The All-New, All-Inclusive Job Wanting and/or Job Having SUPERTHREAD!

[The SSB Intern]

It's been a while since we've had a nice job thread and I got an excuse to make one. Let's get fucking professional, guys.

So, I have a job interview this Thursday for a greasy fast food service position. I don't think I started out too well as I made fun of the guy on the phone for mispronouncing my name (I thought he was another army recruiter). With that in mind, I have to ace this interview if I want this job, and I really, really do. So, I call upon you NPF! Lend me your strength!

-The eye contact issue: is it true to never break eye contact under any circumstances?

-I have a slight nervousness around strangers or when I'm trying to think. I'll frequently touch my face or hair while talking. Any advice on curbing this?

-One of the sites I went to for tips said not to bring your cell phone. That doesn't really sound right, but maybe I'm wrong?

-Tie or no tie?

Also, any other random tips you can pass out would be greatly appreciated!

[mauve]

I dunno about not BRINGING your phone, but at least turn it off or silence it.

[Specterbane]

Keep your eyes on theirs while they're talking or while you're talking, otherwise if you look at what ever papers they've got or have handed you that should be fine. Just make sure you don't look anywhere inappropriate and show that you're paying attention to them and you should be fine.

Try keeping your hand together and in front of you on the table at all times, that might help remind you not to let them wander anywhere like pockets or your face.

Keep you cell phone, but turn it to silent or off before you go in.

Tie's optional, but definitely be dressed business casual. That's Khakis, Belt, and a Polo at least. If you've got nice shoes where those too. The important thing is to look clean and presentable, let the way you dress show you want the job.

Aside from that, it's only a fast food place so don't fret over it too much. Good luck.

[Kerensky287]

It's not true that you NEVER break eye contact. That makes you come off as a little creepy to some people. Keep it natural, but make sure that you make eye contact once in a while. Look at their face instead of the ground, I guess.

Bringing your phone is okay but you HAVE to silence it. Getting a call or text in the middle of an interview is pretty much a guaranteed non-pass.

To avoid touching your face or hair, I'd recommend just keeping the position of your hands in mind. If the interview takes place seated, folding them in your lap might help unless you're a hand-talker. If the interview takes place standing, just keep them at your sides, but again, stay natural - if you LOOK like you're trying, it's almost as bad as if you aren't trying at all.

For a fast food service position, I'd recommend against a tie (looks too formal) but you should definitely dress somewhat-nicely. No jeans, nothing with holes, wear a collared shirt, that sort of thing. The key is to look confident and capable, and if you show up in a tux, for example, then the manager knows that 1) you're desperate and 2) you have no idea what you're doing.

For the interview itself, be honest, but go for the positive spins. Let the person know (not explicitly) that you want the job and that you'll work hard at it. For a fast food position, they want someone keen and reliable, and they want to know that you aren't the type of person who will sit in the corner and goof off when they're supposed to be working.

Good luck! I hope it goes well.

[P-Sleazy]

You're going to work at a greasy restaurant. Just go in there. Dressed like the people who work your job (so a polo and khakis and decent shoes [not flippy floppies], no tie). Talk to the manager. Don't sound like a skeez. Don't flirt with any of the girls there either (you do that once you get the job). Eye contact is good. Lean forward a bit.

Finally, the most important thing to do is whenever they ask you a question. Answer the question. And it briefly. Don't give them your life story. And if they do ask for your life story its "well, I'm from X and I've been in Y for Z years."

Also, don't be afraid to make small talk or joke around with the person if thats the way its going. People like to hire people they made a connection with. Just make sure you keep it within the bounds the inverviewer set up. Meaning, if they start making little jokes, you can too, just don't control the jokes. A "thats what she said" (used appropriatly) is fine. But don't start going down the road of "what do you like in a manager?" and your response is "me" (pretend the person interviewing you is your potential future boss and is an attractive, relatively young female no more than 4 years your senior). Totally inappropriate. Unless you're getting her number as a result, then you're much better off with the digits than you are with the job.

