I managed to talk myself out of my ideal job — need something to help focus

[Anonymous]

So I had a job interview yesterday for what would be an ideal job for me in IT. But I just found out that they have passed on me. The two reasons they gave really boil down to one reason… I talk too much, ramble if you will.

This resulted in not clearly communicating that “yes I do indeed work well in a team environment”. And their other comment to the agency “He rambles too much we couldn’t reel him back in”, which I see as a result of my ADD/ADHD*. The classic talking too much and this I know personally happens at times when I lose focus and more or less forget about the main topic/question and go off on tangents.

* On my condition, I have been unemployed for almost a year without insurance and have not been diagnosed, but am 99.9% sure I have ADHD. I have no ability to seek professional treatment, I just do not have the money and the area I live does not have any public benefits that I can use as a single adult. If anyone knows a doc in Phoenix AZ USA that will treat pro bono let me know.

So I really REALLY need something; tool, method, whatever to help me focus in a high pressure situations like a job interview, while maintaining a reasonable understanding of how long is too long.

This just cost me a job that at 47 I could have worked at and retired from. It makes me very mad and frustrated at this point. Once again this condition has jumped up and tripped me up when it really counted and cost me a lot. Just like the comment in the show “untreated ADD/ADHD in an adult can reak havoc” , I can attest that is all too true.

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[Anonymous]

I am a run-off-at-the-mouth talker too. But I was good at interviews. Your resume must be ok if you’re getting into interviews, but you might run it by some friends to see what they think.

I practiced interviewing. It’s an art. You want to anticipate what kinds of questions they’ll ask, and have ready-made answers for them. You practice the answers, can do it with a friend, great if you video-tape it too so you can see your body language. Then when you get into the real interview situation, it’s easier. It’s like performing, as they say, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice….

It’s a script that you stick to in an interview. Once you’ve given the answer, you SHUT UP. Don’t embroider it. They might ask a question to dig a bit deeper and that’s where you have to be careful not to go off on a tangent. It’s very helpful to have stories to give for questions, like giving an example where you did something that saved the company money, or something, I can’t think of any examples right now, but stories are a good way to express in an interview. You say they wanted teamwork, so reword your script so it screams teamwork.

I found the Knock ‘Em Dead books (author Bates?) to be great, for resumes, and getting jobs. Try searching on amazon for them.

I got a few jobs that I wasn’t as qualified for as I thought but I interviewed so well I got hired.

It also helps to realize that even if you don’t get hired, you’re interviewing and getting a chance to hone those skills. Who knows which interview will lead to a job offer? No interviews, no job offer. So keep trying! As they say in zen, 7 times fall down, 8 times get up again. 😉

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[Curlymoe115]

Also before you answer any question pause for a minute. Gather your thoughts. Think about the question. Then try to only answer the question they asked. Try to keep every answer under a minute. Be as specific as possible. Maintain eye contact with the interviewer. If you see the eyes glazing over, or they start to look puzzled then stop. Back up. Interviewers like everything as specific as the questions asked. They are given these questions by another department or out of a book so they don’t even know what they are looking for a lot of the time.

no_dopamine is also right, practice this over and over again. Video tape it if you can but make sure you do it in front of a mirror if you don’t have a video recorder. Watch your own eyes during the interview. Also a good rule of thumb before you go into any interview is to again look at the skills and abilities that they asked for in the job description. Think up 3 or 4 examples of each type of experiences you had. Also on the internet you can find a number of websites that have behavioral interview questions and answers. They include many questions about conflict, team work, time management skills. Also the more training that you have the better you will be able to match yourself to the job.

In the meantime there are companies out there (especially non-profits) but lots of children’s places that could use a IT specialist to volunteer a few hours a month. With IT your skills can seem outmoded very quickly. Volunteer and make sure that you ask them if they know of anyone hiring and whether they are willing to give you a referral and reference. It is often easier to get your foot in the door if you volunteer at a place whose director is good friends with the hiring guy at a company you want to work at. Most times the person that get hired based on the interview is not the best person for the job but they do have a good patter. They come across as confident (but not arrogant), prepared, organized, and outgoing. They have dry hands when they shake at the end of the interview. Also I know this is hard but try to arrive a half hour or so before the interview so that you can scope out some of the other candidates. Make small talk and try to find out what they are bringing to the table. These, afterall, are your colleagues at work, and they may have heard of other positions that are not advertised.

