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Right off the bat, I'm bad at cold-turkey talking to new people. If you put any stock in personality tests, I'm an INFP. Basically great, thoughtful guy when you get to know me, but that getting to know may be a bit hard (the flattering description is from a definition I yanked off the internet). The important part with respect to interviewing is the I, for introverted. My residence hall director (my boss essentially) described it as a person who needs alone time. We're more or less social as the rest, but unlike extroverts who seemingly draw energy from these interactions, it actually tends to drain us. So sometimes I run out of juice and need a break.
Anyways, I digress. Using that phrase makes me sound like a bit of a prick, doesn't it?
Back when I was interviewing for college, I think I did a pretty good job. In those situations, I knew what I was interviewing for-- college. I'd wave around my academic and extra-curricular credentials, give the impression of a well-rounded individual gleaned from thousands of hours on the internet and generally be warm and enthusiastic. It was okay. I had four years to prepare for those interviews. Four years of experiences to share, and four years of longing for colleges X,Y,Z. So I had things to talk about myself. I had things to talk about the school. I had things to talk about the person (thank you LinkdIn). With all this material to draw on, the interviews were easy and went great.
I apologize in advance if any of the terms I use are confusing.
When I applied to be a Sophomore Advisor (its like being a Resident Advisor, minus the pay), I had an interview as well. I talked to two pairs of people who worked for ResLife. I guess part of being in ResLife is being a real people person, so they were kickass interviewers. I was pretty close with some of the staff (SA's, RA's) in my Res Hall, so I had a decent idea what I was interviewing as for. I also had a year's worth of experience in ResLife as a resident, so it went well. Now I'm stuck in a freshman dorm on a Friday night studying orgo, writing this blog and waiting for the drunk freshmen to stumble back in.
Now on the flip side, I had a really terribad interview yesterday. I applied for Leadership Commitee for Asian Student Organization. I did a pretty good job with my application (the trick I've figured for myself is to really not give a shit about what you think they're looking for and just write about yourself in a relevant manner) and got an interview. That's where things went to shit.
First, I had no real idea what I was applying for. Well, I knew that it entailed biweekly meetings, putting on some big events and such, but unlike most of my prior interviews, I had precious little to work with. I didn't know anyone in the organization, and there was precious little literature online.
Second, the only thing worse than an interview is the anticipation. What compounds that infinitely more is seeing and hearing the previous interviewee. There's something about it that just gets me sweating and shitting bricks. I paced around, tried to not eavesdrop, and cursed myself for forgetting my earbuds. My heartrate, which had been at a leisurely... whatever BPM decided to do its best jackhammer imitation. Yeah, I was going in already screwed. Of course I walk in finally, and the first thing they tell me is "don't get nervous".
Third, I hate when they ask you the same questions in the interview that were on the app. I mean, what in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster are you supposed to do? Give the same answer? Maybe they're looking or consistency, but it gives me the icky feeling of repeating myself. Plus, am I REALLY going to phrase it better now than in my app? Do they have my app in front of them? I DON'T FREAKING KNOW. Well, do I buy a couple seconds and think of another idea? Great, new idea. Is it going to be better than what was on my app? I've heard that some people are good under pressure, but I'm not one of them. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?
I think in the end it wasn't too bad of an interview. I thought of many aspects in which I could have done better, but there's no real use dwelling on it past remembering for future times. Hopefully when I have to interview for other things I'll be more prepared.
In any case, I'm a pretty shitty interviewer. If anyone out there rocks this thing, tips would be great.
 
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I think if you can answer the following three questions/ topics (clearly, confidently, and without rambling), you're generally good for any interview:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why do you deserve to get the job (over anyone else who's applying)?
3. What's something uniquely good that you do/ something you excel at, and what's something negative about you/ something you need to work on?
Other than questions and topics like that, it just comes down to experience and learning to be comfortable in that environment 
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I know where you're coming from, I definitely would describe myself similarly to you. When my friends are deciding what to do for a hang out, a lot of them say "well I don't wanna go unless phiinix is going", but when it comes to talking to the guy next to me in class, nooooo thank you. I'll sit here in silence staring at the wall or listening to music.
When it comes to any tips I can offer, for this post I'm only talking about the not so technical jobs like being an RA or job at a restaurant or entry level stuff, not the 'solve this problem' stuff. I'm also not an expert by any means, so really think about what I'm saying. If it doesn't make sense or seems wrong, don't think twice about disregarding it.
Anyhow, my take on the theory of not being nervous for an interview is that you have to be confident if who you are (someone who's cool if I get to know you) and try to let it show a little during the process. The other tid bit is that managers want someone who can take a little pressure so if you seem cool, that's good enough. I say that the best way to prepare for an interview is to know yourself (how cheesy right) and think "this isn't about the interview and answering the questions, it's about how well I can shoot the shit with this guy". I think one of the first interviews I did the guy was like "hey what's up" and I was like "good how are you?" LOL. Talk about mis-hearing the question, but it happens when you're too nervous about it. This isn't a test where you hope you studied enough. It's an interview about you, and you should know everything about you.
As for conducting the actual interview, I keep in mind 3 simple things before going in, and they are:
1. Research the company. Know what they're about and blah blah. If you have an opportunity to bring it up, mention it, or make your answers line up with their answers, good for you. Find out what makes them excited. Ex. Leadership committee. What makes them excited? (taking a guess) Some people just really like the behind the scenes work. They don't care so much about being the builder of the house, they like being the architect; the guy who can sit back at the end of the day and go 'That was MY idea', and in my opinion committees run like that. People have very specific roles and the public only gets to see a fraction of it; the joy is all for the do-er. Something like that.
