job interview help and advice needed please.

[Tortoise]

First ever job interview tomorrow afternoon. I haven't worked since DS1 was born 14 yrs ago! I have never had an interview and have absolutely no idea what to expect.
It is for a job at small town , local coffee shop. I know the owners because DS2 used to be friends with their DS.
I have no experience in shop work or anything tbh other than childcare!
I don't know what to expect at all and am terrified!

On the phone she said there were lots of other applicants and her dh is doing the interview.

Any advice please.

Dress neat and tidy, be polite and smiley. Keep eye contact and appear confident. Be prepared with an answer for why you are the person for the job (dependable, honest, good with customers etc) and think of an example to back each of these attributes up. Sell yourself and emphasise your skills!

good luck!

Just noticed you said you have no experience in shop work. You can always say you have experience of being a consumer and you know what standards of service you would expect as a customer (and also what constitutes bad customer service). Turn the negative sides round, iyswim.

Make sure you have some questions to ask them about the business/role.

Remember that you have an interview is a good thing, if they have had lots of applicants they wouldn't bother interviewing you if they really didnt think you were up to the job.

Good luck!

All sounds so hard. I'm rubbish with words/knowing what to say!
From what she said there are a lot if applicants to interview.

If you are nervous, why not try to "rehearse" your answers. There are questions which come up all the time (Tell me about yourself, what are your strengths/weaknesses, why do you want this job...) Also, there might be a few questions like "A customer complains that the coffee taste bad, what do you do?"

If you google retail interview questions, you will find lots of examples with best answers.

Best of luck!

See, that is where I would get totally stuck and unsure of myself. This is all going to go so badly! Hard to practice something with zero experience if an interview.

Being doing lots of thinking so thank you for tips. I'm not confident but i have to hope I can at least survive the interview!

Trousers and shirt ironed ready for later.

How did it go?

TBH I don't think it went well. I went blank, couldn't think of what to say in reply to questions. Will find out early next week.

I just wanted to say well done

If you have no retail experience at all, perhaps you should think about doing some unpaid work to boost your confidence and build up your CV? Volunteer in a charity shop? Take the money for teas at church/school fate? Something to prove you are reliable and can be trusted to handle cash.

I hope it was good experience. Even better if you get it :)

Well done for getting the interview and then for getting through it IYKWIM? I can't think of a way to say it without sounding patronising - but after 14 yrs out out the workplace you must have been petrified! I've only been on maternity leave for 3 months and am fretting about the mere possibility of getting an interview for a job I haven't even applied for yet

Well done. Even if you don't get the job, it's interview experience. Can you remember any of the questions you were asked? If so, take a note of them as they may help you next time.

And I'll bet you weren't as stuck for an answer as you imply. It's really difficult to rate your own performance at interview! You may well have come across better than you think.

Thanks for replies.
I will look into local charity shop, I know the lady who runs it!
I can sort of remember questions asked.
And I really was rubbish. Lots of umms and can't think of anything else's! But yes all good experience for future.
Need to work out, how it would work out I would be better off, too. Wages were £5.93 ph.

Wanted to add a well done too! Interviews take practice, at least next time you'll be more prepared/know what to expect.

Charity shop work is a fantastic idea, anything that can get you more experience. Sometimes local hospitals have cafes run by volunteers too.