Interview Tips

I got ANOTHER interview! This time it's with a local college (the one I graduated from!) as an educator in the health and wellness program. I'm really excited about it! I'm not going to post my outfit because it was really uncomfortable and boring and you don't want to see that mickey mouse!

I wanted to post some interview tips that I've picked up over my years of interviewing for jobs.  Interviewing sucks, for real. I usually get nervous at least 24 hours prior to the interview and what helps me the most is feeling prepared.  Andy said he's never seen anyone prepare as much as me for a job interview, but if you've ever been at an interview and went completely blank, you'll understand why I feel the need to over-prepare!  Here's what I do:

First, I look over the organization's website thoroughly. I look at every page, I print pages out, I look at staff bios if available (this will help when you're meeting people with remembering names!), organization history, mission statement, financial reports, etc!  This will help me craft questions for the staff during my interview.


Secondly,  I write down all of the (applicable) jobs I have had over the past several years and list out all of the duties and experiences I had at each job - particularly the duties that would be useful for the job I'm interviewing. This will help with those "tell me about a time..." or "tell me the experience you have doing..." questions. All of those anecdotal stories are fresh in my mind!

Thirdly, I think about generic questions that they might ask and prepare for them, especially questions that are kind of tricky (ex. tell me about a time you were wrong, or tell me what your weaknesses are?) Here are some sample questions I think about:
1. Tell me about yourself (the standard opening question): what employers are looking for here is information about your professional self. Don't say "well I like long walks on the beach" or "I'm highly unorganized so I'm always rushing everywhere and usually exhausted"!  Tell a story of your professional life: I am from here, I graduated high school or college here, I knew I wanted to work in ABC field (related to the job for which you're interviewing - not some completely irrelevant job) and I began working at XYZ company where I learned how to 123 and that brings me here.
2. Why do you want to work here? Think about this before hand! This will give you an opportunity also to highlight that you've looked @ their website, done your homework, know about their company through other contacts. "Well I am really excited about such and such program you all are working on" or "I have been following your work since yada yada" or "I would be honored to work with such an innovative organization like yours who is known in the community for blah blah blah".
3. Tell me about your weaknesses: This question sucks. No way around it. Think about it before hand, because a LOT of people ask this question. I try to think of something that can be turned around to a positive. A lot of people answer this by saying they are no good at organization, and so they overcompensate by working hard to be highly organized, such as creating file folders and lists. I often say that I am an introvert, so I can be quiet but I work on approaching new people often and practice my extrovert skills whenever I have a chance. I like this answer because there is nothing I can do about being an introvert, so it's not necessarily a weakness!
4. Why should we hire you? I loathe this question. One time I actually said "because you think I'm a good fit" (and I actually got that job! Holler!). This is your last hoorah - your last chance to really list your strengths and skills. Talk about how your experience really lends itself to the position.

There are lots of great lists online to help prepare you for questions as well, so often I will just google search for some sample questions and think about them.

After I am mentally prepared for an interview, I work on my outfit. If it is a professional-type job, I almost always wear black pants and a blazer. I highly recommend closed-toe shoes as well. I try to wear something colorful under my blazer to show a hint of my personality, but it is never a low-cut shirt. I would rather be too dressed up, than too casual for an interview. Try your best to be comfortable in your clothing, this is really important. If you're not comfortable in your outfit, you won't be comfortable at the interview.

A day before the interview I try to map out the route to the office, especially if I've never been there before. I plan to be at least 20 minutes early to the site and will spend about 15 minutes in my car looking over my materials. And breathing. I get SO nervous before interviews it helps me a lot to take long, slow breaths to calm down. I will try to exercise before an interview if I have time, but breathing has helped the most.

Bring: extra copies of your resume, paper, a few writing utensils, a copy of your references, and water! If you're all nervous and dry-mouthed it doesn't sound very confident :) But don't drink too much water before, you don't want to have to interrupt the interview to use the restroom.

