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Old 12-03-2012, 09:33 AM
 
Location: Hanover, PA
97 posts, read 265,330 times
Reputation: 171

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Quote:
Originally Posted by west_2_east View Post
Question for people here, how in the world does one become a better "fit" for positions? Seriously, every interview I've had, they've passed over me for some mediocre frat kid because I'm not a good "fit" for the company. I spent all of my senior year of school becoming more personable, working on interviewing, and I seriously just don't get it. To me, using fit as an excuse is just bogus, unless someone is legitimately a sociopath or completely unable to hold eye contact/speak properly in the interview. I have none of those issues and it seriously leads me to think that I just don't have enough people at the company pulling for me.

I know what you mean.... Look at me.. 37 years old.. I've had past success in previous positions.. served 8 years in the Army...

I'm somewhat confident.. I dress right for the interviews....
I've been taking college classes, to try to better myself (was even contemplating switching my degree program over, because I didn't want to take the class Speech Communications.. but I got over it and accomplished that).. thinking it would make me more rounded and develop my communication skills more...

Same ole song and dance after the interview..

It really gets old..

but of course.. I keep plugging along... I have a phone screen today, and another face-to-face interview on Wednesday
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Old 12-03-2012, 10:03 AM
FBJ
 
Location: Tall Building down by the river
39,605 posts, read 58,871,738 times
Reputation: 9451
Quote:
Originally Posted by west_2_east View Post
Question for people here, how in the world does one become a better "fit" for positions? Seriously, every interview I've had, they've passed over me for some mediocre frat kid because I'm not a good "fit" for the company. I spent all of my senior year of school becoming more personable, working on interviewing, and I seriously just don't get it. To me, using fit as an excuse is just bogus, unless someone is legitimately a sociopath or completely unable to hold eye contact/speak properly in the interview. I have none of those issues and it seriously leads me to think that I just don't have enough people at the company pulling for me.

Making yourself LIKABLE during the interview which means the interview is more of a conversation instead of a standard type of interview. And that's when most interviewers will consider you a good fit since they like your personality

Doesn't mean the team will like your personality but since you got along well with the interviewers they are willing to take a chance you will get along with the team too
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Old 12-03-2012, 10:04 AM
FBJ
 
Location: Tall Building down by the river
39,605 posts, read 58,871,738 times
Reputation: 9451
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLBENEDICT View Post
I know what you mean.... Look at me.. 37 years old.. I've had past success in previous positions.. served 8 years in the Army...

I'm somewhat confident.. I dress right for the interviews....
I've been taking college classes, to try to better myself (was even contemplating switching my degree program over, because I didn't want to take the class Speech Communications.. but I got over it and accomplished that).. thinking it would make me more rounded and develop my communication skills more...

Same ole song and dance after the interview..

It really gets old..

but of course.. I keep plugging along... I have a phone screen today, and another face-to-face interview on Wednesday

Make the interview on wednesday conversational and you will see how things flow nicely
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Old 12-03-2012, 07:31 PM
 
1,266 posts, read 1,603,971 times
Reputation: 334
and people have to have volunteering listed on their resume, job application just to get hired for a McDonalds job
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Old 12-03-2012, 08:07 PM
 
6,345 posts, read 8,083,056 times
Reputation: 8784
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLBENEDICT View Post
I know what you mean.... Look at me.. 37 years old.. I've had past success in previous positions.. served 8 years in the Army...

I'm somewhat confident.. I dress right for the interviews....
I've been taking college classes, to try to better myself (was even contemplating switching my degree program over, because I didn't want to take the class Speech Communications.. but I got over it and accomplished that).. thinking it would make me more rounded and develop my communication skills more...

Same ole song and dance after the interview..

It really gets old..

but of course.. I keep plugging along... I have a phone screen today, and another face-to-face interview on Wednesday

Have you been taking 3 hours for career skills classes or just the 12-15 hours/week for the college classes?
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Old 12-03-2012, 10:59 PM
 
1,128 posts, read 3,475,388 times
Reputation: 1209
Quote:
Originally Posted by WantToHaveALife View Post
and people have to have volunteering listed on their resume, job application just to get hired for a McDonalds job
No they don't, they just need past work experience. People on this board usually recommend having volunteer experience if a person lacks work experience, which is good advice. However, if someone has work experience, they don't need volunteer experience to get hired at a place like McDonalds.
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Old 12-05-2012, 12:11 AM
 
1,266 posts, read 1,603,971 times
Reputation: 334
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoolSocks View Post
No they don't, they just need past work experience. People on this board usually recommend having volunteer experience if a person lacks work experience, which is good advice. However, if someone has work experience, they don't need volunteer experience to get hired at a place like McDonalds.
why do you need past work experience just to get hired for a simple minimum-wage job like McDonalds or a Grocery store? jobs that pay 8 to 10 bucks an hour? why are they even called entry-level jobs? they shouldn't be called that anymore
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Old 12-05-2012, 01:35 PM
 
1,266 posts, read 1,603,971 times
Reputation: 334
why do you need past work, job experience just for a job that pays 8 to 10 bucks an hour? even a job such as washing dishes, bussing tables, etc?
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:14 PM
 
Location: Corona the I.E.
10,137 posts, read 17,427,078 times
Reputation: 9139
Quote:
Originally Posted by WantToHaveALife View Post
why do you need past work experience just to get hired for a simple minimum-wage job like McDonalds or a Grocery store? jobs that pay 8 to 10 bucks an hour? why are they even called entry-level jobs? they shouldn't be called that anymore
It's nothing more than a crude filtering mechanism by employers inundated with candidates. They will filter and filter until they can no longer discriminate, oops, I meant filter.
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:37 PM
 
Location: Hanover, PA
97 posts, read 265,330 times
Reputation: 171
Quote:
Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy View Post
Make the interview on wednesday conversational and you will see how things flow nicely
Interview went very well. First thing, I took a different approach that I hope pays off. (based on mistakes I've been making)..

In previous interviews, I'll (99% of the time), ramble on about what I did.. what my responsibilities were.. etc... I always stumbled at the "tell me about yourself" questions" and end up going into a long song & dance about my life story..

I realize this is not getting me the job; the economy today is about cutting costs, improving efficiency, and improving the bottom line. Just as in my resume, I have key accomplishments listed.. I needed to sell what I bring to the organization and what improvements I could make.. what I could innovate... what costs I could reduce.. etc...

I made it a point of every time it was my turn to speak, I made it about an accomplishment.. a result from taking action... or something similar... based on the question asked..

When I got asked the "tell me about yourself".. I had previously brushed up on my "30 second to 1 minute" commercial and I thought I really nailed this compared to how I previously answered this question..

The interviewee (network services manager) on multiple occasions mentioned that he liked what he was hearing, etc... This was definitely a positive vibe.. as I usually do not get this type of feedback on previous interviews...
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