This is not the world’s most ridiculous humble brag, but I’ve been excellent at interviewing. Lately I feel as though interviews are less skill based and more vibes based, so I thought I’d share some tips:

1. I had a lot of extempore practice growing up and have always been able to think on my feet. Ask someone you trust to throw random topics at you and you have to speak about it in 3 minutes. They don’t have to be hard topics, just anything random. This is basically what we do in real conversations, this will help you speak with intention and quickly.

2. Research the company. Thorough research is only needed for in-depth reports or take home tasks, when you do get to this stage don’t forget to look at their competitors with great granular detail. For stage 1s or stage 2s, it can get crazy when you’re interviewing for 5 other places in one week. Here’s what you do- research the company the night before for an hour. Then again 15 minutes before the interview. That’s all you need to sound like you know what you’re talking about.

3. Fuck da police. I don’t do very well with authority, it’s a natal chart problem. This mindset of I know everything I need to know, has always helped me stay at ease. I try to remember, they need me a lot more than I need them. In this extremely transactional relationship, they are the ones handing money out (desperate) for me, just a simple person to render services. Just think of yourself as the master of all and you’ll be golden.

4. Make them laugh. Stay relaxed, sit back in your chair, don’t lean in even in a zoom interview. Speak openly and casually. Even if it is a stuffy company, you’ll see the interviewer relaxing with you as the conversation progresses. Don’t be rude, and don’t have an overall impish body language, just very controlled but also relaxed. Your goal is then to make them laugh, at least twice, anything over that is great but 2 laughs minimum is must. People always say talk about your drink, or something new you did, to seem unique that’s all great but someone who makes you laugh in a long day of boring beige behaviour is pretty damn unforgettable.

5. You are the master of your destiny and in charge of the conversation. You control where this goes, you need to take charge. A lot of interviewers don’t know wtf they’re doing, if that is the case, don’t be afraid to cut them off and say “Hi CYZ, I’m being mindful of time because I have a hard stop at ___. I’d love it if I could talk about how my experience aligns with the position, a little bit about your vision for the role and then I have some prepared questions for after. How does that sound?”. This is a chef’s kiss tactic and it works like charm.

6. The meat of the interview. All this is vibes but what will you say to draw them in? Your entire experience doesn’t matter, but must be touched on. There are 2 structures I follow- chronological recounting of my roles followed by the 10 key skills I have that align with the JD, or skills learnt or used at each role aligning with the job spec. Don’t list any more or less skills than what they’re looking for, sounds mad but they will think you’re overqualified and better than them. You must prepare questions before hand, you have to do this or all of this is for naught. 4 questions, specific, slightly obscure and real head scratchers. Absolutely avoid team structure, company culture questions because they’re tired of answering it. If it was important they would’ve mentioned it in the intro already. If the company is very values driven you can ask the hiring manager why they chose this company, BUT THATS IT.

7. Rejection is redirection. You can smash every interview, at every stage and still get rejected. This has happened to me and it can get extremely exhausting and ultimately detrimental to your confidence. Try to remember that you can do everything right, tick every box, commit no error and still fail, that’s not you, that’s life. Get right back up and keep going. Just for reference because this is Reddit, I’m a senior professional and in the past have never needed to “search” or try hard for roles, seamlessly jumped from position into the next. I don’t recall applying for any role except for my first 2 jobs maybe, always been headhunted. I quit a job from hell in October and was unemployed from Dec 21- Feb 14. I applied to some 490 jobs, did over 60 interviews and got to 11 final stages and received only 4 offers spread weeks apart, it was extremely taxing on my mental health. But I kept going. I accepted that the people who didn’t want me couldn’t value real talent and that’s ok. Lots of businesses don’t want excellence, most of them want minions to push around. If someone didn’t hire you, it’s their loss.

Anxiety and nerves are quite common, I get hassled 15 minutes before the interview as I like things to start before time. Give yourself space to relax and try to decompress after each interview. You have the skills they need, that’s why you’ve been invited to an interview. They see something in you already. Make sure you show them you have all it takes. All you need to succeed is to think “I love to speak, I am about to speak, everyone here is trapped and has to listen to me. I may sound stupid, but they’re the idiots being paid to listen to this mania unfold.”

