Interview Experience

If I were to reflect on the experience in the interviews I’ve participated in, I would reflect on two that I can recall. One of them was my first job during the summer when COVID hit. I interviewed for a hostess position at a restaurant and I interviewed with the main manager. He didn’t go through the job description with me but he did ask what my strengths and weaknesses were. He also asks how I am as a team player and what my availability looked like, that way he had an idea on how to schedule me. We talked about why I chose to apply for that particular restaurant and then that was it, the interview was quite short. I do remember showing up with my resume but I don’t remember him asking to see it or hold onto it, so that didn’t help either. According to the lecture slide, it states that they take notes and unfortunately, he did not. I would not say that this interview was effective, the way he conducted the interview definitely did not help with knowing if I was reliable, valid, or of use to the restaurant. I would’ve advised him to take notes and ask questions where it was related to the tasks I would do during the job to know if I am capable and will give my best effort for the customers and the company. 

On the other hand, my other interview was with the previous job that I had on campus. This interview was on Zoom this time, not in person which I felt was a relief. The interview was for a Peer Advisor job I applied for with the College of Business. The interview was led by two people, the supervisor of Peer Advisors and the assistant head advisor. They did email me half of the questions they were going to ask which allowed me to get prepared for the interview. The questions they asked included my strengths and weaknesses, how I work with a team or other people, etc. They went over the tasks I was going to be responsible for if I got the job and following that, they gave me two different scenarios to see how I would handle it and what I would do. Overall, I definitely call this an effective interview because they asked me questions and presented me with scenarios that allowed them to know how I am as a person, and as an employee. I also personally liked when they put me on the spot with the scenarios because it gave me the chance to show them what I can do and gave me a glimpse of what would happen if I got hired.