My friend Chimore and I are both looking for work. We knew we needed to practice our interviewing skills, so we asked career counselor Katherine Jo to do mock job interviews with us. She looked at our résumés beforehand and asked what sort of jobs we’d be going for. I said “retail” because I felt like it was something I could do. (I’ve never had a job except for writing for Represent.)

The mock interview was a very nerve-racking experience. I did a vocational training program in high school, and I learned about what to wear to a job interview and how to prepare for one. But I’d never been asked questions like that before.

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When Katherine interviewed me, I was so nervous that my muscles started tightening up and my stomach was in knots. I knew it was only practice but I feared that if I didn’t do well on this, I would also bomb on the real thing. Below in bold are some of the interview questions—which I learned are all pretty standard questions for a job interview—and my answers, along with Katherine’s feedback.

“Tell me about yourself.”

I said, “My name is Otis Hampton and I’m 21 years old.” I couldn’t think of anything else and felt embarrassed when Katherine had to prompt me for the rest of my answer.

Afterwards, when she went over my performance, Katherine pointed out that during the introductory part of the interview, “you’re telling a very short story about yourself and why you want this job. Don’t say your age, but do say when you’ll graduate from college.” Working toward a degree looks good to employers.

“What experience do you have?”

I didn’t have any experience that related to retail, so I said I liked journalism and writing for Represent. I said I liked “writing about my feelings” and that “I get my animosity out.”

Katherine said I needed to explain how my experience would benefit or serve the employer at a retail store. “Connect what you’ve done with the job you are applying for,” she said. Thinking about it, I realized that Represent has taught me about organization and working with others. I also should have mentioned that I am reliable. That’s a quality that a store manager would want to hear about.

She also had specific criticisms about what I’d said. She said, “It’s fine to talk about liking writing because you can express yourself, but don’t refer to emotional issues and emotional difficulties too much in the interview.”

She assured me that I shouldn’t feel ashamed of these challenges or like I need to hide them. But in general, it is better not to talk about things that are very personal in an interview unless it has something to do with the job. “If you are interviewing for a job at an organization that works with youth who might have similar issues, then it is relevant,” she explained. “But otherwise, it is not going to help you communicate to the employer what you have to offer as a candidate.”

“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”

This part of the interview really got me tensed up and I didn’t answer very well.

When Katherine asked me to name three of my strengths, I said “charisma, leadership, and speaking ability.” I was trying to be honest, but Katherine pointed out that those aren’t things a retail manager necessarily cares about or even wants in an employee. She said that one interpretation of “leadership” is that “it looks like you can’t take orders well.” She also asked me, “What does ‘charisma’ mean and how will it help further the goals of the company?” I realized that “trustworthy” and “hard-working” are better answers for a customer service staff person—and they’re also true of me.

I answered the weakness question too honestly; I said that my weakness is “dealing with conflict.” As she pointed out, that’s “a bad answer for a retail/customer service job.” The “weakness” question is one that gets asked a lot, apparently, and you have to be clever about how you answer it. You have to be a little honest, but then also make the weakness seem like something you can overcome. In a real interview, I might say that my weakness is “not asking for help if I didn’t know how to do something,” which is true. But then I’d go on to say that I was aware of that and would be better at asking for help at this new job.

“Why are you interested in this position?”

When Katherine asked why I had applied for the job, I replied, “Because I need money and it seems easy.”

image by YC-Art Dept

Again, too honest. This answer is highly unacceptable because it means you’ll only look out for your own interests and not for the interests of the company. Katherine advised against giving such a selfish answer because the “employer wants to hear why you like them and want to work for them. What might you like about working in retail?”

Once she prompted me, I said I’m organized and I’m interested in inventory, which should have been my original answer. One problem with the mock interview was that I’d just said “retail” and not what kind of store. But I love electronics, so once we narrowed the store down to Best Buy or RadioShack, I could say to my mock interviewer, “I like your products and the way you do business.”

“How do you handle conflict?”

I said I would “react positively.” Katherine helped me make that answer a little fuller: If a customer came to me with a complaint, I would listen to what the customer had to say and I would try to solve the problem the best I could.

“Describe a challenging experience on a team.”

I told about a group project in high school where I took over as leader from a guy who wasn’t doing any work. I assigned roles to people who did want to get the work done. I told the guy he’d blown it and that’s why I took away his power.

According to Katherine, it was “good up until the end when you said you told the team leader that he blew it. It’s not good to show yourself being critical to someone.” She suggested that for a retail job, it would have been smarter to give an example of a group where I wasn’t the leader but more of a team player.

“Why should I hire you?”

I said that the job would help me develop my skills and grow as a worker.

That was too selfish. Katherine said again that I need to focus more on what I can do for the company than what’s in it for me. The question, “Why should I hire you?” really means, “Why you and not the other 200 people who want the job?”

“How do you handle multiple tasks?”

When Katherine asked how I would handle multiple tasks, I said “by being calm.” She asked follow-up questions to help me elaborate, but I didn’t take her cues very well. She asked, “Well, do you have a planner?” and I said, “No.” She said I needed a longer and more specific answer to this question—and that I should have a planner.

Last came the overall feedback. Katherine said, “You come off earnest and like you’d try hard,” but also that I seemed very nervous (which I was). She suggested I make more eye contact, smile more, and try to relax. That seems like good advice. Overall, Katherine taught me to put myself in the boss’s shoes during an interview.

• Remember that every question an employer asks in an interview is trying to find out one of these three things: Can you do the job? (Do you have the skills and education necessary?); Will you do the job? (Are you motivated?); Will you fit into the workplace? All your answers should, in some form, say “Yes” to these questions.

• Practice! Ask someone to do a mock interview with you so you can practice answering standard interview questions with ease. This can help calm your nerves, and if you record the interview, you can watch and critique your answers. Did you stay on topic? Did your responses show that you can do the job, that you’re motivated, and that you’re easy to work with? If not, keep practicing.

• Before you get to the interview, do some research. Find out everything you can about a company, so you have a better idea of what the job is and how to fit in at the company. Go to their website and read the “about” section. If you’re applying at a store, visit the store and see what they sell and the responsibilities of people in the job you want.