Feel daft for asking but could really use some help/advice

teabag29

Ok so some of you will have read my previous posts regarding my daughter and fighting to get her help in school (she has a catalogue of special needs) well now I need some help for me.

Ok so my story in short is got involved with a violent man and had children far too young, got into a lot of debt through him and abused regualrly.

Finally broke free and tried to sort my life out. Got a degree in 2010 (only a 2:2 in Criminology but due to childcare hardly ever attended plus I lost my dad to cancer and was being harassed by ex so big achievment for me). Did some volutary work as and when I could and began working on my debts.

Fast forward to now and ive spent past 3 years caring for my daughter and battling to get her help which has not been easy.

Throughout all this I have very little in the way of family and no friends, i lost any confidence I had and isolated myself. I did however remarry and have my husband but that is all.

I have managed to clear most of my debts and am awaiting my defaults to drop off next year before my creit is back to being good. I decided to take the next step and apply for a job, just part time as I now home educate my daughter. I applied for a few but wasnt expecting to hear back as I have hardly worked in my life (apart from voluntary work at police station and some factory work before my children 12 yrs ago all I have done is study) and had little to put on my cv, however lastnight I got a call from WH Smith to come for an interview on Friday. Its only for about 4-8 hours 1 evening per week but she said it will increase alot during busy periods especially christmas.

Problem is i'm really nervous, I mean REALLY. I suffer badly from anxiety and i'm worried about the interview as I dont have much experience with interviews and although im well educated I do lack common sense alot of the time, what do I say if I get asked something like give an example of a time you've overcome a problem or achieved something etc in the workplace (or out). I havent a clue how to answer these kind of questions and dont really know apart from that what i'll be asked.

Please can someone help me with the likely questions i'll be asked and how its best to answer them. That sounds really pathetic at my age but as you can probably tell i've had the confidence knocked out of me and am behind in these kind of skills but really want to get back into work for me and make some new friends. Any help would be really appreciated

dancingfairy

Hi Teabag, there's various types of interview from chatty, to competency based etc.
Firstly you generally get asked a few starter questions, how was your journey and then something like tell me about yourself , why are you applying for the job.
Make sure you know your cv and are happy to talk though the things you've put on there.
Have you seen a job description or person specification for this job? that will give you a clue as to what skills they are looking for (and are likely to ask about). If not think about what skills they will require and how they might ask about them.
For customer service jobs they will generally ask about times when you had a difficult customer, time when you worked well in a team (or when you didn't and how you could improve), when you solved a problem etc.

I hope the interview goes well for you, but take it as a learning experience. Also places like Next Step (the adult careers service) may be able to help you with practice interviews for the next one!

Best of Luck
df

lindens

Remember examples you give to problem solving etc dont have to be work examples. If you dont have any just give real life family examples. eg about home schooling, organising the household and family.

Errata

You've gained a degree, you are home educating your daughter. You're confidence may have taken a knock but your intelligence hasn't. Go for it and look on it as interview practice, if you get the job it will be a bonus.

elsien

Practice some answers beforehand - if you don't have relevant workplace experience to draw on, then what is there in your own life that might be relevant, but is not too personal for you to want to share?
So for example if they ask you a question about organisational skills, you could relate it to planning your syllabus for your daughter. How did you find out what you needed to do, what resources did you need, what sources of advice did you access, how do you monitor and review what you're doing with her to keep on track.

Not that they will necessarily ask this, but I'm just giving an example of ways in which you can relate your own experience to what they're looking for.

If they ask about achievements, then doing voluntary work and completing your degree whilst caring for your family seems like a pretty good starting point to me.
If it's a customer facing role, there'll probably be something about managing difficult situations. So your answer would be about how you do this, and knowing when it's appropriate to get help/pass things up the line.
You really need to look at the job spec to work out what they might be asking about. Good luck with it all, and the interviewers will make allowances for nerves - practically everyone gets nervous in interviews.

tesuhoha

You can never really plan interviews as unexpected questions crop up but some common ones are:

What can you bring to this post

Why do you want to work in our company

What do you know about our company

Where do you expect to be in five years time

A few pointers

Try to give positive rather than negative answers i.e. What would you say your weaknesses are? (Wrong answer) I worry too much about deadlines (Better answer) I'm a bit of a perfectionist and sometimes I have unrealistic expectations of myself.

Do your homework. Research the company on the internet, even if its a well known company like W.H. Smith. Have several questions that they are unlikely to tell you in the interview, they almost always ask if you have any questions.

Be smart. Make a good first impression. They say that an interviewers mind is made up in the first few seconds of an interview. Wear a suit if possible. Polish your shoes. Make sure your tights have no snags. Have a crisp blouse. Smile and give a firm handshake. Stand and sit up straight in the interview so that you look alert.

If they ask a question and your mind goes blank, repeat the question back to them to give yourself a few seconds to recover. Why should we give you the job? Em - why should you give me the job - em - well because - it gives you just a little bit of time to think of something.

If you get asked an unexpected or ridiculous question, don't automatically think that you have to give a smart answer. My daughter was asked if she was a car, what kind of car would she be? She replied that she would be a Toyota Yaris because it was dependable. She answered that way because it was her car, and the only car she knew about. They then asked her what colour she would be and she said black because that was the colour of her car and she chose it. She got the job!

Good luck.

Kitiara

The practical help on here is spot on regarding your preparation for the interview, but on the day you might find a few drops of Bach Flower Rescue Remedy might help you relax, it's completely herbal and doesn't make you drowsy etc, but will help with the nerves (not sure what it does or why - just that it does seem to work) I swear by it for interviews / exams and everyone I have recommended it to has said how good it is.

I wish you all the luck in the world for your interview, please let us know how it goes (even if it's not a good interview, we may be able to give you some pointers for the next one)

teabag29

Thanks ladies this has really helped and given me ideas to work on. With regards to the standard questions, am i along the right lines with these answers:
What can you bring to this post- friendly approach, hard work, reliability that sort of thing?

Why do you want to work in our company- because its a leading high st retailer and one of my favourite shops, its close to home and convenient

What do you know about our company- leading high st retailer with high st and travel stores, then bang on for a few mins about what i know (this bit is easy 4 me as ive done my research)

Where do you expect to be in five years time- working full time and driving and owning my own home, not sure what else to say here.

Are those the right kind of answers?

teabag29

Ive had an email confirming the interview date/time and it saysIn preparation for your interview, please refer to our corporate website; www.whsmithplc.co.uk in addition to our careers website; www.whsmithcareers.co.uk, and also visit one of our stores to see what we currently have on offer including our promotions. It may also be useful for you to think about certain situations where you have demonstrated good retail / customer services behaviours. Please consider the following;
Situation – when / where did this happen?
Task – what was the challenge?
Action – what did you do?
Result – what was the outcome?



How do I answer that question, ive never worked in retail/customer service. The only challenges ive faced are trying to get my daughter a statement of sen which is nothing to do with retail/customer service behaviours so what can I say for this bit

Errata

Customer service behaviours: you have experience as a volunteer; the organistion will have had clients (customers) - use that either as a direct experience or what you observed in other volunteers behaviours.

teabag29

Well i worked as a volunteer appropriate adult at the police station for under 16's who were arrested and had no adult available. My job was to make sure they knew their rights and make sure the interview was conducted correctly. In all the time I did it never once was the interview conducted unfairly so I never had to intervene