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[Anonymous]

Thanks you two

I am going to contact a good friend that was also my boss for years and ask him to practice interviewing. He is very masterful at it, so with any luck we can start nailing it down. It’s important to get there ASAP as I expect to be interviewing with his current employer in a week or two (not in his department).

I had forgotten about the sites with common behavioral questions, good tip will start working on those today.

Not too worried about skills getting stale, I spend between 25 and 40 hours a week “keeping up and brushing up” on tech. I am likely more up to date now than at my last job, lol.

Looking back on my working life, I see now that I have only really been interviewed once where I was hired. I was really being hired on reputation and/or tech knowledge/skill alone. Over last few years I have been interviewing trying to get out a poor job, and blew everyone one of those as they were more of a interview than a reputation/skill check. So despite my age and year in field, I really don’t have interviewing experience.

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[Anonymous]

I got my best job at age 47 in terms of $ and benefits, working for a major Japanese automotive company as an accounting supervisor (bad job for me, don’t ask). So don’t fret that you’re too old!

Curlymoe, great advice! I think many companies are looking for people that will fit into their culture (hence the teamwork concept) rather than people who will be warriors or wallflowers.

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[Anonymous]

Well I have been spending my day making a power point of behavioral questions, answers, examples and “dig deeper” follow questions and answers.

Now I need to get the stop watch out and start timing answers, I think, correct me if I am wrong, the right length would be less then 30-45 seconds.

My friend is on a business trip in Asia till the end of the month, but will make some time to coach me when he is back.

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[Anonymous]

I don’t think I’ve ever answered a question in 30-45 seconds, but I think Curlymoe is right to suggest that. Some questions might require more time, some less. But if you practice to fit into a specific time frame you’re less likely to go off on a tangent. It really helps you to hone in on exactly what you want to get across.

In sales, they call 30 second speeches “elevator” speeches, in other words, you meet someone, and you only have 30 seconds to talk about yourself and your business before they get off at the next floor. It’s a challenge to say what you want to say in that small amount of time! great practice!

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[Curlymoe115]

Contacting old friends and co-workers is also a great way to get your foot in the door and they can help you determine the corporate culture at the incoming workplace. Whether they are formal or informal. Type of employee building exercises they practice. How the employer wants a question answered all depends on the question asked and what the job details are. By remembering to maintain eye contact you can usually tell how they feel about what you answered. If you feel like you didn’t hit the mark you can always say something like, I don’t think that sounded the same outloud as it did in my head, let me clarify. Employers are trying to judge how you are going to fit into their company so they don’t expect perfection just that you are willing to correct your mistakes. In my last year of school we spent weeks practicing interviewing others and being interviewed.

Try not to fidget, no matter how poorly you think you are doing in the interview. Keep hands firmly in your lap. Make sure that when you enter the interview process research the company to find out a little more about what they stand for and their corporate values. Jot down some questions while you are reading over the job description and ask some questions at the end of the interview if they haven’t answer all your questions. Ask about work expectations and how much time they are prepared to give you to learn their systems. Ask about who you will be reporting too and what kind of resolution process they have. In a teamwork environment their is always more potential for conflict but a good team has an established process for dealing with conflicts.

Good word of thumb, keep a hanky in your pocket. When it seems that the interview is wrapping up, pull it out and wipe your hands. Always give a nice firm handshake that lasts approximately 2 or 3 pumps of the hand. Firm enough to convey confidence but it isn’t an endurance test. Maintain eye contact. Thank them for the interview, using their name, and ask when they will be making a decision. Confidently state that you look forward to talking to them again. Follow up on every interview and like with this job ask what you could have done better. Then keep in touch with the company because the initial hire may not turn out to be the right person. So ask them to keep you in mind for any positions in the future. You never know what will happen, or they may in turn find someone else that is hiring that needs someone.

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[Anonymous]

Great advice, Curlymoe!

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[Author]

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