Finally, I always prepare questions for the organization that I truly want to know. Some examples: How does your org support it's staff; how does your org promote healthy boundaries/work environment; what is the best thing about working here; what are you the most proud of for this org; what kind of management style do you use; tell me about the ideal candidate for this position; what is the most frustrating aspect of working here, and so on. Think about experiences you've had at a job that you wish you would have known before you took the job.

Remember - they are interviewing you, but you're also interviewing them! Just because you got an interview doesn't mean you would HAVE to take the job!

I highly recommend not asking questions about salary in the interview. This is my personal preference, some people think differently. It's entirely up to you, but I think it is in poor taste.

Celebrate when you're finished!!  We never do as badly as we think we did, so recognize where you shined and be proud of yourself for surviving!

The interview that never was...or...I am a complete failure

Got a call today for another job interview at another local restaurant. Hoorah! This dress is a little low, so I decided to wear a scarf to cover up a bit. 

While driving to the restaurant I pass one of their locations and remember that this particular restaurant has at least 3 locations! Crud - what to do??  Well, I think, surely the location where I applied is the location who wants the interview. It's decided and I drive in.  I'm early so I wait in the car for a bit, and when it's about 5 minutes to 3 I enter the restaurant and alert the host that I am here for my interview!  While the host is away I scan the menu: meat, meat, and more meat. This will be an interesting place for a faux vegan to work! 

 Finally the manager emerges and informs me that I am at the wrong location.  Double crud.  I race to my car - WHAT SHOULD I DOOOO???? Surely my supportive momma will know. I call her. No answer. I call again. Still no answer. I call again. No. Answer.

I called many people from my support network, which actually took up a bit of time (making me more and more late for the interview not to mention that I still need to drive to the location that is at least 15 minutes away) and I finally decide to skip it. I know I shouldn't. I know it is irresponsible of me. I know I desperately need a job. But, I skip. Sometimes it feels good to take some control back in the job search process ;)

green dress: Criss Cross via Buffalo Exchange

shoes: TJ Maxx

scarf: H&M

earrings: Target

adorable purple bike: The Alt

May I take your order?

I got an interview with one of my favorite restaurants in town!! Hoorah! Getting a job as a server in Duluth is actually quite difficult, as most of the jobs are taken up by college students. When I lived in Duluth in 2001 - 2005 it took me 6 months to get a job as a server! Most places just weren't hiring, which is really bizarre to me. Rarely have I heard of a restaurant that simply wasn't hiring.

Dressing for an interview at a restaurant is tricky, because obviously you don't want to wear a suit (my go-to interview outfit) but you also don't want to wear jeans and a t-shirt (duh, right?).  So this is what I settled on. 












This is my "may I take your order" face. Pretty good huh? I've got YEARS of experience taking orders - at restaurants, from bosses, from my brothers, parents, partner, and my cat. I'm also really good at giving orders, but I won't admit that to Andy.

Outfit details: headband: Target; flowy brown top: CABI (from my mom's closet); purple tank: Primp; brown belt: Marshall's (again, from my momma's closet); skinny jeans: Express; brown clutch: Express; shoes: Target; nerdy glasses: Vision World; tablet: Gift from Sarah.

Survival Mode

Photo by: Andy Hardman.

It's typical that stressful events come in groups, rather than one at a time. Currently we have a few stressors in our lives:
1. Move. We made this move really complicated. First, we came up to Duluth for Andy's orientation the week before school began and stayed at a friend's cabin. It was bliss. Then we drove back to the cities, finished packing, rented a U-haul, had great help from some amazing friends to load the truck and clean our apartment. Drove to Cloquet, parked the truck overnight and unloaded it the next day into a storage unit in town. Now, when we are finally accepted into the coop we get to do it all over again! Yahoo.
2. Living with family. Enough said?
3. No job. Translation = no money, no health care makes Jennie a boring and overly safe girl.
4. Starting a full-time, intensive nursing program.

I think that's enough for now? What in your life is stressing you out?

