him and his current admin Friday.

Kristil, I think that your prior exerience working for them is one of the best things that could happen for the interview.Focus on your performance of your duties and your familiarity with their procedures and expectations of the university system. I know you have already had the interview and this is late in coming, so I hope it all went spectacularly!!


I too had an interview on Sunday. The company I work for is situated as a third party vendor in a kiosk in a large warehouse store. The warehouse company posts job openings throughout the company(all over US) in the breakroom with descriptions, locations, and what you need to do to submit an application.

I saw an in-house posting for a management position in my store and took it upon myself to approach one of the upper level managers and also one of the assistant GM's to see if it would be appropriate for me to apply for the position since I was not technically an employee and was highly encouraged to do so (I have worked hard to create a good environment between myself and the staff at the store). Both managers gave me a resounding Yes!

I dropped off my resume and a cover letter to the other asst gm on Tuesday, not knowing what would happen. On Saturday, I was asked what my hours would be on Sunday as they wanted to "knock out" my interview.

The enitre interview, about 40 minutes was a team interview with 2 of their managers and was completely situational based questions.......What was the most valuable experience you ever had in a job? Think of a situation you were in that you were especially proud of and tell me about it....a situation where you had a not so good outcome and how you handled it,etc. Since I do work in the warehouse, I tried to keep everything in perspective and related it to the job I was applying for, which involved supervision of about 85 employees. I also tried to keep it light hearted and inject humor in it as well, which kept me relaxed and them too! Being of an older age now, it was easy to draw on past experience when I was the new kid on the block supervising a crew that was the age I am now, and I stressed how it was funny how I was now one of the "more experienced" people.They also talked about how this was a multi tasking position and how I would always be on the go and how did I feel about it. My response was that although it is on a smaller scale with my crew,I currently supervise just 5, I still run circles around them and multi-task all the time with multiple customers...the only difference is that now when I get home and sit down, that is when I feel it!....it got them laughing. But a lot of the situational responses they were looking for involved me going back 15 years in my work history since I was a real estate person doing outside sales and not wroking with a lot of staff.

I think the most important thing to remember in any interview is to remember that they are people too. I went into the interview thinking that I would do the best I could and if it is meant to be, then it will happen. Also stress that if they don't feel that you are the best candidate for this job, that you would be interested in anything else they have available just so you can get your foot in the door.

I won't know anything about my interview until the end of next week as there were, from what I heard, 5 other candidates. However, I did run into the first asst gm who had encouraged me to apply for the job about 2 hours after the interview, and she said, "I heard you had a very good interview"!!That made me feel good as several of the managers really like me and will give good input to the gm.

Here's hoping it comes to be.....this would be great as this is a fantastic company to work for and people just don't leave their job once they get hired(great pay and bennies and generally good atmosphere)

Kristil: Hope the interviews went well for you.

BL: Hope you get the position! It sounds like you might.

Well, phichef, how did it go?

Diane D., I think the comment about your two divorces, even if "true," was tactless, irrelevant, and unnecessary. I would have been offended. Good for you if you didn't act that way. But for all we know, they might have held that against you. Seems nowadays, interviewers are trying harder than ever to trip people up, not encourage them. It's almost adversarial, and not conducive to finding the best people, in my opinion.

Beaglelady, thanks for listing all those questions, a few of which I had not heard. I'll try to think of some repllies. I get frustrated when asked about my "accomplishments." People in support positions, even responsible ones, often have little opportunity to do much on their own, since they are busy taking care of the boss, and often overloaded. And what I consider an "accomplishment" might not seem so to other people.

In answer to "Where would you like to be in 3-5 years?" I would reply, "Right here." (meaning the company) I am getting too old to bounce around. I don't mean physically, as I am in good health and fairly fit, but chronologically. ADVICE TO OLDER WORKERS: Take clues to your age off your resume. It won't be hard for people to figure your age out later, but at least it will take them a little while. It's another strike against you.

The worst feature of interviewing, or even applying, is "Explain all your periods of unemployment." In all cases, it was because I was jobhunting. Especially in the past year, with the recession/depression, it should be OBVIOUS why people take so long to find another position - there aren't enough jobs! National unemployment is at almost 10%, and they wonder why people can't find work in a jiffy. One ad (which I didn't reply to) wanted not only years, but months, of employment, so if you had a gap of, say, 7 months, they wanted to know why. It is likely you will be asked about these gaps, so have an answer ready. (If you were not working because of pregnancy, moving, illness, or some other reason, it likely will reflect better on you than being unemployed.)

Again, I wish all jobhunters the very best of luck. If you meet any other unusual interview questions, I'd be interested to read them here.

