«Small talk creates a pleasant atmosphere»
Ms Deiss, young people often find it difficult to present themselves well at a job interview. What attitude would you like to see from recruiters?
Anyone looking for an apprenticeship should be aware of what young people have to cope with at the same time during the career choice phase. In addition to physical and personal development and the demands of school, mastering the step into the world of work is a major challenge.
How should a job interview ideally proceed so that even a reserved young person opens up?
It helps shy young people if the recruiter doesn't open the door straight away. Starting with small talk, introducing yourself and generally warming up a little creates a pleasant atmosphere. This includes saying thank you for the application and showing appreciation. This is also valuable for young people who don't consider themselves shy per se.
I think it's problematic to focus on weaknesses in a job interview.
During the interview, the focus is on the motivation and strengths of the applicant. At the same time, recruiters want to identify possible weaknesses. How can they do this without offending the young person?
I think it's problematic to focus on weaknesses. Instead, requirements should be verbalised, for example: a nursing profession is physically very demanding and the stress level is high. Have you ever experienced situations like this? How did you deal with it? In this way, employers create a link to the requirements and jobseekers can see whether they are suitable for the job.
If the question of weaknesses is nevertheless asked: How can young people react to this?
If they are well prepared and have familiarised themselves with the requirements for the job, they can answer accordingly. For example, for the IT job: «Languages aren't really my thing, but I really like maths. That's why I would like to apply for this job.» This is the link to the job profile. If young people are guided by school subjects, their personality - which is in a development process anyway - is not called into question.
