Job Interview help

SnowyOwl_2

Nemo's advice is fab! I know from a recent job hunt it is so difficult to stay positive when a number of rejection letters have come through the door or when you're gripped by nerves, but it's really a matter of preparation and attitude.

I am sure you've got hold of the job description and have gone through it as if you are on the interview panel, and had a think about what they could ask. If it's not too late a visit to the department where the job is may be beneficial. If there is anyone there that is familiar with the job in question it would be worthwhile asking them for ten minutes of their time to talk about any points in the job description you aren't familiar with. Don't be afraid to do this, this will get you brownie points and will show you are keen and that you used your initiative and did proper research about the job. You will be able to give informed answers to interview questions rather than saying "I haven't done that before therefore I would guess..." or similar disasterous replies. It is so much better to say, "Yes, while that hasn't been a direct issue in my current/previous role I have discussed that with so & so and as I understand it the way to approach that issue is...."

In the end I did get the job I most wanted from all those which I had been selected for interview . I think that the difference between that interview and the ones from which I was rejected was in the type of question I asked. It too might sound like a bit of p/babble, but I asked questions such as "Please tell me about the professional or staff development policy here" "How would my work be assessed?" and "When I join, what will I be doing first?" "How long do you expect it would take for me to learn the job?". I guess you can see that these questions are as if they have already offered the job and by asking them I was trying to plant in their minds a picture of me at the actual desk talking to the manager about the workload.

Good luck with your next interview, think positive!!

dag_2

Because I have no experience of using the skills required for the position in my current employment but I do have experience in my previous employment.

Correct me if I'm wrong here - however, when employers ask for references, they don't usually ask very detailed questions. The main thing they're concerned about is that you actually had the job - or knew the person - for the length of time you said you did. If your new employer asks more questions, and if your previous employer actually answers them, then they have to be much more careful about not falling foul of the Data Protection Act.

My point is - there really isn't a conspiracy of employers clubbing together to stop you getting a job! Despite the fact that they all ask for references off each other.

An employer's assessment of your skills will be based on what you've put on the application form or CV, and said at the interview. If the skill is more than slightly important, then they will look for proof of qualifications. And if the skill is very important indeed, they will do a semi-formal test on you in the interview.

If they're happy to take your word about some skill you have, without actually testing you on it - then, chances are, the skill isn't actually that important to the job anyway.

Person specifications very often list vague, nebulous skills that are hard to define and even harder to test. Don't be put off by these - but do concentrate on the skills that are both clearly important to the job, and easy for you to demonstrate. The rest of it is a bit of a blag.

I find it helps to think of interviews as a kind of game, where you do role-play. If you don't get any particular job, it really doesn't matter - but it's fun to play anyway - and the more you play, the better you get.

Hope that helps.

nemo183

It's well OK, when applying for a job, to only give references if you've been made an offer. If you have to put them on an application form, then make sure it's clear that you only want them contacted if you are made an offer.

raeble

Thanks for all the help.

I didn't get the first job I applied for. I've just been on an interview for the second. I think that interview went very well, but I had a very bad morning - meeting with union over-ran so I missed my train. Was early anyway but catching the later train meant I was cutting it fine. Then someone pointed out that my nice new linen panelled skirt has split, at the back. Far too late for me to go home, so I just moved the split to the side. Got to the train station someone pointed out that the skirt had split again. Nowhere to buy a new skirt so I had fork out £7 for two pairs of thick black tights in sock shop when I got to Liverpool St. By time I arrived I was ten minutes late - but there was fifteen minutes of waiting time built in, so I wasn't really late. I did apologise profusely, though. So I'm hiding this split, with my big bag, and hope the black tights are camoflaging it from the interviewers. I'm sure everyone will have a good laugh at this, my sister already has.

I've been straight back to the shop where I bought the skirt, and got my refund. I won't be buying anything there for a while. Good mind to write a letter about their shoddy quality to the Chief Exec.

Savvy_Sue

raeble wrote:

I've been straight back to the shop where I bought the skirt, and got my refund. I won't be buying anything there for a while. Good mind to write a letter about their shoddy quality to the Chief Exec.

Oh definitely! If you don't get the job, tell him his shoddy skirt was the reason!

I've stopped :rotfl: now: I'm sure it was ghastly at the time! And TWO pairs of thick black tights on a day like today - :eek:

Hope you get the job, anyway!

Fran

Unlucky with the job.... and the skirt!

I once set off to an interview 40 miles up the motorway the day after I bought a second hand car. The engine blew up after about 15 miles, so I didn't even get to the interview!

BenefitMaster

I once worked for a telco for a few minutes...

This telco rather famously has a black glass building as an office in the south of England.

A chap I know went for an interview there, and was caught short. He parked his car, then went to the back of the building, checked there were no cameras, and relieved himself against the glass.

When he went in for his interview, he realised that the glass was all One Way!

It gets worse - the female HR manager who was interviewing him was using the rear office to interview - the one he had just been pee-ing against!

Unsurprusingly, He didn;t get the job, but the moral of this story is - You aer being interviewed from the second the company CCTV cameras can see you to the moment they can't. You don't know, as you walk in, if the 'receptionist' is actually a junior HR person making notes, a PA wth a checklist or even the interviewer themselves...

raeble

Well I haven't got the second job either. I never get the jobs I really want. I've been thinking about it and applying for it for the best part of three years - that's not really as bad as it sounds - It takes about four months to go through the application process (form, test, interview) and it wasn't advertised for a year. I don't know whether I can bare listening to the feedback, there is obviously something seriously wrong with my interview skills. Maybe its time to give up.

Fran

raeble,

Sorry you didn't get the job. Don't give up though! It just happened that someone else was more convincing/better qualified or whatever this time. Good luck with your search. You said before that you get nervous at interviews so the more you get the more practice you'll have at coming across better (in theory!).

BWZN93

I agree, Raeble - Dont give up! This time of year is notoriously difficult to get a job in, there are millions of students wanting jobs, both summer and permenant! I am also having difficulties in finding a job, which is really frustrating as im ready and willing to go! Im not even getting rejections through at the moment, but I think thats Royal Mails fault (and a whole other thread!). However, I have also lost my mobile, so im relying on the home phone too, which doesnt seem to ring, so im presuming many potential employers are calling up with interviews to a switched off mobile somewhere in the land of lost.

Dont give up - and neither will I! Where one door closes a window opens and all that... Good luck with all the other jobs you decide to apply for!

Jo xx