Introduction

Preparing for and passing interviews is definitely the dream of anyone who participates in one but unfortunately, we don't get the win everytime.

Few years ago, I clocked 16 years old and I was 2 years away from an independent life. Growing up, my mum always told me when I clocked 18, I could make decisions on my own and live my life the way I wished. The only thing she would do was give advice. This sounded fun to me. I had just graduated from high school then. I had written all the necessary exams to get into college and I was waiting for resumption. Conflicts between the Tertiary Education Board and the Federal Government resulted in a year delay in resumption. Covid took a whole year and now this! I was always home doing nothing but on a Sunday afternoon, while making pancakes, an idea popped in my head. I thought I could write my recipes and share them with people. But what if I don't have any recipes to share again, What if? What if? What if? I kept questioning myself. After deliberation, I decided to build a writing career. I'd write about anything. I began writing every other day and for some weeks every day whatever came to my head. I did not take editing serious and I did not have anyone to guide me. I only shared 5 of my article with a growing spoken word artiste. She gave her comments and I corrected them. She didn't give too many negative comments. This summoned my courage to in a competition or volunteer job. I entered two contests but lost both. Luckily, I got called where I applied for a volunteer job. To be integrated into their system, I had to go through an interview. I chose the date and time myself. The day for the interview came near. I'll discuss my experience and lessons learnt in the next part of this blog.

The LESSONS

Get enough Sleep

I spent a day to the interview wisely I thought. I woke up as early as 5:00 am. I cooked, prayed, did little chores and continued my daily routine but added extra studies. I reviewed most of the asked interview questions. I read more topics I thought would be asked about. I pushed myself. Hard work pays is what they say, right? (I guess not in my case). I did not sleep until 11 pm. My sleep was not disturbed whatsoever but I did not have a good sleep. I could not stop dreaming of how the interview would go. It was an online interview and my first interview ever. That caused the frets. I woke up at 5:00 am as normal but weak I prayed and got back to sleep at 7:00 am. I was very tired and messed up. I wished I slept early the previous day and prayed silently that I was agile before 10:30 am, the scheduled time for my interview. Luckily, I still had time 3½ hours to go. I slept for two hours. When I woke up, I knew I had little time left. I immediately wrote a checklist of the things needed to do before the interview began. I began. I paraded my workspace moving from one side to another from clearing the tables to setting up a background. Next, I went to my room to select a dress. It was tough. I wish I had someone to help. After few minutes, I decided what to wear. I aced my checklist and I still had 10 minutes. I spent 5 minutes cleaning my sweat-drenched face and getting something to eat. The other five minutes were spent settling down and preparing to join the call.

Try to eliminate Anxiety and defeat Overconfidence

It is rare to have a combination of Anxiety and overconfidence but it may occur. Anxiety came first in my case. I remembered it was a live chat and it broke my heart for two seconds as I imagined how it would turn out. 10 seconds countdown began on my screen. I felt my heart pump hard and I couldn't hear my heartbeat loud. My interviewer popped on my screen. I felt relieved seeing the interviewer, she was a female, she resumed with a bright smile on her face. 'Good morning, Halimah' she said. I enjoyed the way she said my name. I felt comfortable. She asked a few informal/general questions. I answered all questions gladly and she seemed to be comfortable with my answers. I was now calm and free from nervousness.

Preparation _Don't neglect the easy things.

We moved into the main discussion. She asked questions and they were questions I had prepared for, It was almost the end of the interview and I was getting happy deep down that I'd won. Little did I know I was incorrect. She asked the final two questions and I went blank. The questions seemed easy but I did not know how exactly to put my answer. If I had gotten a prompt, I definitely would have been able to answer them. I stared at her for few seconds. It was absurd, she also looked at me hoping to get her answers soon but it seemed it wasn't coming forth.

Ask Questions if necessary.

Do you need any help? She asked. Huh. No, I am fine. I struggled to answer the questions. I tried my best, I know. She concluded with sweet words. I was happy. As a normal interview, she asked if I had any questions for her. I finally decided to ask questions. I asked what the future success of the role meant and if she would have answered any questions I asked during the interview. She said she would have answered questions and she was prepared to give help in certain situations. Now I realized what I had just missed.

Read Instructions / Listen carefully before writing or answering questions.

This is a bonus tip I learned from other interviews. In the first moment of your interview, try to study your interviewer, is the person calm, or rash? You'll get this in the first 2 - 5 sentences uttered. If the person doesn't speak loud enough, don't hesitate to ask for a repeat don't forget what we said in the previous lesson) but try to limit it. Ensure to listen carefully. If you were taking a written interview, read carefully before answering. You may think you know it but it's best to re-read and answer. You may think you know it but it's best to re-read and answer.