How to Prepare for Your First Job Interview in High School
Many high school students have jobs to earn money, support their families, or stay busy. A high school job could be anything from serving tables at a restaurant, working at athletic games, or helping answer phones at an office building. Many high school students even work in customer service roles, as it is a great experience and often can work with your school schedule.
Jobs can be hard work, but they help you learn teamwork, time management, and balance while earning money. Are you ready to land a student job? Here are some tips to help you prepare for your first job interview!
To get a job, you have to go through the interview process. A hiring manager or current employee often does the interview process at the place you want to work.
Every interview runs a bit differently but think about this as a date.
You want to know if the job is good for you, and the job wants to know if you’d be a good fit. To find this out, you are asked questions about yourself.
Common first job interview questions
When it comes to a first job interview, the person you're interviewing with will be focusing on soft skills instead of work experience, since they know you won't work experience yet. Some examples of common interview questions might include:
Can you tell me about yourself?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Why do you want to work here?
Tell me about a time when you had to overcome a problem?
Tips on what to say during a job interview
Coming up with great answers on the spot is quite possibly the most intimidating part of the job interview process. To calm your nerves, try practicing how you’re going to respond using the tips below:
Be honest! Telling the truth about yourself and your job expectations is important. You do not want to waste your own time at a job you may not like.
Think about your unique qualities and highlight them. Are you really good at organizing things? Do you enjoy talking to people? Talk about these things.
Practice beforehand. Have an idea of some things you want the interviewer to know about you. This way, when you are asked questions, you have an idea of what to say.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Every job interview is a learning experience and practice for you. If one job interview does not go how you want, do not worry!
Feeling ready to tackle your next or first job interview? We hope so. 🥺 Still need help with your math homework before you even consider applying for a job? We gotchya. 😎 Connect with an UPchieve coach today for homework help!