Simplicity, I agree, but I did take it in good humor. They are a pretty laid back place and small, so they are probably used to joking around with the guys (it's a landscaping company so it's pretty much all guys). I've worked in male-dominated industries all my life so life is often different there. It did appear to me that she kind of did a quiet "oops" after the fact. And it probably reflected well on me that I handled it so well. It really is true LOL

How do you take clues to your age off your resume if you are listing jobs and how long you worked at each one? I can see if you had a break in employment for kids, but for those of us that have been working since we were 16 (though I think my first resume job was at 19), it's pretty tough, all they have to do is count backwards.

Not trying to argue, just trying to get an idea. At 44 I suppose I can be considered "older" <G>

Another suggestion to fill those gaps could be volunteering with and organization to network for jobs; maybe working at your child's school or health issues of a family member would also be considered.

The 3 to 5 year thing is touchy as they are also looking for promotibility and openness to move with the job, so be careful how you word it.

Bless, from your lips to god's ears!!

Diane, at 51 now, I am definitely considered older! One of the questions I had to field was the physical demands of the job, running around to various areas non stop.....I handled it with humor telling them that the kids who currently work for me can't figure out where my energy comes from...I get fired up when its busy...it's when it gets slow that I don't like it.....I told them that there was no porblem with my energy level at work, but the difference now is that when I come home, I do what I need right away because when I sit down, I am out for the count!!

The one thing to remember is that they put their pants on the same way we do. They are just the ones who get to ask the questions. Always remembering this and not stressing it is, I think, why I tend to interview so well.

I agree with you completely on this!! I used to be one of those people who was terrified of the boss, terrified of losing my job. It took years to learn that they are just people like us! I do so much better now, knowing that.

I agree that it is really hard to express all your experience without seeming ancient. At 55 , having worked since 15, at times working a full time and 2 part time jobs at the same time I have way too much info for a resume. They really don't want a novel to read. I just redid my resume, focusing on the jobs that applied to what I am searching for now and at the bottom included: 22 yrs office experience in accounting and customer service. Then if they care to discuss what it was I will tell them. Still an age definer, but short and sweet!

I apologize for not posting how my interviews went. I posted on the productivity thread. I have copied that post below in case you don't keep up with that thread:

Well, I think both interviews went well.

#1-student cafeteria- I was ganged up on on this one!! THREE interviewers!! One was director of the main campus, one was director of smaller campus and one was the head chef of one of the cafeterias!!! Oh, MY!!!

They stumped me on the first question...my poor frazzled mathematically challenged mind (and haven't cooked a thing all summer)!!!.....how many pints are in a gallon? DUH....I got it right but I had to count it up....2 cups in a pint, 2 pints in a quart.... didn't seem to phase them though and they chuckled a bit as I pondered, but I got it right!!!

I was also, they said the only one so far who knew safety zones temperatures for foods, cold and hot holding temps.

They were impressed I had a list of questions ready to ask and I hit some points they did not go over. I also referenced some things I had seen on their website, which seemed to impress them all.

They will make a decision soon and said if I did not hear back by phone or email by Wednesday, NOT to expect to hear from them. Also, the job is union, which I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

This is the one I think I would like the best!!

#2- Hospital cafeteria- Had to walk 10 miles just to get into the cafeteria. Got a bad blister on my heel from shoes I wasn't used to wearing and by the time I got back to my car my knee had swollen and was walking like little old lady!!! Not so sure I could handle that trek on a daily basis!!

But, the man I talked with was nice and we had a good rapport. Basic grilled sandwiches with fries and about 3 people per shift.
Talked more about customer service than food. Seems there are lots of hurried, grumpy people that eat there.

They will make a decision by Friday.

Kristil,

Keep us up to date! Want to drive up to IN and do some photography? Just kidding, it wouldn't be worth the gas $, but we've been having a hard time finding a good photographer. DMIL wanted a family portrait 3 years ago. She picked Wal-Mart for the $10 package (DMIL goes cheap on everything - it's a sticky issue with me, I don't agree with a lot of her choices because I think in the long run she loses more money than she saves). It was the worst session I've ever been in, and we could've gotten a better quality photo in our livingroom with a point-and-click. Now that DD was born, DMIL wants a new portrait. DH and I told her we'd pay for it as a Christmas present, and WE choose the photographer. DH could be a high-quality photographer if he ever wanted to be full-time; it wouldn't fit our lifestyle currently but he is very good. If we can't find someone, I'm going to suggest he just set up the tripod and we'll do it ourselves. Point is we're a bit picky But finding someone good has proven difficult. I've found some where the pictures are OK but they are too "artsy." We want a natural sitting and photo, not a picture with artsy angles that the photographer then photoshops to death. Apparently we are old-fashioned or something!

I think you could get a lot of business if you could overcome that advertising hurdle and get the word out that you're there, just as I'm sure there's a photographer here somewhere, we just haven't found him/her yet!

Best wishes on the outcome of your interviews!