Why do I suck at interviews?

[thedivahrrrself]

Originally Posted by Quintease

I really do suck y'know. I have never got a job from an interview alone. In the interview I get nervous and I talk shit and I just talk and talk and talk...
I'm still upset about the interview I did today that I am utterly CONVINCED I screwed up, despite being referred for it by someone in the organisation.
There was a point, where I was answering a question and I realised I had actually FORGOTTEN the question she had asked me. D'uh.

My hubby has been assuring me that he would rather hire someone who is nervous over someone who is over-confident, but I think he's lying.

I have another interview coming up and it's REALLY IMPORTANT! How do y'all combat your nerves? How do you impress people with your knowledge and wit???

Here's some of the best advice I've gotten. Take the standard interview questions, like "Tell me about yourself". Write a full page of stuff you'd like to tell them about yourself. Then, start crossing off the unimportant stuff. Then, narrow it down some more until you have a paragraph. Then, practice it over and over, always paraphrasing it slightly differently. (You don't want to sound too rehearsed.)

Also, write down 5 main points you want to get in on the interview. Start with 15 and narrow it if you have to. Then, practice different ways to insert them into a conversation in a smart, concise way. If you find yourself digressing from the point of a question, find a way to bring it back around to one of those five points to get yourself back on topic.

Interviews shouldn't just be off the cuff, you really should practice. There are tons of websites with practice questions. If you get rambly, probably the situational questions are tripping you up most. Maybe you're a long storyteller. So read through some sample questions and think of situations and how to sum them up neatly, cutting out unnecessary details.

Good luck to you!