Hey!

So I've been applying to jobs for 2 months now and I think my resume is okay despite the lack of experience in retail or sales or food service industries (I have 4 years of customer service experience) because I've gone to 7 interviews so far. Bear in mind these are kind of minimum wage jobs (retail, food service) but after the interview, I don't get hired. My sister, who used to handle management and hiring for a restaurant, told me not to be too confident when interviewing. She says that hiring officers are never looking for the best or most competent person for the job, they're looking for the person they would most benefit from. She says i'm not supposed to sell myself or my skills, but my ability to be their most helpful and least troublesome employee.

I'm honestly confused because when I used to apply for much higher level jobs [in my home country], I would come in with this confident mindset and get offers on the spot. Here, this doesn't seem to be effective at all. Just to provide more context, I moved here as a student last August from my home country to experience some independence from my family. I am honestly feeling a lot of guilt contributing to the immigration problems here, the job market is so bad.

I know i'm extremely privileged to not need a job but I came here thinking I was going to be able to gain and experience that independence.

May I have some advice regarding interviews? What is your mindset coming in to an interview? What are some helpful things to keep in mind as you're interviewing?