I’m interviewing and applying for jobs currently and I’d love to get some feedback. I had what appeared to be a successful interview with a very reputable logistics company today and I’m expecting to hear back next week.
Today’s interview was about an hour long and the interviewer asked sone very good questions. All of my interviews are sales based so they want to know my closing rate, day to day schedule, how long I was on the phone, what strategies I used to keep people on the phone, how I created and maintained partnerships, and what my commission structure was like. I didn’t check all of the boxes but I think I checked most of them.
I believe the interviewer was impressed by my knowledge of the company as I had done research for a day or two before the interview. I did a fairly good job of appraising myself although I realized that I needed to brush up on the questions he asked me. The reason I say this is because I have a much bigger interview coming up with a multinational medical device sales company.
I’m waiting to hear back but I seem to have snagged an interview with Stryker (for those of you who know who that is) working in their sports medicine division. It would be a significant upgrade to what I have been doing and in many ways it would be a dream come true. Currently, I’m studying up on the company and division as well as some of the devices they sell. I tentatively have a lunch meeting next week with a senior rep from the division I’m applying to. I’m anxiously awaiting a text back but I got a good referral so I’m optimistic.
I’m wondering what everyone’s experience interviewing for jobs is like and if you have any tips to help me succeed. I’m ready for a change and I firmly believe I’m capable of doing the jobs I’ve applied for. I’m getting better at interviewing but it’s a tough slog. I want to be the best I can possibly be.
I applied for my current job from a want-ad in a physical newspaper and have only bothered with a handful of interviews in the two decades since. So I will be of no help here. LOL
The last decade of my career, as an executive in the IT world, for large a healthcare conglomerate, I was required to spend a couple of days annually in a hiring seminar.
I usually came away more committed each year, to the idea that people, interviewers and interviewees over think, over analyze, and over prepare for job interviews. The people that I knew, who took most of the things said in those courses seriously, weren’t near the top of the scale as hiring managers.
Be yourself, describe what you can do, who you are, what your goals are, and how you can help their organization; do it all with the passion you continue to show for Utefans, and you’ll have no problem landing whatever job you want.
I do a lot of hiring in my job, and I am not usually hiring for a very specific skill, so I focus on whether the person is a fast learner and is reliable, in that they show up on time. I can teach anyone who is willing and reliable any job in my company and so I really prize those skills. In my career I have worked in three entirely different industries that have nothing to do with each other. But, I was reliable and willing to learn, and advanced in each job because of it.
I have certainly hired people who, for whatever reason, always have something bad happening, flat tires, car breakdowns, family problems, etc. I am not saying that those aren’t legitimate excuses for being late or not coming, but doesn’t it seem to be those sorts of things happen at a much greater frequency to certain people?
My wife has an aunt, now in her early 80s, who was a stewardess for (I think) Frontier Airlines in the early to mid 60s. She made decent money for a young woman at the time, but has told me several stories about how sexuality and personal appearance had everything to do with getting and keeping that job.
Basically, you had to be very young, very tall and skinny, very pretty, and it did not hurt at all if you wanted to have relationships with married pilots or executives. She enjoyed the travel and money for a few short years, but, and this is a quote, "It’s very difficult to stay THAT young, tall, thin, and pretty, all while there are younger, taller, thinner and prettier girls wanting the jobs.
Yeah, the world is a pretty different place than it was in the early 60s, when Hugh Hefner and his magazine were a significant part of, as well as a reflection of, the culture. It’s actually staggering to think of how far woman have come as we (well most of us) are preparing to elect the first Woman President of the United States.
Thank God for the progress.
(Sorry for the temporary slip into politics in a misc. thread )
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