Mentioning children at interview

Southend1

gwen80 wrote: »

This thread seems to have generated quite a debate. Going back to my friend briefly, I spoke to her again about her interview. She has some strange takes on things sometimes and it seems that interviews are one of them. She said that I'm making her panic. She's said that her previous interviews (there haven't been many, she's been in the same job for years) were basically just a little chat. She's said she's worried she's going to 'fail'. Interesting choice of language there I thought. I said 'it's not an exam' and she said 'it is, kind of'. I completely disagree, it's a two way process and you don't get a mark at the end, you get one of two outcomes. Also, you could have aced the interview, but somebody else could have just pipped you.

I think the major problem is her lack of interview experience and the fact that she hasn't worked in a professional environment. I've tried my best, we'll see what happens.

Gwen

Sounds like she has low self esteem and really believes the interview will judge her worth as a person rather than just whether she's the best out of 200 odd applicants for that particular job. She's lucky to have a good friend like you. Hopefully you can boost her confidence before any interview and be there for her afterwards to reassure her she's still a great person even if she didn't get the job.

Errata

She sounds completely clueless, now she's blaming you for making her panic, the next step will be her blaming you for not getting the job and you will never, ever hear the end of it.

Mojisola

If you want to help her, get her to read through some websites,
eg. https://www.prospects.ac.uk/interview_tips_how_to_prepare_for_an_interview.htm

gwen80

Southend1 wrote: »

Sounds like she has low self esteem and really believes the interview will judge her worth as a person rather than just whether she's the best out of 200 odd applicants for that particular job. She's lucky to have a good friend like you. Hopefully you can boost her confidence before any interview and be there for her afterwards to reassure her she's still a great person even if she didn't get the job.

Yes, I think you're probably right about the self esteem.

Errata wrote: »

She sounds completely clueless, now she's blaming you for making her panic, the next step will be her blaming you for not getting the job and you will never, ever hear the end of it.

In the nicest possible way, you're right - she is clueless. She's worked in the same disorganised, unprofessional environment almost all her working life and doesn't know any different. I think she thinks that her workplace is the same as everywhere else, but it's not.

Having said that there is very little potential where she is and it's not doing her any good. I think she could do really well in a slightly different field (like the one she's interviewing for!) if she can get the interview well, get the job and then adapt quickly to the new working environment.

Mojisola wrote: »

If you want to help her, get her to read through some websites,
eg. https://www.prospects.ac.uk/interview_tips_how_to_prepare_for_an_interview.htm

Thanks. When I left my last job, they employed a company to come in and do training on CV writing, interview skills etc etc with us and I've lent her the info they gave us which is very good. I'll send her this as well though, just in case.