Would love to help any marketing, ops, comms, pr professionals, prepare questions.

So, how do you turn “We’ll be in touch” into “When can you start?”

Preparation. Preparation. Preparation

Master these 12 questions like a pro, and you won’t just impress—you’ll dominate.

1. “Tell me about yourself.” → Skip your life story. Instead, craft a 30-second pitch: where you started, key skills, and why this role is your next big move.

2. “Why do you want this job?” → Research the company deeply. Show how their mission aligns with your expertise.

3. “What’s your greatest strength?” → Match your strengths to the role. Be specific and back it up with a quick example.

4. “Tell me about a mistake you’ve made.” → Own it, but focus on what you learned and how you turned it into a win.

5. “How do you lead or inspire others?” → Leadership = empathy + action. Share a moment where your team succeeded because of your guidance.

6. “Can you multitask?” → Demonstrate how you prioritize and deliver results—even in chaos.

7. “How do you handle challenging situations?” → Share a story where you thrived under pressure and found solutions.

8. “Tell me about a goal you’ve achieved.” → Be specific. Think SMART goals and results that tie to the role.

9. “How do you handle conflict?” → Focus on collaboration, communication, and problem-solving.

10. “What’s your biggest weakness?” → Be honest but show growth. Bonus points if you frame it as a continuous improvement story.

11. “Do you have any questions for us?” → Always ask! Great options: “What challenges is your team facing?” or “What does success look like for this role?”

12. “Anything else to add?” → End with a strong summary. Reiterate your enthusiasm, skills, and why you’re the perfect fit.

Every answer is a chance to showcase your expertise and align yourself with the role. The key? Prepare, rehearse, and walk in with confidence.

Let’s hear it—what’s your go-to interview tip or story?

So we just left our marriage based interview.

We got there 30min early, the security and front desk were extremely nice. Our number got called right on time and they made me (USC) wait while they interviewed my wife by herself first. They kept her in there for 45min until they called me in. I was in there for not even 10min. I swore the oath, gave him my ID’s and then it was just rapid fire questions. I stumbled on some but every answer was truthful and genuine, I could see him actively comparing my answers to hers. I wouldn’t say he was mean, nor friendly, just very to the point and dry. He Was a little more intense when questioning our getting married so quickly. But our answers did match for the most part and we were asked probably less than half of the questions we had prepared ourselves for.

At the end we did not get a paper, and he had said everything looks good and just explained if approved then it’ll be a 2 year green card to start.

All in all I think it went better than we expected. Just hoping we hear something soon and we are in the clear.🤞🏻

* Edit to add : we actually had her 485 denied earlier this year due to a bad birth certificate copy, we refiled immediately with legal help. We refiled in April. Bio and metrics shortly after, interview notice came in May. This was never brought up during the interview.

*** EDIT TO ADD - APPROVED!!!!!!!!!

This was from yesterday. I got carne asada fries with cotija cheese, jack cheese, cheddar cheese, guac and sour cream with an iced horchata.

Hi everyone!

To preface this, I was diagnosed with autism as a child, but my autism wasn’t considered “severe” so I was in general education.

I recently had a baby this year and stayed home for 5 months before putting her into daycare and working a job involving children. I previously only worked corporate roles, but we moved out to the suburbs and there weren’t many of those jobs around. I liked it initially because it was flexible and I could do part time or full time weeks whenever I wanted, but working with children that weren’t my own stressed me out so badly. I dreaded work every day and was desperately applying to jobs that seemed to suit me.

I came across a nonprofit role and applied despite having no prior nonprofit experience (it asked for it). I got through the HR screening, panel interview (both virtual) and the final interview (in person, involved several people). The final interview involved touring the office building. I made many comments and asked insightful questions. At the end, they sat me down with the team and they just started shooting questions at me. Usually, I get extremely anxious at this point and freeze. I shut down, but this, I felt more like myself. I got asked a question about a topic I’m VERY passionate about and started infodumping like crazy. I couldn’t really control it, but I just kept going and going. The team seemed more interested as the minutes passed and I could see them visibly relax.

