Nice people thread part 5 - nicely does it

John_Pierpoint

silvercar wrote: »

He wears a suit for school (the 6th form uniform policy).

I wanted to get something rather than money.

He doesn't wear a watch, which was my first choice.

I'll suggest concert tickets, but he did say no to an experience like skid driving. He wants an item.

Which Uni?
A house to sub let when he is there?

zagubov

chewmylegoff wrote: »

My public sector interviews have all been really good except one when I was at the SFO and the interviewer didn't realise they were interviewing an accountant and not a lawyer, and it went a bit wrong. I got fluid graded around that problem though! They've all included technical case studies as well.

Private sector...completely different, fairly vague and high level in comparison. Always hit and miss and I've felt it's a lot more whether you fit with the organisational culture than whether you are good at the job.

Proudest moment was when I got my best student into a top university after one interview led to his rejection.

We kicked up enough of a stink to get a second interview, after which they accepted him. Followed his progress and like we all predicted he came top of every exam, year after year and after graduation now doing well in his career.

Incredibly satisfying. God alone knows what the initial interview rejected him on. Charity makes me say it was his genuine affable un-pretentious Eric-Morecambe-style personality -probably didn't "cut the mustard" .

And not his skin colour.;)

John_Pierpoint

michaels wrote: »

I know this will shock you all but I wear a watch like this:


Normally you can get them for about a fiver, they last 2 years before the strap breaks (batteries last much longer). They have a light and alarm, can be worn in the sea or wherever and you couldn't care less if they get scratched, paint on or whatever.

I have a larger version of that one. Must have bought it 10 years ago, with a guaranteed 5? 10? year battery. What they did not tell you is that the straps last 2 - 3 years and they are a special design. Same trick as the computer printer manufacturers "giving away" the machinery and trying to sc rew you on the ink cartridges - fortunately there seem to be cheap sources of Cannon compatible ink and Casio compatible straps available for £5 upwards.
Next time the strap breaks I will have to go to the bother of getting a replacement watch.

lostinrates wrote: »

Also, wondering if all nice parents watch the royal Institution Christmas lectures with the nice children? You rarely hear them mentioned these days, though that might be cos i don't mix in the right circles any more!

Was I a nice child?
Actually got delivered to one of these lectures by best friend's mum.
I seem to remember that it was quite interesting but cannot remember what it was about.
Definitely the biggest mistake a child can make is choosing the wrong parents.

vivatifosi wrote: »

My favourite hidden bits round there are all the tube stations you can get to just off junction 4. When we went to Stratford for the Olympics warm up it was an hour from Stanmore door to door. We also often use Stanmore to get to Wembley and the O2. Plus just down the road there's Edgware. We also use Watford, Chorleywood and Ricky stations to get into London. I should get round to trying the end of the Piccadilly line too but never have.

I used to work it the other way round - which of those stations would be the best for hitching a lift up the M1? Stanmore was the station of choice.
In those days there was the notorious two lane "death" carriageway round Watford - just a hint of fog and there would be a multiple pile up at Watford - the extension to Brent Cross was still only a twinkle in a planner's eye.
By hitching cars only, one could get up early and be North of the Border the same day and that included a tour of the Coventry car factories - there being no M6 link through spaghetti junction North of Brum.
Plus a compulsory stop at Shap to allow the vehicle to stop boiling.

lostinrates

Good god, the lunatics are all out there on the board again.

What i don't understand is why people goad people they think are not right or unhinged. Its very likely that people posting are at a mental healTh low at times, or sometimes permantly, and the law of averages suggests some of us aren't bright, so why if people think they are dealing with any of the above, keep poking with a stick? It makes respondants as misguided as the misguided if you ask me.

Doozergirl

vivatifosi wrote: »

I think you are right, public sector panel interviews are very different to interviews in the private sector. I find public sector interviews a bit like some sort of yoghurt-knitting sudoku - very worthy and politically correct but if you work out the formula you can solve the puzzle and get the post (providing of course there aren't other internal candidates who are a shoe in but they have to go through some bloomin' stupid processes because they aren't allowed to just give people the job). Private sector interviews tend to be very different. More likely to be one-to-one, at least for the first round and can be very varied. Hard to know what to expect until you get there, you can do your research and find out about the company but there's still no guarantee that'll be what you are asked about.

