Post-Interview Thoughts

Well, first off, I am honored that someone stopped by to tell me to update! My little blog certainly isn't that special, but I'm glad it is worthy of note to at least a few people.

Second, I mentioned posting some interview advice after my interview outfit post; I apologize that I never succeeded at doing that. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, but interviews are interviews. If you got an interview, that means you fit the bill on paper and they just want to know that you in person fits the bill as well. This unfortunately means that all the advice in the world can't help you be a better you. Show up, be you, be comfortable, and just make sure you shine through.

Finally, let me give a brief rundown of me and my interview I guess. The most important part of which is that I will not share any information on the actual interview because there is a clause you sign that you will not share anything. So, I shall discuss basics and things that I have actually learned since (in my phone customer service sales job). For my interview, I loved my outfit, I got my hair done, I felt 100% confident. Until I got into Boston. My dad went with me to drive me to the train and just keep me company on the long journey in and out of Boston and we got dinner with my Nana as well, so I had that to look forward to. Honestly, I think this was something that helped me feel better about my interview. I wasn't stressed because I talked out my anxiety and had something to look forward to. So definitely, if you have a friend or family applying for JET or able to take the time to be your commute-budy, I'd take advantage.

As for the actual interview, and that telemarketing advice, I think I did well and I was pretty happy with my performance. I did not walk out thinking "I failed," but I also didn't walk out thinking "I nailed it!" The biggest flaw was in my answering strategy and I keep thinking about it when I hear certain things. Recently I heard something on the radio about the human need to fill silence; basically, after five seconds you feel anxious if nobody fills the conversation. So when there is silence, I am definitely the person to fill that in and that cna be tragic. And that leads to the next issue. Literally three days after my interview, we discussed, in my job training, that you don't want to overload the information. Pick one strategy and answer. They don't need every possibility or every item that excites you or every detail. Don't overload. I am guilty of overloading if I can't choose an answer. You've probably noticed that I do this in this blog. I just talk a lot about all the options and reasons and everything else like that. Basically, pick something and be confident.

So yeah, that sort of made it sound like I was really concerned about everything, but honestly, I'm at peace with it. I worked hard on my app and got some great advice from current/previous JETs. I didn't prepare a ton for my interview, I just chose to be confident that I was enough. Because I worked hard and got some great advice from current/previous JETs, I got some extra interview advice. So, the best advice I can give you is to prepare thoroughly for JET as a whole. It isn't just an app or just an interview. The people you ask for help and you show yourself to will help you along the way.

Now, I wait. We find out in April and I don't know if I'll update before then. I am trying to keep busy with work and fandom nonsense and soon it will be archery season again. But I shall try and update and express my stress and waiting and just kjhdsglakjhlkj about the length of time the JET application takes.

Also, if people ever have questions and I am not updating, just comment or message me or whatever and I'm happy to answer things and chat at any time ^_^