Hi, I'm a 27 year old mother of four children my youngest twin girls ebony & holly 5, a 7 yr old daughter Named Rita & 9 year old son Blayke, I was a young mum when falling pregnant with Blayke so i have always been a stay at home mum., which has never bothered me as i loved raising my kids at home & the close bond we share. Now that the twins have started prep at school i am wanting to find a job. Only problem that i have is No experience as I have never ever worked. After handing in resumes i have never got a call back. I have recently applied at a couple of new shops that are opening up in town. I am worried that if I get an interview that I might look dumb considering my age & I've never worked a day in my life. Does anyone have any tips on how i can maybe come across more confident and if asked why I haven't had a job what would be a great answer?
Any helpful tips for the perfect answers to an interview would be appreciated. I just really need a job . My husband works so hard and i would like to feel important & happier that im earning money for the family too.
Tips for job interview ?
Tips for job interview ?
Posted in:
Life Lessons, IM's In Business, Money
3 Replies
Hiya!
Congratulations on your decision to get into the workforce!
First off I really recommend you get your hands on a book - It's called The Interview Book by James Innes. If you need to order it in the bookshop the ISBN is 978-0-273-72175-8. I have read this book and used it to prepare for my last 3 interviews and got offers for all of those jobs. It has all the tips you could want and it's really easy to read. It helps you to think about questions in different ways so you don't freeze if you don't quite know how to answer.
The second thing I'd suggest to you is to get a really good resume and cover letter together. The cover letter, I've found, can make or break you for interview. It may be you're not sure how to go about that. As it happens it's something that I'm quite good at doing. You are welcome to find me on Facebook and we can swap details if you'd like me to look and see if I can do something with it. Or if you're not keen to do it that way, you can talk to centrelink about joining with a job services agency (PVS, ORS, At Work Australia - there's heaps of them - and they should be able to help you with that too.
Thirdly, it may be the case you have never been employed but it's untruthful to say you have never worked or have no expeirence. You have brought up four children - I have one and that's hard enough work! You need to draw on your life experience to sell yourself for a new job. I think a lot of it for you getting into the workforce is going to be about changing how you look at that and then selling it on to your prospective employers. The interview book will definitely help you prepare for the interview when you get it. In the meantime, I'd strongly advise you to get your CV and cover letter bright and shiny to try and up the interviews a bit because I think the hardest bit is getting a foot in the door!
Last thing - you asked about how to come across more confident - practice talking to the mirror - you'll feel really silly at first but it does help you (and when you can do it without laughing it makes interviewers seem less scary!). Ask your husband to mock interview you too so you can practice and accept any feedback he has graciously - could be things like playing with your hair - mine was twitching my nose when I was thinking! - pick up on and correct your body language. Posture is a big one, speaking loud enough is another and convincing yourself you already have the job and the interview is just a formality is a good technique too (that's what I did the day I passed my driving test)
Hope that helps a bit! As I said, feel free to Facebook me. Good luck IM!
Certainly don't underestimate the skills you've learned at home over the past 10 years. Everything from time management, trouble shooting and conflict resolution. Also, don't limit yourself to particular types of work! I never in a million envisioned working where I do, I ended up applying out of desperation (local abbatoir) as none of the retail jobs I had applied for - and studied for - were granted, it has amply supported my family for the past 12 years and I started with no experience. Now I run my own department. good luck and hold your head high, shake hands firmly and smile!
1) Practise your answering some typical type interview questions with someone else that you trust will give you feedback. PRACTISE PRACTISE PRACTISE.
2) Present yourself well- Clean, professional ironed clothes , smell good, hair neat and tidy. This shows that you care about yourself and the image your portray. This is actually a very important point.
3) Sit up straight
4) Be alert
5) Answer the questions best you can if you don’t know the answer say I don’t know rather than guessing or fumbling your way through it.
6) Be on time
7) Be courteous
8) Don’t be afraid to have a bit of a laugh to show your personality.
9) Be honest – It doesn’t matter that you haven’t worked just tell them that you’re very keen to learn and you don’t mind what you do, you just want to get your foot in the door.
10) Show them you’re eager!!
11) When you’re leaving say “Thank you so much for your time today- I can’t wait to hear from you”
Good on you and make sure you let us know how you go!