Awkward in Interviews

Post Reply New Topic

I'm 21 years old and looking for a job. I have gotten jobs in the past, but been unable to keep them due to severe anxiety, panic attacks, and even seizures at times. However, everything seems under control now, so I am looking for something that I can fit around my school schedule. I have several applications out (mostly for food service and retail jobs, because I don't have my degree yet, I can't really do much else) My problem is that I often mess up in the interviews. I don't know why. I always do a lot of research on the company before the interview and I make sure to practice answering questions a lot. My mom says she thinks I sound immature and awkward when talking to people. I'm not sure, I work hard on sounding intelligent and mature in conversation, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong and it really hurts. Does anybody have any suggestions as to how to appear more "typical" in interviews? Thank you

You're almost there. You will get another job interview if you keep applying. You have learned to control the dark sides of your autism.

I think you need to practice. Start by saying something mature to yourself. Read a sentence in a news paper and repeat it to yourself. Keep reading and say the sentences aloud. Try going to the library, and take some books with you home. Read them aloud to yourself. When you are done reading, practice an interview with your parents.

Thank you. I definitely will give those things a try. My mom wonders if part of my problem is that I spend almost all of my time alone because my college courses are online. Thanks again, I really appreciate it

Make the interview all about them. Ask them questions and get them talking about themselves. Many people think they did a good job of interviewing when all they did was talk about themselves and they then feel good about you.

Okay, thank you! I will try to ask more questions and I think I also might need to work on my eye contact, because it is very hard for me.

Honest to gosh, you may be over-explaining and making it too complicated. For a manager who's reasonably pressed for time, he or she probably wants answers which are matter-of-fact and brief.

A good tip is to research as much as possible about a company's corporate goals and what the job you're going for actually entails, knowledge helps greatly and can add to your overall confidence. Another is regarding eye contact- if you focus on the bridge of the person's nose, they THINK you're making decent eye contact, though in reality you aren't and so don't get overloaded by it.

Practice is the key. Get a friend to role play interviews with you if you can, and try to get out and about into social environments if possible- go out for coffee, take a walk, get involved in community groups/volunteering/sports clubs, they all help.

Good luck!

Thank you everybody, I really appreciate it. I just got hired on Wednesday at a grocery store here that I think is a good fit. My cousin, who may be on the spectrum but was never formally diagnosed, works for the same store in a different city and says they are wonderful. The interview for this job was great, the manager had to attend to some other stuff so he had me answer some questions on a piece of paper and then went over my answers with me. I got a phone call that said I was hired a couple hours later. Thanks again for all your suggestions

Congrats on the new job and good luck!