2. Ask questions. This runs with the first idea in that if you're interested in the job, they have to be able to see that. How? Ask about things. Look like you care, because hopefully you do. Interviews are a lott less awkward if you can turn them more into casual conversations than an interrogation process. At the end Interviewers always ask "do you have any questions for me?" I think I've read somewhere that people suggest you say things like "what's your favorite part of the job?" or "why did you decide to work here?" In my opinion these are too obvious, and too cliche. You can bet your ass that people google how to conduct an interview, what to say, common questions, etc and the two above are probably listed. If you can, be original, and be specific if you can with your questions. At my last interview for a chain restaurant that was planning to really grow, I asked them "where are you most excited to see a new store?". Make them think, make it fun.
3. Ask yourself before the interview, where do you get your life knowledge from? Where do you spend a lot of your time, and what has effected you the most? What are the big events in your life? What makes you interesting? I honestly don't find myself to be interesting, and I really don't do a whole lot outside of sitting in front of the computer like a nerd. But even for me, I have some stuff to say. I'm a guy who graduated from a good college at a stupidly fast rate, I like to think of myself as reasonably cultured and intelligent. I watch ted talks, I read non-fiction (Malcolm Gladwell?), I play sc2 at an above diamond level (implying I know how to really 'learn' a game and thus apply myself to whatever the job is), and I follow the interesting (not drama) related things in the sc2 scene. If they're asking about my strengths I'll mention college. If I can insert trivia I learned from ted, I'll do it. If they're asking what-ifs and what-to-dos about unique situations, I'll think about what I've done, and what I've read about from TL blogs and sc2 general. I'll retell those stories and think about how they panned out.
To close out, the mindset I have for interviews is that half of the people hired are my friends. I've heard about it. I think it's a cool job, and I think I'm fit for it. I interject things like 'cool' 'interesting' 'wow who thought of that?' when the interviewer is telling a story or otherwise not asking me a question.I did my second round interviews on a day where a lot of people were doing first round interviews. In other words, I was in the cool kid club because I was ahead of them. And you should always feel like that.
Interviews are like anything else, you get better the more you do. You learn from the questions you never heard before, or get better answers for the ones that you botched badly. You start to ease up a bit.
And btw, your question about what happens when they ask you something you answered on the app? It's fine to say the same thing, or even mention that it was already on the app. I might say something like "yea I put it in the app that..."and then the key thing imo is that you elaborate. Talk about specifically what you did, what happened, how'd it go, etc.
Hope this helps and you nail your next interview :D
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I can relate totally to you. I agree with parts of phiinix advices. If you're unsecure research about the job indeed does help you, even though it's most times not that you need to know a lot about the company, more to calm yourself down. The feeling to have prepared for a thing which you can't possibly prepare for has a huge effect sometimes.
Also, each rejection makes it easier for the next interview, that's a thing you should realize. The panic you described isn't really panic, it's just being unexpierenced in combination with being afraid that something bad is going to happen if you screw up. Well, the people there get paid to listen to you, even if you turn out to be not the perfect man for the job. If it doesn't work it doesn't work, they're not going to murder you, scream at you or give you bad looks (unless you say you're into child molesting or something). It won't kill your career, make you a worse person or whatever. This sounds like a huge stereotype, but that's what you learn over time. In a worst case scenario you'll have to apply elsewhere - so what.
You said you made your application not so much about the job itself, but about you. Most of the "ordinary" interviews for beginners are like that. They'll still ask you about your application, so answer what you already wrote, just confirm that this data is valid. I realized that even for my shitty student's job a lot of people list stuff that sounds good, but that isn't really true - for example a lot of people say they know IT stuff, when they really only use facebook and write mails. Don't worry, just re-phrase what you wrote, give examples and maybe a few more details than what's already in front of them (written in your application). Also, the strategy of returning the question (if you don't do it too often that is) can help you out, too. The interviewers know that you're in front of one, two or more strangers that ask you stuff you can't prepare for, they know you'll do mistakes, because you are a beginner. Not being defensive is a good way to cope with that pressure and can show that you are indeed capable of handling such a situation. Just admit that you have problems with the situation to yourself, embrace the knowledge that there are dozens of people that went through the same process and survived (many of them most likely less qualified than you) and you'll get used to it sooner or later.
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Yeah, part of why I freaked out was because the person who went immediately before me kind of had a connection to the interviewer. Like I said, I tried not to eavesdrop, but she was pushing the connection pretty hard. I was applying with essentially no connections, so I had a bit of the "whatever, I'm screwed" attitude going on already.
Kudos to phiinix for your super-awesome post. So much of this stuff is subconscious, but reading it consciously helps.
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Okay update:
Didn't get email for a weekend but friends did, so I assumed I was rejected. Went to gym today, saw the guy who interviewed and stopped by to say hi. I planned to just confirm my rejection, tell him it was cool, and if they needed help I'd be around. Found out that I had been accepted but my email had just gotten lost somehow.
Like in the hobbit, a chance encounter can change everything for the better. All you need is a little courage, a little sense of adventure, and you could change your world.
Guess my interview wasn't quite as bad as I thought. Now I stopped dwelling on all the bad points and am looking at it from the other side, I guess maybe I did hit a couple good points, and my app was good enough to carry me the rest of the way.
Of course, this in no way changes how I felt earlier and thanks to all the people who gave me advice for future interviews.
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EPT
