8. “When a job interviewer asks, ‘What’s your biggest weakness?’ interpret the question in practical terms rather than in terms of personality faults.”
“‘Sometimes I let people take advantage of me,’ or ‘I take criticism personally,’ are bad answers. ‘I’m too honest,’ or, ‘I work too hard,’ even if they believe you, make you sound like you’ll be irritating to be around or you’ll burn out.
Instead, say something like, ‘My biggest weakness with regards to this job is I have no experience with [company’s database platform],’ or ‘I don’t have much knowledge about [single specific aspect of job] yet, so it would take me some time to learn.’
These are real weaknesses that are relevant to the job, but they’re also fixable things that you’ll correct soon after being hired. Personality flaws are not (and they’re also none of the interviewer’s business).”
—u/iron_rod_stewart
9. “Beware the ‘Intern Trap.’ Don’t take a job as an ‘X Intern’ at a company that doesn’t have anyone who can do X.”
“Interning should be a process of learning a craft while you help to contribute to the overall institutional goals.
If a company is advertising for an intern position but doesn’t have anyone who does that job, then they are probably just trying to pay someone less for a job that they want someone to be able to do. Traditionally, these are jobs that young people are adept at, but older people may not have the skills to perform.”
—u/maybeest
10. “When applying for jobs (especially at large organizations), look through the job description and add any keywords they use to your résumé to get your application through HR.”
“HR filters out résumés using keywords and jargon as an indicator of abilities. Paid résumé development tools have figured this out. They essentially populate your résumé with the keywords that they’ve found effective at getting interviews, but you can do this yourself if you know your industry well and research the job.”
—u/alpha-dog
11. “When it comes time for the ‘Do you have any questions for us?’ part of a job interview, always ask why the position has opened up. This might help you get an idea of what kind of environment you’ll be going into.”
“On the same token, the position need not only be open only because someone was fired or retired, but could be a brand-new position at the company, which is also helpful to know.
New positions will still have job descriptions, but sometimes the entire scope of duties is unknown or undeveloped. Ask how they plan to measure your performance given that this position doesn’t yet have defined duties.”
—u/sunsoutbunzout
12. “When writing your résumé, use the STAR method to describe what you did in previous positions: Situation, Task, Action, Result.”
“Let’s say you tutored some kids while in high school. Maybe your descriptive points look something like this:
• Tutored several Grade 10 students in math
• Explained mathematical concepts and assisted in test preparation
The main question you want to ask yourself after each point is, ‘So what?’ Okay, you taught some kids math — how are those skills applicable for the position you’re applying for?
So using STAR, let’s break it down:
Situation: These kids need help learning math.
Task: Teach them math.
Action: Okay, so how are you teaching them math? By explaining mathematical concepts and assisting in test preparation.
Result: The goal is to improve their academic performance and understanding of the subject. When applicable, use numbers. A 25% improvement is more helpful than ‘improvement’ with no quantifier.
So now we have:
• Improved Grade 10 students’ academic performance by up to 25% by explaining mathematical concepts and assisting in test preparation
Tada! Isn’t that so much better?”
—u/thisbesveil
13. “DO NOT badmouth your current company during an interview, even if the interviewer asks why you’re looking to leave.”
“It seems like common sense, but I keep seeing it happen again and again. My partner and I are both hiring for highly sought after jobs, and we keep running into candidates who use the interview to badmouth their current job, talk about how dumb they think their current manager is, or how the work is beneath them. DO NOT DO IT.
Here are some general vague responses you can use if you get asked that question. Really, any responses is acceptable, so long as you’re professional:
• My company is great, but I think I’m ready for the next step in my career.
• As things have changed at my company, so has the role, and I think I need something that will be a better fit.
• I think I do very good work in my current role, and I think this job would compensate better for my efforts.
• I’m not looking to leave my current company, but when I heard about this role coming open, I knew I had to take the opportunity.”
—u/wheatlywoodson
14. “If you’re looking for a job, mention it to everybody that you come in contact with. You never know whose sister’s neighbor’s uncle is hiring.”
“I was trying to make a career change in my mid-20s and was having problems getting my foot in the door. I visited a loan officer at my credit union in the middle of my job hunt and mentioned it to her.
Her eyes lit up, and she said that the person that she had just had a meeting with worked in HR at the kind of company that I was looking to get into. She said that she could pass on my information if that was okay with me.
She did, and within 24 hours this person contacted me and I had an interview at his company, and I was hired the next week. If I had never mentioned it to this loan officer, I wouldn’t have gotten my foot in the door when I did.”
—u/pouncebounce14
15. “When interviewing for a job, when asked the salary question, turn that back around on the interviewer (nicely)!”
“This has worked for me on my last three jobs (one of them was a promotion) that I got. When the interviewer asks the question, ‘What salary are you looking for?’ instead of listing what you’re expecting, ask them instead.
I always start with explaining that I have been researching salaries in my field but wanted to know what they feel is a competitive salary for someone with my experience? (If this your first job interview or you’re going for an entry-level job that you don’t have experience in, you can always change the part about experience to ‘this position’).
Oftentimes, they will give you the number that they are expecting to pay for that position; and every time I ask a potential employer it has been at least $5K–$10K more then I was going to say.
This also helps you compare what they’re willing to pay vs. whether that salary is worth the job. AND you don’t run the risk of underselling yourself! (If they’re expecting to pay $60K and you say $40K, they’re not going to correct you and also might think that you are not as qualified or have a high opinion of your own self-worth).”
—u/notyourmamashedgehog
16. And finally, “Job descriptions are usually written to sound more complicated and high profile than the jobs really are. Don’t let the way it is written intimidate or deter you from applying to a job you think you can do.”
“So true. I quit my job a couple months ago. They opened a job posting for my exact position. Looking at the job description, I can easily say that I don’t fulfill half of the requirements, LOL.”
—u/quiedan
Source: Buzzfeed
1. “From here on out, make, ‘What was your company’s COVID response?’ a standard interview question.”
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