First ever Job interview (sadly not the last)

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E7ernal
Deinonychus
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29 Oct 2007, 8:16 am

I had an interview for Waitrose (UK Supermarket) a couple of days ago.
I didn't get the job :(

I thought I didn't do too badly with the answers but I guess I wasn't sociable enough to qualify.
I don't really see the point of job interviews really, why hire a "friendly" person over a more qualified person (I'm not saying i'm more qualified in this case i'm talking about all job interviews).

PS: They asked me to name a place where I received good customer service and how it was good -> was I supposed to say Waitrose? (I didn't by the way).



Spaceplayer
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29 Oct 2007, 9:13 am

Don't be too down, if it's your first interview. Even NT's deal with rejection! If they didn't say why you didn't get the job, don't be too fast to assume it's because you're Aspie that you didn't get the job. (You can spend a lifetime inventing reasons for things you have no control over.)

Some job columnists will tell you to inquire about why you didn't get the job in order to learn from it and make corrections, but if my experience is valid, doing that with a supermarket manager will probably be pointless, I find them to be outside the province of reason, manners, and brains. Normal laws of reality don't seem to apply. But still a good idea to assess yourself to work on things. For example, you mention "They asked me to name a place where I received good customer service and how it was good -> was I supposed to say Waitrose? (I didn't by the way)." These are common questions for this type of job. If you continue, you'll have to find answers. Don't lie, but be mindful of your experiences, be on the lookout for such service related answers. If you don't want to lie, ask for service in a store and note how far the person will go. Ask for something that they don't have, see if they'll order it for you, or offer a substitute, etc.

The interviewer just wants to know if you're cogizant of what constitutes good service.



kclark
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29 Oct 2007, 9:47 am

I would say that it might be helpful to go on interviews for jobs that you don't want just for the experience of having the interview without the pressure of wanting to get the job.

I think the question on naming a place that had good customer service is really to find out what you think good customer service is so that you would be able to provide good customer service.



wrongthinking
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30 Oct 2007, 1:21 pm

Definitely ask why. They will probably give you an answer like "we found a better fit" or they may not be able to tell you. But sometimes they will.

I was interviewing someone for a front desk (greet the public and make them happy) person. One of the interviewees had this bright candy striped tongue ring and showed up in shorts. The tongue ring was very distracting, I had difficulty paying attention to her answers because I was so blown away that she would wear this to a job interview! The answers that I did hear were ok, but
I have to ask myself; "If this is the best side she has, how professional will she look on an average day?"
Technical qualifications are only one aspect employers have to look at. I have met many highly intelligent, highly skilled people that are HELL TO WORK WITH. Technically proficient, but so far 5 (out of 20) employees have quit rather than work with one such person. (who now is very difficult to get rid of.)


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