How many interviews?

tookep

How many interviews did you go on before you found your first job in IT?

Or if you haven't found your first job yet, how many interviews have you been on so far?

And when you got your first job (in IT), what do you think it was that secured it for you, which didn't in the other interviews (if you went to more than one)?

EdTheLad

After graduation i did about four interviews and they all went pretty bad, due to the fact was lazy to answer the ridiculous questions they ask, and dressing up in the suit always made me nervous and uncomfortable.Hating my final year thesis and dreading explaining it also didnt help.
So decided on a different approach,i had to start to make a real effort and try to direct the interview towards areas of interest, i bought the jobs newspaper and headed to the library, this was about 10 years ago and at the time alot of jobs mentioned atm, which i was curious about so i got an atm book and started reading.
Later that day i had a general idea of what atm was all about.Anyway a couple of weeks later i have had another interview, answered those boring questions,explained my thesis and low and behold i get the question "Do you know anything about ATM?" I said a little and started explaining, the interviewer was impressed and asked if i studied atm in college, i said no, i just read part of a book on ATM. That pretty much sealed the deal for me and i got the job as an atm engineer.
Since then i've passed every interview to date, the key is to show real interest in the technology and show you have a personality, relax and go with the flow, try to smile at least once in the interview.

deneb829

I lucked out, the tech school that I graduated from (in 1996) had an active placement department and 6 of us had jobs at (the now defunct) MicroAge in Tempe, Arizona the Monday after graduation. I don't know how the rest of the graduating class fared, but I am sure some of them had jobs that Monday while it took other's longer.

mrkorean

I started job hunting last month, I have had interviews with 5 different companies so far. A sixth interview today. I got one job offer already and two have asked me back for a second interview.

I always do my research on the company before the interview, get a good idea how they started, their technical advantages/disadvantages, look for any financial reports and go in with a smile.

During the interviews, I am always honest when I dont know the answer, after all they want to find your strength and weakness. No employer expects u to know absolutely everything.

misman1982

I found a job a year after college at the county IT dept working as a student assistant. I found the student assistant job while going back to school for a second degree. A few months after I started, an opening came around for IT support. That job was basically handed to me because they liked my work habits and how fast I was learning about how the county operates.

Before that I actually went to a city and walked around businesses dropping off my resume (Jacksonville and Orlando). My girlfriend at the time lived in J'ville and went to school in Orlando. It was terrible because I only had my college education to show and no work experience.

I guess persistance is key to getting started in this job field.