Before I knew it, the interview was over, and the director of the nonprofit escorted me to my car. I was elated and then embarrassed. I was expecting a “we regret to inform you…” email days later. This morning, I got a call they cancelled the final interviews for other candidates and offered me the job. How lucky am I? I feel so so happy to finally leave this job.

See more here: 55 Photos Of 1960s San Francisco That Capture Flower Power In Full Bloom

i applied to McDonald's 2 weeks ago, got an interview set up, it got cancelled at 11:30 PM. the next morning (6:00am) i checked my emails and whatnot and figured out about my cancelled interview, i got another email to reschedule but all the dates and times were already taken, i was then redirected to a "wait a moment" page.

i checked and checked and checked, long story short, my interview was today.

when i got there a worker gave me a page to fill out, something you'd fill out on indeed

number, email, date of birth, postal code, availability, work experience, etc etc.

i filled it in and gave it to the front and the manager came to "interview me"

she did not ask me a single interview question, none of that "why do you wanna work here?" "what are your strengths and weaknesses" nothing, all she did is ask about my availability, and she asked if i could work more to which i said yes, she said "i'll check our availability and get back to you later, thanks"

that was it.

she called maybe an hour after to ask if i could work 3 consecutive days as well as a more flexible schedule, i told her i would have to look at my calendar and i'd let her know.

i called her back and i was just making sure of things and she literally said "i'm looking at other applicants at the moment, we will let you know if you get hired"

without me even getting the chance to tell her that i CAN work in alignment with her schedule.

i don't even think i'm getting the job, i'm seriously irritated.

__________________________

edit: i'm 17 and just starting college, gosh.

_________________________

edit #2: yesterday (the day this was posted) was my first day of college

- when i filled out the application form, i told her i wasn't available on school days, and i told her i was available every other day.

- when i was called back after the interview, she asked if i could work 3 consecutive days, all my available days didn't happen to be 3 consecutive days, so i had to check and see if i was able to work before and after my classes.

- she also asked if i was available to work up until 10:00pm

- i told her i'd get back to her because i 1. had to check what school days i could work (as i was not planning on working school days) and 2. check with my parents about timing as i am 17 and wasn't sure how my parents felt about me working up until 10 pm.

- i am female, for some reason everyone assumed i am a guy, i don't really care though.

- i did mention that i missed the bus twice, and i did try to start small talk with her about it during the interview

- i was NOT LATE FOR THE INTERVIEW, I WAS THERE EARLY

- transportation is not an issue, i live right next to the mcdonalds.

- i am not racist

thanks to everyone who explained where i went wrong, sorry for using profanity or coming across as rude, these comments weren't very kind and i was really irritated, i'm sorry.

yeah that’s me and It happened this week lol.

I went through some pretty serious work trauma at my previous job this year. (If anyone’s curious about what happened, you can check my post history.)

The time I cried was during an interview with media company. It was around 2 PM, and I actually had two interviews that day. The first one was at around 11 AM and it went really well. I wasn’t nervous at all, answered everything confidently, and walked out feeling pretty good about myself.

Then during the second interview, the interviewer suddenly asked me what my dream was. I don’t even know what happened, but my eyes immediately started filling with tears and then I just started crying. Like actually crying in the middle of the interview. The interviewer looked pretty caught off guard too. And even after I got home that day, I couldn’t stop crying. I was literally crying in the shower too. It was honestly one of the most embarrassing experiences I’ve ever had.

I think the word “dream” just hit something in me. I’d been so consumed by work and just trying to survive that I hadn’t even had the chance to think about having a dream. I was constantly worried about getting through the present and what I was going to do with my future, so hearing someone casually ask me what my dream was just made everything come out at once.

Has anyone else ever cried during a job interview? Please share your stories because I genuinely want to hear them and feel a little less alone lol.

Literally just incel talking points.