Lessons From My First Job Interview That I Use To Date

By Lisa Osiako

The popular job interview question “Tell us about yourself,” is a one that is dreaded by many jobseekers around the world.

I look back at the first time I was asked this question. Fresh from college with quite a hairstyle and a semi-official outfit, I was invited for an interview in a certain Christian-based NGO.

With the little I knew about the company, I researched on it, and tried cramming the vision, mission and core values of the company – in case such a question was thrown at me.

Nightmares

I was not staying anywhere near Nairobi, so I had to travel a day prior to the interview to ensure I would get to the company’s offices on time the following day. As I did not know anyone who stayed around Hurlingham then, I went to the only place I knew – a two-hour distance to the location.

The risk of waking up late on the day of the interview was too high to be acceptable, so I slept early so as to wake up before dawn. In between the long and endless night, I had butterflies in my stomach and could not sleep. I lay awake staring in the dark, just picturing how the interview would go.

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Morning finally came and I was all set to go. The moment I stepped out of the house, it started raining. My shoes were already soggy and carrying all the mud I had gathered as I walked. I arrived at the interview location in the leafy suburbs of Nairobi looking miserable.

I tried looking calm and collected, but the anxiety of the impending interaction with the interviewers kept me feeling nervous.

The Interview

The offices were impeccably clean and the reception afforded us tea – I was too nervous to even take it.

Being the headquarters, the workforce looked well-organized and alert. They were all jolly looking and seemed to only converse in English.

When I was finally called into the interview room, I was met by a panel of three interviewers. One of them kept on smiling at me, perhaps to put me at ease. The HR Director prayed before starting off with the popular question, “Tell us about yourself.”

“My name is Lisa Osiako,” I started.

Undersold Myself

“I am a graduate of -,” I continued to be more irrelevant. The panel patiently looked at me as I spoke about my hobbies, my strengths, and my career goals. I mentioned I could multi-task, to which one of the interviewers asked how many tasks I could work on at a go. I never expected this question and had to think fast. I mumbled a figure that seemed satisfactory to them.

“How much do you expect to earn from us?” the HR director asked as she looked straight into my eyes. I had this all planned out, and quickly responded that sixty-five thousand shillings would be good.

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The interview ended with another word of prayer from the HR director thanking God for enabling me to be there and asking Him to be with me in my future endeavours.

She thanked me for having taken my time to attend the interview and told me to expect feedback within the next few weeks.

Lessons Learnt

Two weeks later, I got an email that started by thanking me again for having taken my time to attend the interview. It proceeded to apologize for the fact that my skills did not match the job profile. It went on to thank me again and wish me the best in my future endeavours.

The next time I went for an interview, I was hosted by a relative overnight and didn’t appear in the interview room looking anxious and confused. I learned to better prepare myself, dress confidently and even go through a mock interview the day before. The second time around, the interview results were less disastrous.