Interview tomorrow... no idea what to prepare!

Cath_Ster

Any help here would be great!

I have been working as a temp for about 6 weeks and an internal vacancy for a permanent position in the same job role has come up. I absolutely love the job so applied straight away and have been told that I have an interview on Monday.

I was told by the manager of the vacancy that I am the only one that has applied and they know I am able to do the job well as I have already been doing it for a while now. But I'm still feeling nervous and even less sure of what to expect than any normal interview!

The manager said it would just be an informal chat and not to bother preparing, but she will not be the one interviewing me as she interviewed me for the original role! I don't want to go in completely unprepared as the other interviewers (my current managers) may have other ideas.

What questions should I ask for a job that a) I am already doing and b) is for a client that I have not worked on before but my interviewers also do not work on? I've really no idea whatsoever what questions they're going to ask me, also - short of the usual bog standard interview questions like strengths and weaknesses.

McKneff

I'll never understand modern employment practices.

You've been there 6 weeks, they know you can do the job, they presumably know you are happy there, why cant they just transfer your role from a temp. to a permanent.

Obviously, it would also save them time (advertising, interviewing) and money,

Utter madness.

I have no adivce apart from trying to keep calm, eye contact, smile a bit.

Much good luck to you, let us know how you get on.

Racheldevon

You appear to have left it quite late to prepare.

Given that other people will be interviewing you, I would treat it as if they know nothing about you and are meeting you for the first time.

Prepare in the way you would for any other interview - spend some times reflecting on why you actually want this role, in this company. What skills and experience do you bring to the role? What qualities enable you to do the role well?

Do your research on the company? How do you feel about working in a company with X ethos/values/mission statement? If you don't know what they are look them up.

Spend some time reflecting on examples to share around commonly asked interview questions on things like:
- working as part of a team - what's important? What are the challenges/opportunities etc
-Diversity/equality issues e.g., how do you respond when a cleint/colleague /another professional holds a different opinion/view etc?
- Something around how you personally build and maintain relationships - whether with clients of colleagues, think of an example
-How do you own prejudices impact on your work/role? - do you have an awareness of what they are? How well are you able to reflect on them etc?

What support might you expect from the company in the first 6 months?

Come up with some questions to ask them about the role, regardless of whether you're currently doing it, and it's always good when someone asks something other than 'how much holiday do I get?' or the bog standard one about training, as it shows you've done your research.

barbarawright

Have a couple of prepared speeches - almost all interviewers ask why you are suitable for the job and to describe a problem you've overcome/achievement you're most proud of. So have you cv condensed to a 2 minute speech and a couple of prepared anecdotes. It might be worth asking about any potential changes in the company (sound positive about these) or areas that you think your new role might enable you to get involved with.

You need to do some preparation, however confident you are. Read the company report and website and check any recent news stories etc . Being too informal may make an HR rep think you aren't taking it seriously so don't forget to do all the polite things like thanking them for the opportunity.

Good luck - I'm sure you'll be fine!

Catherine_Johnson_2

McKneff wrote: »

I'll never understand modern employment practices.

You've been there 6 weeks, they know you can do the job, they presumably know you are happy there, why cant they just transfer your role from a temp. to a permanent.

Obviously, it would also save them time (advertising, interviewing) and money,

Utter madness.

I have no adivce apart from trying to keep calm, eye contact, smile a bit.

Much good luck to you, let us know how you get on.

Probably because, if the company didn't advertise for the position, other employees would be upset at not being given the opportunity of applying and then we'd get lots of complaints on here about modern employment practices and how mad it is!!

andy2004

I believe you miss understood McKneff post, I believe he was referring to outside the business advertising for the position. When they have people inside the business doing the job temporary, why they dont just have an internal memo to all temps that may be interested in going from temp to permanent that THEY are interested in. As in say out of 10 temps, 6 are good at the job, 3 are OK and 1 is about to find out their on the way out. Like at the factory where my sister works where all agency workers sacked, and the agency told to no longer supply anyone, due to the agency supplying idiots to the job. aka playing around heavy machinery like a crusher and almost having their foot crushed cause someone "agency worker" pressed the button. Or putting their hand in something they shouldn't. Seems a waste of time, resources and money to advertise a job placement outside the business when you have temp staff there capable of doing the job and you know this already without having to go through outsider's CV's to find someone else for the same job. That seems unfair to me.
example. someone working there 6months temp, doing the job well, then they advertise the job outside, local newspapers, jobcentres etc, and some unknown comes in and takes the job because the person doing them likes them yet they could be utterly useless at the job they are applying for, costing the firm money, time.

McKneff

andy2004 wrote: »

I believe you miss understood McKneff post, I believe he was referring to outside the business advertising for the position. When they have people inside the business doing the job temporary, why they dont just have an internal memo to all temps that may be interested in going from temp to permanent that THEY are interested in. As in say out of 10 temps, 6 are good at the job, 3 are OK and 1 is about to find out their on the way out. Like at the factory where my sister works where all agency workers sacked, and the agency told to no longer supply anyone, due to the agency supplying idiots to the job. aka playing around heavy machinery like a crusher and almost having their foot crushed cause someone "agency worker" pressed the button. Or putting their hand in something they shouldn't. Seems a waste of time, resources and money to advertise a job placement outside the business when you have temp staff there capable of doing the job and you know this already without having to go through outsider's CV's to find someone else for the same job. That seems unfair to me.
example. someone working there 6months temp, doing the job well, then they advertise the job outside, local newspapers, jobcentres etc, and some unknown comes in and takes the job because the person doing them likes them yet they could be utterly useless at the job they are applying for, costing the firm money, time.

Thank you, that is exactly what I meant. Ive just retired after spending 25 years in my last job so really have no experience of temps etc. I just use the common sense Ive had for the last 62 years:D