And my last bit of advice. And the MOST important bit.

Take a bath before showing up.

[Kerensky287]

Take a bath before showing up.

Yeah my advice for life (regardless of job applications) if you don't do it already is bathe at least once a day because NOBODY likes somebody with poor hygiene.

[The SSB Intern]

The bathing I am totally cool with it, but shaving is where I get lazy. I usually wait until I absolutely need to, but I'll make a mental note on shaving the night before.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys!

[Doc ock rokc]

If you have anyone currently working there or at any branch of the company Tell the manager about it. It's way easier if you have a person on the inside.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Yeah my advice for life (regardless of job applications) if you don't do it already is bathe at least once a day because NOBODY likes somebody with poor hygiene.

That's actually bad hygiene. You're damaging the outer layers of your skin which are good protetion. Unless you are super active you generally should shower only every other day except when you have been out and sweating and things.

As for interview just take it naturally. If you be someone you are not in interviews then it just going to cause trouble in the job.

[The SSB Intern]

@Doc: The branch just opened up in our area, so that would be a negative. I'll keep that in mind if this one doesn't work out though.

@Smarty: I sweat like its no one's goddamn business.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

That's actually bad hygiene. You're damaging the outer layers of your skin which are good protetion. Unless you are super active you generally should shower only every other day except when you have been out and sweating and things.

I think that's only hot water though, ideally cooler water every day or a warmer every other day.

[pochercoaster]

That's actually bad hygiene. You're damaging the outer layers of your skin which are good protetion. Unless you are super active you generally should shower only every other day except when you have been out and sweating and things.

As for interview just take it naturally. If you be someone you are not in interviews then it just going to cause trouble in the job.

If you're going to work in a greasy spoon and don't already shower every day you will need to VERY soon.

My boss doesn't shower every day and it's fuckin disgusting, I can smell him from a few feet away. Needless to say our business isn't doing well- I'm surprised I still have a job after 2 years of our store struggling. (There's other reasons for the business doing poorly too, but being able to smell your server from across the counter definitely isn't helping.)

I haven't seen any evidence to back up this claim, seems like it took off after it appeared on cracked. Haven't noticed my skin being less protective after taking a shower.

By the way, don't do the opposite and dump a bottle of cologne on yourself before the interview. In fact, don't wear any amount of cologne, because while your girlfriend might like how it smells, your future manager may hate it, even if they only pick up on it subconsciously, and it's general policy in most workplaces to not wear any scents. You'll be burger scented by the end of the day anyways.

Maintain eye contact but not to the point of creepy unblinking staring.

Don't wear a tie, wear a decent collared shirt though. I've swung by all my interviews in nice jeans but most of the places that hired me didn't really care about anything so *shrug*

Don't make up a bunch of bullshit, but don't sound apathetic. Be straightforward- if you want the job so you can have some spare money while you do school full time, say so. Don't ramble, if the interviewer wants your life story they'll ask for it, and always answer questions directly. If they ask you anything about working with others or customer satisfaction the answer always is you loooove people.

Edit: Also, brush your teeth (and your tongue, 'cause that's where most bad breath comes from).

[Amake]

I totally lost the link discussing the study that proved it, but if you maintain eye contact flawlessly you're an egocentric old fossile, while those who are open to new ideas are more likely to look at what the person they're talking to looks at.

[Fenris]

That's actually bad hygiene. You're damaging the outer layers of your skin which are good protetion. Unless you are super active you generally should shower only every other day except when you have been out and sweating and things.

As for interview just take it naturally. If you be someone you are not in interviews then it just going to cause trouble in the job.

The thing about that is if you are trying to win points, going in smelling like body soil isn't going to help you any.

Just be honest with yourself and with them. Relax. Eat a banana for breakfast. The potassium will calm your nerves a bit throughout the day.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Smelly doesn't equal bad hygiene guys. Your lizard brain is tricking you. And when your prospective employer wrinkles his nose tell him this as well. He will thank you for it.

