I'm getting anxious just reading that omg

Exactly my thoughts. Not helping my anxiety today for sure. Judgement!!

"Why do you want to work here?"
I can tell you from experience that "MONEY." Is not a good reason, for some stupid reason. Don't people want honest employees?

Story time.

Once went to a group interview for a Fred Meyers and they were going around the table asking us why each of us wanted to work for that location. We all heard the stuff you'd expect. I wasn't really feeling it for the position I signed up for ( Deli Clerk ) since checking in with some of the workers, I learned it was hell.

So when the hiring manager got to me and asked why I wanted to work there, I said " Because money is nice, and life didn't turn out like I expected down here. " I said it with a laugh of course and let that anxiety wash over me.

But we ended up talking after the interview and I ended up getting an offer for a cashier position instead.

I've never recovered since.

Holy Cats, for reals? I've never heard someone get a positive reaction after saying that. That's amazing.

For real. Although that same manager ended up leaving ( or transferring, vanishing, who the heck knows. ) a couple weeks later. Now I want to be perfectly clear what I did was stupid and would not pass 90% in any other interview obviously.

I've sat with managers who were so toxic, at one point I cut an interview short and walked out. I've also had my share of awkward, overly polite sits with the forced laughter and everything.

The only reason I ever said anything like I did was because I got a sobering wake-up call from the actual workers in the position I was going for and realized as I sat in a room of over nine people that maybe I didn't want this.

I'm still young, dumb, and play nice wherever I go otherwise.

I hope things are better for you where you are at :(

My worst job interview was almost a disaster. I had to interviewers who would sometimes talk at the same time, so I couldn't just focus on the mouth of one person (a personal interview technique I adopted that boosts their perception of me), and when one asked to tell them a little about myself, I was so thrown off by the previous work-related questions and difference in personality of both interviewers, I ended up talking about my work skills, then they repeated the question, and I zoned back in, over-analyzed what just happened, had a brain fart, and responded "I... like my car?" Yes with pause, AND with questioning inflection.
Despite that, I still got the job, and later, one of them (my manager) said I was clearly the most relaxed interviewee, most focused, and spoke very clearly. Even though that manager was let go a couple years later, I still have the job.
I don't have a lot of tricks for job interviews, but the ones I have tend to be highly effective.