Okay, first- don't tell them any of this! Ha ha. figured I start off with a laugh, I hope. I've interviewed quite a bit, on both sides of the table, and am pretty good at it.
Make a good impression. Wear a suit, no jeans, even if you feel overdressed. You want them to know you take this very serriously. If you don't have a suit (or one that fits well without stains) you are better off with clean pressed clothes that FIT you. Nothing flashy. You want conservative. Lots of eye contact, smile, and don't fidgit. don't fidgit don't fidgit. Youre not going to notice you are doing it, unless you concentrate on NOT doing it. Lean toward your interviewer as if they are the most intersting person you've ever met, look them in the eye and nod a lot. Keep your body language open- don't curl up/cross your arms in the chair or lean away or stare at the ceiling or the plaque behind their head.
Exceeding expectations can be anything- in 6th grade you were getting bad grades in a class. Your parents were upset with you, and you were feeling hopeless that you'd never understand fractions, but you cracked down, asked friends for help explaining it, stayed afterschool for extra help and eventually you got the hang of it and aced the final exam. Perfect example, shows a willingness to work with others, go the extra mile, not quit when things are difficult, admit when you need assistance and ambition to achieve. Tell them you wanted a dog, and your parents said no, it would be too expensive and too much work, but you made a list of the supplies you would need, searched online for discount suppliers of leashes and dog bowls and flea collars, called around to local vets and petstores for discount vaccinations typed up a list of the total costs and a schedule of dog walks and play time at the park and promissed in writing to stick to it and they relented and bought you the dog. Make it up. No one cares if your life experince are lies. We just want a good answer. Don't lie about work experience or school or qualifications though-Thats totally not cool.
If they ask you for a shortcoming, tell them you wish you were bi-lingual, because you think you could be more valuable as an employee if you spoke both Spanish and English. Do not tell them you are working through treating a psychiatric medical condition.
Don't worry about pausing to consider your responses. Take your time. go ahead and let them wait. Don't talk to fast. Everyone talks faster when they are nervous- slow down. This is a big one. Slow down. You are going to be nervous and be tempted to blurt out anything that comes to your mind- don't do that. Every second will feel like an eternity to you, but its not. Remind yourself of that. There is no reward for speedy answers. A pause might feel like forever to you when you are nervous, but its not. Long pauses to consider your answer are good. If you don't have an answer don't say "I have no achievements" say "as a young person with limited life experience I don't have that many really dramatic moments that stand out in my memory. May I think about that tonight and get back to you tomorrow." or "I've accomplished a lot of small victories that I am proud of, but the ones that stand out most in my mind are very personal. Would you mind if I didnt feel comfortable discussing them in what I hope will be my new work enviroment?" You can't avoid all the questions, so you can only use this tactic once- make it count!
Its okay to say you haven't worked because you had more pressing personal matters and without those matters settled you couldn't commit to an employer- you were planning a move, you weren't sure about school, etc. Young people are not always in control of their destiny- everyone can relate to that. Those matters are settled and now you are fully capable of a long term commitment.
Good luck.
I'm naturally very shy but on job interviews I pretend to be very confident. They don't know me so they believe I am confident even though I'm faking it. During my last I was asked a lot of difficult questions. I was polite and honest even when I wasn't sure of the answer. I didn't think I had gotten the job but I was called back before I even walked through my door at home.