The trap question is always what are you weakness.
Some employers want you to list weaknesses that are secretely strength.
Some employers will think you are being a shit and not answering the question if you do this and want an honest answer. Most people I've seen recommend going the first route, I've always found the second route better in my experience. But make the judgement as you go.

[Ryanderman]

I've always found that listing real weaknesses, but explifying strength by describing how I overcome them generally works well.

[Eltargrim]

Less applicable here, but every conversation you have with a potential employer is an interview. I knocked on my current boss's door to schedule an interview, and by the end of the conversation I had a job.

Basically, just try and be professional. If he brings up the phone call, apologize, but don't try and explain it. Just say that you're sorry for how you behaved. If you've been professional throughout the interview, you'll already have been countering your first impression.

[Magus]

When I worked McDonald's I had to take a bath everyday even if I didn't want to (I like to take a shower everyday anyway, we can't all be cool dudes like Smarty), because the hot grease from the grill flying up builds up a thick layer of grime on your face, especially in combination with the heat/sweat (it was unfortunate I wore glasses, too, between the steam and the grease I was half-blind wandering around back there). Also I recommend having someone teach you some of the tricks of the trade, for instance, if you try to peel frozen burgers apart your fingernails are going to hurt like a bitch. You bang the side of the stack on the grill to get them apart. Wear comfortable uniform sneakers/shoes, since you'll be on your feet for 10 hours and if you're wearing bad shoes your feet are going to be killing you. If you're not willing to work overtime you're out of luck, you will have to work overtime because the other kinds of people who sign up to work at fast food restaurants are assholes who skip work. The sneakers will have to have those super-non-slip soles on them, you can get a cheap pair of Dr. Scholls at Wal-Mart usually, or you can order a pair out of the restaurant's catalog, but you'll have to have a pair day one, so...I recommend ordering a pair even if you buy the Wal-Mart ones because like I said you'll want something as comfortable as possible.

When building the sandwiches you'll learn that you have to put the toppings on in a particular order, not only because the build line resembles an assembly line of two to three people but because fast food restaurants basically researched that people have to have the pickles on last (for example) in order to achieve full satisfaction. I'm not even kidding.

Also as common courtesy if you're working a burger place that has greasy-as-hell burgers (McDonald's, for instance), the burgers basically sit in a quarter-inch of grease in the heating bin, before slamming them on the bun I always shook them off with the tongs. This is because back when I used to eat at McDonalds (obviously after working there I realized that tiny 1/10 patties smothered in grease is not something that should be going into my body), not only did I hate the grease but I even ruined a nice shirt one time because I kid you not there was a cup's worth of that shit just sort of floating around in it.

Finally, if your manager is screaming about how long you're taking, just ignore them (if you want to keep the job, the one I worked at had literally a dozen other fast-food places right next to it, if I got pissed at a manager enough I usually quit and just went next door, it's not like there is a pay drop or something in a minimum-wage job). I worked my ass off and orders were flying out like crazy, and I was working by myself a lot of the time because like I said your coworkers are going to be lazy assholes. The lady still yelled about how long each order was taking. So don't sweat it, they aren't going to fire you because then they'd have to come back there and do stuff (which they will do once in a while during rush hour, lunch and dinner, sometimes, or a big order, but it is quite rare). If they yell at you at break time/closing time for washing your hands and taking your apron off before clocking out, just ignore them. There's no reason to lose 5-7 minutes off of your 30 minute break just so a business that makes hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars a year (and I guarantee you any McDonald's franchise is making a crap ton of money for any area it is in) doesn't have to pay you for those five minutes which you've earned.

You won't have a choice of hours and they will often work you seven days in a row (I believe this is the maximum they are allowed to give you before they have to give you two days off according to company policy), so you will just have to get used to getting home at 11-12 often and being there next morning at 6.

[The SSB Intern]

Didn't get the job. The fact that I'm moving out of town is not good, it would seem. But apparently, the guy's family owns a burger king where I'm moving to and he says he might be able to hook me up. Not a total loss, I suppose. Thanks for your help, guys.