Get a job

The view from a friend's cabin "Picaroon"

Before we moved to Duluth I scoured the internet looking for jobs, but it was really difficult trying to figure out the timing (when was it too early to apply, as we knew we were going to move in January, but we didn't actually move until May). I've always said that looking for a new job IS a full-time job, and that was also hard to do while working a full time job and preparing to move. Long story boring, I didn't find a job before the move. So now here we are and I am gainfully unemployed.

Looking for a job is horrible, especially in a crappy economy. Searching multiple sites, writing countless cover letters and resumes, emotionally preparing for interviews,  and bracing for multiple rejections. Never in such a short period of time does one receive so many rejections and continue to make oneself vulnerable to more rejection. It's a little extremely depressing.

Here are a few tips I've learned over the years of job-searching:
1. Think about companies/organizations you would like to work for, and search their website.  A lot of places only post employment opportunities on their website.
2. It's important to craft your resume for each specific job. Look at the listed job duties on a posting, and then match your resume to that posting. Example - let's say I want to apply for a job as an Ring Master. I would look at duties related to the job posting: stage manages the performance, introduces the various acts, and guides the audience through the entertainment experience. For this resume I would highlight my experience with public speaking, my English degree and ability to communicate effectively, my organizational skills, and my penchant for wearing gaudy clothing with golden trim.  See, you can make yourself fit into any job!

Me: Do you know where I can find a job? Owl:

3. Print a copy of each job posting for which you've applied, and save them in an easily accessible place. If by some great luck you get a call back, you want to be prepared to talk about the job with ease - not "what job was that again??".
4. Have a friend who is great with grammar/spelling edit your resumes and cover letters. Even a silly little typo can eliminate you from the running. This is a mean, competative market my friends!
5. Be sure to have a loving support network to help you through. Here is mine.


Interview tips will follow! Good luck :)

Our new home...for now.

My grandparents were gracious enough to let us stay at their house while we wait for the lengthy process to move into the Artist Co-op. We are staying in the "girls room" as it is the room where my two aunts lived. The "girls' room" is really nice - white, open, sunny, has two good sized closets (that I loved going through as a girl, lots of fun vintage clothing and old photo albums and yearbooks) and a queen sized bed that is like sleeping on a cloud. The "boys room" where my dad and uncle grew up in has two twin beds and doesn't get a lot of sun and has a really tiny closet.

It's small, but it's enough room for everything we need. And it's home...for now.

A few things to notice:
1. The quilt my grandma made on the bed. She has made at least 1 quilt for every one of the 9 grandchildren and for the 4 couples. When I told her I wanted to learn how to sew she said "why bother?!". 
2. The octopus our friend Katie (who just married our friend Big Bruce - they met in Duluth!) knitted when she lived in Duluth 8 years ago.  When we told her we were moving to Duluth she insisted that he come back to his homeland.
3. The ceiling fan. Bliss. We won't have one where we are going, so we're enjoying it while it lasts.
4. The book on my nightstand: "War Dances" by Sherman Alexie. It is a book of short stories which is all my attention span can concentrate on in the chaos of moving, finding a new job, getting into our new apartment, etc. I actually own it, but it is in a box somewhere so I checked it out from the library.
5. Ample sunlight. Joy!

What have we done...

We did it. It was planned. We thought about it ahead of time, prepared, applied, deliberated, and even plotted a bit. But we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into...

Andy wants to be a nurse, and fast. After being accepted into nursing school in Duluth, MN we put in our notices, packed up our boxes and moved away from our jobs, our friends, our support network, and our home of St. Paul.

So here I will attempt to document our journey. This blog will be about a lot of different things: adventure, love, struggle, stress, food, clothes, relationships, books, and I don't know what else. I wanted to create a blog partly because I'm no good at scrap-booking but I want to document our journey here in a fun way, partly because I want a creative outlet, and partly because I am everyone else is starting a blog and I am a sheep. 

Why goldenrod? Andy found out in nursing school that if you are late a bunch of times, or mess up a lot, you end up with a goldenrod on your transcripts and people who are hiring you will see that goldenrod. Apparently it's a really bad thing. But I would think having a goldenrod would be great on your transcripts!  I like goldenrod - I like the color, the paper and the word. So I keep it now.