I agree. I had an interview on Friday for Local Government. There was a formal test to see if I could actually do the job, which I thought was a pretty simple way to sort wheat from chaf. The interview consisted of six uestions, and it was easy to fill the rest of the 30 minute time slot with my own uestions as they didn't actually tell me much about the role and the people and it's not the sort of department you can google. They phoned me at the end of the day to offer me the job.:) (It's not a career move,but it's part time mummy 's job in a fascinating department that I'm really excited about, I need to be with people to keep sane and it will cover DS's school fees, just)

In my last proper job, I was asked to describe the "circle of success" at the third interview. There was another one, I forget where I had to ask him to explain !!!!!! he was on about . I like viva's comment about jerks and probably should have guessed at that point .

I have a folder which I filled with potential interview uestions and answers to help me revise. There is also a list I made of uestions to ask them and that comes in with me to the interview. There's nothing worse than not having a uestion for them at the end, which is sometimes hard when they've gone into so much detail on what, where, when, why themselves and you've gathered information down to tracking the price of their shares on an hourly basis and have the history of the group since 1893 or whatever, in case someone asks. Which they will. You're left asking them how they take their coffee.

lostinrates

My clothing dilemma for today has left me with a pair of pjs. So i am about to go and spend some time gardening road side in my pjs.

Doozergirl

lostinrates wrote: »

Oh, meant to say found a sleepy app bettervthan the ain one, or a good. Its called rela, or something
Ike that, and you can choose other sounds, though less variety of rain. I like the night and campfire ones, but the dramatic few bars of epic music felt like going to sleep in a very repetitive film. Good though.

It's funny,I downloaded Sleep Machine Lite around the same time that you started with your rain. Last night I downloaded Headspace which is a meditation app with a nice man's voice to guide you. 10 minutes a day but I did it before sleep and it was great The little videos before showing what happens if you try too hard were exactly me. I've been getting headaches and trying to be totally still, but my head kept overfilling and the thoughts were shouting at me if nothing else was.

Doozergirl

lostinrates wrote: »

My clothing dilemma for today has left me with a pair of pjs. So i am about to go and spend some time gardening road side in my pjs.

I like your style :T

I had my legs waxed yesterday,so to make myself more presentable, I'd roll up the pj legs so people could see that I'm not a total trogglet. Saves them judging :rotfl:

LydiaJ

Doozergirl wrote: »

I agree. I had an interview on Friday for Local Government. There was a formal test to see if I could actually do the job, which I thought was a pretty simple way to sort wheat from chaf. The interview consisted of six uestions, and it was easy to fill the rest of the 30 minute time slot with my own uestions as they didn't actually tell me much about the role and the people and it's not the sort of department you can google. They phoned me at the end of the day to offer me the job.:) (It's not a career move,but it's part time mummy 's job in a fascinating department that I'm really excited about, I need to be with people to keep sane and it will cover DS's school fees, just)

Oooh! Exciting! Congratulations Doozer. :T:beer:

PasturesNew

Doozergirl wrote: »

In my last proper job, I was asked to describe the "circle of success" at the third interview.

Oh Lord.... I'd probably panic and immediately say something like ... "Isn't that something you see on Internet !!!!!!?"

Doozergirl wrote: »

I have a folder which I filled with potential interview uestions and answers to help me revise. There is also a list I made of uestions to ask them and that comes in with me to the interview. There's nothing worse than not having a uestion for them at the end, which is sometimes hard when they've gone into so much detail on what, where, when, why themselves and you've gathered information down to tracking the price of their shares on an hourly basis and have the history of the group since 1893 or whatever, in case someone asks. Which they will. You're left asking them how they take their coffee.

Oh boy ..... I just turn up and expect to answer questions based on my CV and the job.



My question is always .... "Do you think I am the sort of person you are looking for?" and "When will you be making a decision?"