Interview advice please

boosas

Hi All,

Happy New Year to you all.

I have been lucky enough to be offered a interview with my local council for a IT role. As it's a council job, I am quite intimidated and getting myself more and more nervous! :wall:

I am thinking of wearing a black suit, white shirt and black shoes, does that sound right? I was going to opt for a brownish tweed type suit with a beige top but not sure if that would be inappropriate? Both suits are smart but the black suit option may be more fitting with the conservative look?!?

On the job spec it states it will test me on my IT skills, the job require web skills esp. in HTML, CSS, VB Script and .ASP. I have little practical experience in the last 2, do you think they would test me on all skills or just randomly test me on 1 particular skill? I am so nervous when it comes to interviews and have never been put on the spot with tests so this is a new one to me. I get so nervous that I don't want to come across as a "fake" i.e. they test me and I cannot answer the question and I lose the plot!!!!

Any advice will be much appreciated!

TIA

:eek:

Astaroth

I'm colour blind so would personally go with the black suit and white blouse look (though personally being male and all would wear a shirt and tie - blouses are strictly for the weekend only for me )

ASP and VBScript are both old technologies and so havent changed much in the last 2 years. CSS is more dynamic and is holding an ever more important role.

Personally I would use the time to swot up a little more on CSS, its uses, strengths and weaknesses and given it is for a council probably more focus on the Disability Discrimination Act/ cross browser compatibility aspects of it rather than the Search Engine Optimisation.

Having never been for an IT job I dont know what their "tests" would be... I personally cant see it being a "explain what SQL is" type question but would imagine it is more along the lines of "what challenges does the DDA pose etc" but I could be totally wrong.

NigeWick

boosas wrote:

I am quite intimidated and getting myself more and more nervous!

I am thinking of wearing a black suit, white shirt and black shoes, does that sound right?

I have little practical experience in the last 2

Take several deep breaths and calm down. If that doesn't work, take several more and keep repeating the exercise until you feel OK.

Black suit will likely be fine. Make sure the shoes are highly polished and wear a reasonably sober tie that matches the suit. No excessive jewellery, hair neat and tidy with beard trimmed or clean shaven.

You would not have got an interview if they did not believe that you can do the job. You just have to show that you will give better value for money than the other people being interviewed.

Start thinking of answers to the usual questions now:- Why do you want the job? What do you think you will bring to the job? Have you any comments on our Health & Safety policy (and other policies)? Before answering, take a breath and THINK of a good response. There is nothing wrong with thinking before you speak. Think of some appropriate questions about the position to ask them, so do your homework on what the job entails as well as the Council as a whole. Don't forget to arrive in the area well in time and then be at least five minutes early at the venue so that you can go to the toilet and relax before you are called. Some people advise refusing any drinks and nibbles if offered as you may make a mess. Others will recommend accepting as you will seem more friendly. The choice is yours. Before you go, make sure that you really do want the job! Be yourself so that they know exactly what they are getting. This has the benefit of saving you trying to put on an act in the interview and then there being personality clashes if you get the job. They will want somebody who can do the work well, and, will fit in nicely with the current staff so that the whole operation runs smoothly.

If you have got time, go to the library and read a book on interview technique.

Just my thoughts and hopefully you will get a definitive answer from somebody else. If you really think this is what you want, good luck!

Nigel.

nickmack

You don't say exactly what the role is but I assume it's some sort of Web Administrator from the skills you have specified.

I would expect to be asked questions on all of these. They may provide you with some HTML examples and ask you what's wrong with the code. CSS would probably be the main focus as it's very powerful and probably used extensively in any company site.

VBScript and ASP may or may not be as important depending on the exact role. It's possible you'll be asked about databases and recordsets. Probably about looping and recursion to create dynamic content. You may be able to make an intelligent guess at some questions in this area. If you don't have a clue, often recruiters will respect you more if you say you don't know rather than rambling on for ages with a totally irrelevant answer.

If it's a written test, you will won't be under pressure to answer immediately. If there are interview questions, you should remain as calm as you can and sound confident with your answers rather than mumbling and waffling.

skintscotsman

Technical stuff aside, you may find this link useful:

http://www.i-resign.com/uk/cv-coverletter-interview/

especially the interview part.

