Job interview on Monday - 11am!

azza87

Hey all! I have my first ever interview on monday and i am really nervous!

I'm 19 and have had two jobs but... My first job was offered to me through work experience at school and after finishing school it became my first full time job - No Interview!

I was then headhunted after working there for just over a year by a friend of the family. I took the job and worked there part time from september 04 until i was sacked in november 06 - again No Interview!

I have now been out of work for 6 months and I have finally got an interview, but because it is my first ever interview i have no idea what to expect!

Any advice on what to say / what not to say during the interview would be great!

(oh, the interview is with Home Style Kitchens and bedrooms, if anyone works for them or knows someone that works for them maybe you will know what questions they will be likely to ask me...)

Thanks!

nats3006

No advice really but the best thing is to be yourself and your personality will shine through!!!

Good luck and im sure more people will come along and advise you!

lynzpower

Hi there

What is the ACTUAL job for?

Is irt sales? Admin etc?

azza87

lynzpower wrote: »

Hi there

What is the ACTUAL job for?

Is irt sales? Admin etc?

It's a call centre vacancy. I'm not 100% sure of the role because it was actually a friend who heard of the vacancy and thought 'this job would be ideal for ....'

She text me with the name of the company and their phone number, and all she said to me was it's a call centre job.

I phoned them and the manager was in a meeting so they took my name and number and said they would have the manager call me back asap. The following day i got a phone call from the manager asking how i had heard of the vacancy, she then said she has a couple of interviews lined up on monday would you like to come for an interview yourself? YES! lol

With me being out of work for 6 months i just jumped at the chance.

Everything will be explained at the interview what the role will be etc (hopefully) I have used my own pc and two laptops for over 8 years so i'm very pc literate so i'm fairly confident in that area.

lynzpower

I wonder whether this might be outbound sales?

Ie ringing people up and seeing if you can get them to have an appointment with one of the sales people? Does this sound possibe?

If its anything like any of the call centres Ive worked in they'll be looking for
customer care - understanding the customers needs
working to targets- doing things in a certain amount of time - have you got any experience of targets? They might not be called targets but it would be something like "each product needed to be dispatched in 24 hours " "answer phone within 3 rings" think about when you have 2worked to target befroe
resilience - how do you deal with people who quite often dont want to talk to you- I worked for bt ringing up people of an evening to flog them stuff, as you can imagine I wasnt popular- think of experiences at work where you have been unpopular- how do you deal with that ( key answer: take a deep breath, big smile, then back on the phone- you might have missed the last one, but you might get the next one, best foot forward )
excellent about your PC skills, no doubt they will ask about that
working in a team when have you woriked in teams before - another question they ask a lot "what do you like about team working" I usually answer that I enjoy working with other people and learning from thier experiences and skills.

Dont worry about interviews, but you need to think of some really good things youve done, hope waht Ive given you gives you some thoughts

Oldernotwiser

azza87 wrote: »

It's a call centre vacancy. I'm not 100% sure of the role because it was actually a friend who heard of the vacancy and thought 'this job would be ideal for ....'


.

Does this company have an internet site? Have a look at it and maybe ring as a prospective client. DON'T go into the interview and say what you've written above!! You need to do your research first.

If they ask you to do a test call remember "Smile When You Dial"! The smile will come through in your voice.

azza87

You may be correct in it being outbound sales but i've been told part of the role is to design kitchens and one of my designs is sold i get commision on it.

Having said that, i think it could be customer service ie someone calls to ask advice or for help on designing their kitchen/bedroom suite and i arrange for them to come in. I help design what they are asking for.

I may be way off but this can be cleared up at the interview.

Thank you for your informative response, it's very helpful and gives me a few ideas as to what i can say at the interview!

azza87

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Do this company have an internet site? Have a look at it and maybe ring as a prospective client. DON'T go into the interview and say what you've written above!! You need to do your research first.

If they ask you to do a test call remember "Smile When You Dial"! The smile will come through in your voice.

I don't think they have a website. When my friend sent me the number i had a bit of trouble actually getting through to ask about the vacancy! I had a quick search on Yell.com to make sure the number was correct - which it was and there was no sign of any links to their website (which their usually is)

I've also searched on google but the results just fill up with any other kitchen/bedroom company around!

Thanks for the call test advice, i will remember to follow that if it should be asked of me when in there!

mrbnewc1

Hi azza87

You need to be confident and very clear about how your past experience makes you the right person for this job. They will not necessarily be looking for someone with call centre experience, but someone who has the right skills i.e. able to build rapport with customers, able to plan and organise, learns from their own mistakes, is a good team player.

On Monday, make sure you get up at a decent time, have some breakfast. Make sure you're clean and smart, take some deep breaths and most importantly don't worry. Listen to the questions carefully and if you don't understand ask them to repeat/rephrase the question (don't do this on all of them!).

I've done interviewing before and if i'm honest I was probably more nervous that the person being interviewed.

Good luck! let us know how you get on :-)

Mrbnewc1

Oldernotwiser

azza87 wrote: »

I don't think they have a website. When my friend sent me the number i had a bit of trouble actually getting through to ask about the vacancy! I had a quick search on Yell.com to make sure the number was correct - which it was and there was no sign of any links to their website (which their usually is)

I've also searched on google but the results just fill up with any other kitchen/bedroom company around!

Thanks for the call test advice, i will remember to follow that if it should be asked of me when in there!

Is this the company?

http://www.homestylekitchens.co.uk/

azza87

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Is this the company?

http://www.homestylekitchens.co.uk/

It ccould be, but looking at the contact information page they are located in leeds. The vacancy i have applied for is in my local area which is Doncaster.