Job Interview!

[Rhyfelwyr]

You may remember I made a thread a while ago about CV's... well, now my hunt for a job may have produced some fruit, as I have an interview with KFC tomorrow.

I've had job interviews before, but I guess they might be a bit different with a fast food chain.

Any ideas on what I might have to expect?

Or what should I say if they ask me what KFC means to me or something like that (I was asked that by Argos before )?

I was practically their main customer at the store a few years ago, I've eaten more colonel's meals than any other form of foodstuff... not sure if that's something to mention though.

[Lemur]

Or what should I say if they ask me what KFC means to me or something like that (I was asked that by Argos before )?

I believe their corporate position is that KFC stands for KFC, in much the same manner that DVD stands for DVD (since nobody could ever agree if it was a "Digial Versatile Disc" or a "Digital Video Disc"). It originally meant Kentucky Fried Chicken, as you well know.

Make sure to slam a double down for me while you're there.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Unless it's a trick question and it is really a “how do you feel about KFC”/“why do you want to work at KFC” one.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Yeah I was thinking of going along the rather generic lines of 'in enjoy dealing with people (rofl)', or 'i like working as part of a small team' etc if they go the 'why do you want to work here' route.

It does seem like some of the questions can be a bit silly... when you are asked what generic corporation x means to you, are you supposed to burst into a speech and declare its been your dream to work there since you were a kid?

I'm kind of hoping I'm the only one for the job, since I read McDonalds tend to just bring the person in they are looking for and show them round straight away... also I got the job by handing in a CV, rather than online which I was told is the normal route, so maybe they just saw my CV and never put the vacancy online yet.

[Beskar]

Questions at KFC -

Can you communicate price, menu and understand what these are in English, even if not coherently?
Are you easily manipulated to overwork for underpay?

You're hired!

[Myrddraal]

Manager: So Mr... Riffelwire? Why do you want to work at KFC?

Rhyfelwyre: When I was very young... *pause*

Manager: ...yes?

Rhyfelwyre: Sorry, this is very emotional for me. When I was very young, five or six, a really nasty big boy stole my packed lunch at school and gave me a wedgie when I tried to get it back. Oh the humiliation... all my so called friends shunned me, laughed at me, and I ran away from school, tears streaming from my eyes. On that day it seemed to me that my world was coming crashing down around me, and my stomach was cramped with hunger. The tears were blurring my vision, and so I didn't see the man walking the other way. When I bumped into him I thought he was going to beat me up like that nasty boy at school, but instead he knelt down beside me, put a hand on my shoulder, and asked me what was wrong. When I told him the great injustice which had befallen me, he reached into his satchel bag and produced a red cardboard bucket with the face of a kindly looking man on it. The bucket smelled of sweet sweet fried chicken, and seemed to me to shine with some kind of inner glow. The man walked on as I greedily ate, and I never had a chance to thank him, but on that day my life changed. I said to myself then, Rhyfelwyr, even if you fail at all else in life, you must one day create something as beautiful as this bucket of chicken. To create this glorious blend of life changing nectar! To work under the red banner of the ...

Manager: Sorry I'm going to have to stop you there. You've already overrun your allocated 30 second interview. NEXT!


For a more serious interview tip: be relaxed but engaged, confident but not cocky, and don't lie.

[Lemur]

I'm picturing something like this ... [warning: one f-bomb at the very end of the video]

[Monk]

It does seem like some of the questions can be a bit silly... when you are asked what generic corporation x means to you, are you supposed to burst into a speech and declare its been your dream to work there since you were a kid?

Going to a job interview is like experiencing reverse fishing. You're going to be asked a lot of odd questions whose goals are purely based in finding out what sort of person you are and the job you're looking for. Declaring that you've wanted to work there all your life is probably not the best approach, since it sounds fabricated and is as "stock" as you get.

Just tell them you want to work in the food and customer service industry and you think their corporation does that best. Bring up your own experiences at their places of business.

[Myrddraal]

Do you see yourself as having any weaknesses?

I love that question. Everybody struggles to find a weakness which is actually a strength.

[Beskar]

Do you see yourself as having any weaknesses?

I love that question. Everybody struggles to find a weakness which is actually a strength.

"Do you see yourself as having weaknesses?"

"Only in playing football."

"Why is that?"

"Because I wouldn't be here and playing for Man United for hundred thousand per week."

[Rhyfelwyr]

Oh dear I have the same accent as the guy in Lemur's video, the old west coast "naawwwww" for "no", with a bit of broad Scots Teuchter thrown in.

A bad omen...

EDIT: Not exactly actually, he pronounces o's, so that "box" sounds like "boax", I don't have that.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Oh dear I have the same accent as the guy in Lemur's video, the old west coast "naawwwww" for "no", with a bit of broad Scots Teuchter thrown in.

A bad omen...

EDIT: Not exactly actually, he pronounces o's, so that "box" sounds like "boax", I don't have that.

Skip the magic dust before the interview and follow Monk's & Myrddraal's advice and you'll do fine.

[TinCow]

Do you see yourself as having any weaknesses?

I love that question. Everybody struggles to find a weakness which is actually a strength.

Yes, that is the single hardest question to answer. I have found the best way to handle it is not to find a "weakness which is actually a strength" but rather to pick a real but not horrific weakness and then explain how you've worked to solve or counteract it. That seems to come across as far more genuine than "I work too hard" or similar .

[Andres]

Gah, job interviews.

Ok, I can understand that if you're going to hire somebody, you need to assure yourself that it isn't a complete nitwit and that he has some manners, but jeez, the moronic questions they sometimes ask. More than once I've asked myself the question how the guy/woman interviewing me ever got his/her job and why he/she was getting paid for it?

Do you see yourself as having any weaknesses?

How about you stop wasting my and your company's time with your nonsense and let me start already?

Most of the time it are "selection bureaus" (well, they're called like that in my country) asking you such question; usually the people interviewing you do not have the degrees required for the job you are applying for nor do they have the slightes idea of what exactly one needs to be capable of to do the job. It are people with flashy English titles all thinking that they are very important and... gah.

/rant.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well the interview went fine, I never got asked about weaknesses, and when asked why I wanted to work there I went with the 'work as part of a small team' route.

But they did say they were interviewing a few people today, so I will just need to wait and see...

[drone]

Dress in a white suit, white shirt, black tie. Express your love of the Double Down.

[Cyclops]

So long as you didn't use the ol' Lewis Kinisky line "I'm a piece of hate shaped like a man" you should be in with a chance.