That site is an excellent read and quite light-hearted. Good luck with the interview

boosas

Hi All,

Thanks so much for the advice, I really appreciate the tips. It has been a while since my last interview and I feel that I probably am a bit rusty with interview techniques, esp. those involving IT skills as it's always evolving. I'm more of a hands on person and am quite pants at explaining myself in these situations.

The position is for a Web Admin Support, I do have time to swot up on the skills I am not so confident on so will start tomorrow.

Thanks again, the advice given here is always sound and some points there I would not have known or thought of.

I will let you know how I get on (interview is in 2 weeks), keep your fingers crossed for me!

flowerofthewest

It may be worth contacting the head of department for an informal chat to find out more about what the job entails. This also shows them that you are truly interested in the job and are showing initiative.

Savvy_Sue

In the general part of the interview, there WILL be a question on 'equalities' issues, so make sure you know the full range of what's covered by their Equal Opportunities Policy. Which is probably on the council's website. And give some thought to how their website / your role contributes to this - yes, the DDA is important, and websites often aren't truly accessible to ALL. Can't help with the technicalities so just as well others already have ...

I agree that if you're asked a technical question that you don't know the answer to, it's better to say "I don't know" than bluff it and get it wrong. However, if you can link to related experience, that's good. "I don't know exactly how .ASP works in that situation, but I understand the importance of what we'd be trying to achieve there, and when using CSS I've found that time spent on the underlying principles paid off in the long run" kind of thing. (Note, that's probably complete garbage, but I'd never produced tables in Word and they came up in a practical test for me: I explained this in the 'question' part and said that although what I'd done wasn't perfect I'd got the job completed, it was an internal memo, and if necessary I'd draw lines with a ruler and pen to get the job done! That's another job I got!)

Now, this is my very very personal take on 'what to wear to interview', but to me a black suit sounds a bit funereal. And I remember interviewing for a job I was leaving, and all three interviewers were in black jackets, and so were our three interviewees. So when I've worn that black jacket since then, I've teamed it with something bright (but I am female, so bear that in mind.) And my favourite interview jacket is a bright pinky-red colour ... I got my last two jobs wearing it!

Yes, if you're a chap, the black suit is probably smarter than the brown, BUT try to wear something memorable with it - NOT a joke tie, but maybe a brighter one? Or a tasteful pastel shirt with toning tie - that BBC1 newsreader looks astounding in pink!

Good luck!

skintscotsman

Savvy_Sue wrote:

that BBC1 newsreader looks astounding in pink!

This is going to sound a bit daft, but the best way for either a male or a female to dress for an office job, especially a mamagerial role, is BBC Newsreader style. Make sense?

Plasticman

Did they send you an information pack? In preparation for an interview I always look through the advert, job description and any extra info provided and break it down into skill areas (eg people management, budget management etc). If they provided you with a 'Person Specification' that would be a good place to start.

I then think of my experience in those areas and think of some good examples up front. More organisations (particularly public sector) are now using competency based interviews where they want to know about your experience in certain areas rather than answers to theoretical questions. If you can have a few examples of things you've done that demonstrate your skills then it's worth keeping them up your sleeve rather than having to think of something on the fly!

In relation to the technical skills, I imagine they will ask a question or two on each area. They know from your application form what skills you've got so don't be afraid to say 'I don't know' if you don't. Don't bulls**t - they won't appreciate it! If you're looking for this type of job but don't have all of the skills have you thought about some night classes etc? A prospective employer would much rather here "I don't know, but I am starting an evening course next month...." than a plain "I don't know".

If you need more advice, ask!

PS - I'd always go with the black suit

Idiophreak

When I started my current job (software dev) I was asked to sit a 45 minute written technical examination. That was for asp and css too.

I was absolutely wetting myself, it was my first ever job interview, but actually it wasn't that bad.

Most of the questions I had were more to do with paradigms, models, practices etc rather than specifics and syntax of the languages (which was good, I had no experience at all...). Admittedly mine was at a junior level, so it may be tougher for grown-ups

A couple of them I messed up, a couple I didn't know and a couple I drew complete blanks.

The best advise I can offer is not to worry about it. Presumably you think you're pretty much qualified to do the job, otherwise you wouldn't be applying for it. That being the case, you should be able to answer (or at least take a good stab at) most questions they could reasonably ask you.