You sound EXACTLY like me!
First, I’d make sure that you have a resume. Even if you don’t have any job experience, put down anything you can think of that you’ve done that might make you look good. Babysitting, awards or activities in high school/college, special skills that you have, etc.
My best advice is to sit down and make a list of every place you can think of in your town. I mean EVERY place. lol. Don’t be picky! Even places where you think you might not be qualified for at all may be hiring positions like shelf stocking or cashiering. (I even applied for Home Depot even though I don’t know anything about home improvement). Then go down the list you made and fill out as many as you can in one sitting. Once you get tired of that, go back the next day and tackle the list again until you finish. You can also add more places as you think of them.
Another strategy I have is to wake up early one morning, get dressed in some nice attire and drive into town. Stop at every business that you can and ask if you can fill out an application. A lot of applications are online these days, but if you have a chance to fill one out in person, that will be the very first impression that you give, so make sure you look professional!
As far as interviews go, first of all, I think appearance is half of the trouble. I try to stay away from bright colors/crazy patterned dress shirts and just wear a plain white shirt, black/khaki pants. If you have piercings like me, I take them out or hide them and put my dreadlocks up. I would hide any tattoos too, because you never know what the policies might be. (You can always find out what is acceptable later if you get the job).
When being interviewed, I won’t say ‘be yourself’ like most people probably would. Because I personally struggle with social anxiety and if I acted like myself in an interview, I’d probably just sit there and not say a word. haha. Since you struggle with being shy, you really just have to try your hardest to be sociable. It might sound lame, but I like to listen to happy/exciting music on the way to the interview to get as happy as possible. lol. I also try to always show up 10 minutes early. When you walk into an interview, treat it like there isn’t anywhere else you’d rather work and make sure you bring your resume. When meeting your interviewer, make the effort to shake their hand immediately and introduce yourself. It might feel uncomfortable, but try smiling the entire interview. When they ask you questions, take a moment and think about what they’re asking before you answer. I had a tendency to blurt out the first thought that came to mind and would end up jumbling up my words and sounding stupid. When they say “Tell me a little bit about yourself” talk about your goals in life. If you’re going to school, tell them what you’re studying or what you plan on studying. Then finally, when you leave the interview, make sure that you leave the interviewer with a copy of your resume and shake his/her hand again and let them know that you were happy to meet them and that you appreciate them giving you an interview. Then just wait for some calls!
Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get any calls from the next few interviews. Think of them as practice if you don’t get them. After a few more interviews you should feel a lot more confident and probably will do a lot better on them. Also, remember that just because you get a 2nd interview doesn’t always mean you’ve got the job either. I had a 2nd interview for a movie theater and I never got a call after that. It’s always a good sign though!
Just keep your head up and I’m sure you’ll find something soon. Just when I started to feel kind of hopeless I ended up getting the right call!
<3
