Sidequest 19: The Ultimate Job Interview Guide (Tips from an HR Pro!)
Put down the power tools, besties. Today, we are picking up our resumes! 🛠️📄
If you are currently job hunting, looking to switch careers, or just continuously struggling to land an offer, Sidequest 19 is officially the intervention you need. We love our DIY projects, but after conducting some recent interviews to expand the Handyma'am crew, we realized we needed to talk about a different kind of work: getting hired. Let’s just say… we’ve seen some things lately. 😳
Luckily for you, before she was a Handyma'am, our very own Samantha Pearl had a long, established career in Human Resources and conducted hundreds of interviews. Inspired by the absolute trauma of our recent chaotic hiring process, we sat down to give you the ultimate, no-BS guide to nailing your next job interview.
Here is a sneak peek at the HR secrets we are spilling in this week's episode:
🚩 Resume & Pre-Interview Red Flags
Why aren't you getting callbacks? It might be a you problem.
Stop Letting AI Ruin Your Resume: Recruiters can spot an AI-generated resume from a mile away. You have to edit it! Nobody wants to hire someone claiming they have a "professional installation of french fries."
Clean Up Your Contact Info: Is your email address from 2008 and highly embarrassing? Change it. Is your voicemail greeting a joke or totally chaotic? Delete it! You are losing jobs before you even speak to a human.
✅ The Absolute Do’s of Interviewing
Treat every interview like an audition. You are there to prove you are an asset to their team.
Do Your Homework: Always research the company before you arrive. Know what they do and who they serve.
Prep Your Stories: Have your behavioral stories ready to go. Think of past experiences where you solved a problem, overcame a conflict, or learned a hard lesson.
Bring Supplies: Always bring a pen and paper! It shows you are prepared, engaged, and ready to take notes.
Ask the Right Questions: Remember, you are interviewing them, too! Have thoughtful questions prepared to ask your interviewer at the end.
❌ The Ultimate Interview Don'ts
Please, we are begging you, do not do these things:
Don't Ask About Pay... Yet: Bringing up pay, vacation time, or benefits in the very first interview is a massive red flag. Save that for the offer stage or at least the second round!
Don't Trash Your Ex-Boss: We don't care how toxic your last workplace was—badmouthing your former boss or coworkers only makes you look like the problem. Keep it professional and focus on your own growth.
Avoid the "Forbidden Three": Never, under any circumstances, bring up the Forbidden Three topics in an interview: Religion, Politics, and Sex. Just don't do it.
✨ The Handyma'am Reality Check
At the end of the day, if you aren't getting hired, you have to look inward. Getting a job is about selling yourself as a solution to a company's problem. Stop making excuses, polish up that resume, practice your answers, and walk into that room ready to prove exactly why they need you!
Want the full, unfiltered HR breakdown? 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Sidequest 19 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and check out the video version over on our YouTube channel!
Got your own wild interview horror story? Drop it in the comments below or email us at hthm@myhandymaam.com!
