Learning to walk before I run

edinburgher

@savingholmes - good idea re. Interview. Unfortunately it's at home but I may do this anyway 👍

Watty1

A friend was being interviewed for a job and the recruitment agency send some fantastic tips.  One I really liked was prep for the interview and as it is on line you can write pointers for yourself on post it notes - so tips for answering difficult questions as a mental jog to the answers you have practised.

Good luck with the interview, remember it is a two way process, you interview them to see if you want the job as much as they interview you

QueenJess

Ooh - good luck with the interview. I usually think of answers to key questions that might be asked. I also make sure I have one or two questions of my own to ask as it makes you look serious about the job.

edinburgher

So, interview did not feel like it went very well. Only half an hour, I was asked about competency questions that weren't listed on the job advert and I could only come up with a couple of relatively general questions for the panel at the end. I'm maybe being unkind to myself but I was left with a distinct "is that it?" vibe.

If I'm honest (and if I'd had time), I could have dug the competencies out of a similar job advert. I'm not sure if that's just failure to prepare on my part, or me naively thinking that the interview wouldn't be competency based. In any case, I'm not going to sit around beating myself up about it, a lesson learned and I don't have a time machine.

On the positive side, I think I managed to create rapport with a group of senior managers who don't really know me. That's something to build on, even if I haven't impressed them with my interviewing skills.

badmemory

edinburgher said:

On the positive side, I think I managed to create rapport with a group of senior managers who don't really know me. That's something to build on, even if I haven't impressed them with my interviewing skills.

It is often a case of who you know not what you know & if they feel they can trust/depend on you.  I wonder how many of these jobs that they are obliged to advertise & interview for they have decided before the ad even goes in.  Hopefully you will be the one on the nod next time.

I think sometimes they get bored & can't tell one from another.  My last interview, it was only 25 yrs ago, was at the end of a long day for them & they didn't know me from adam.  Luckily one of them asked me something about my previous job & that made them sit up & take notice in a yer what sort of way.  Yes got rid of because the MD & SalesD had just got out of prison so the financial D no longer had to run everything.  Why they were in there is a whole other story & was not a financial matter.  Life can be quite interesting sometimes.

Cheery_Daff

Sorry you don't feel it went very well. Did you get a good vibe from them? Would you take it if they offered it, do you think? Fingers crossed if you would!

edinburgher

@Cheery_Daff - "Them" was half my senior management team. Yes - sounds interesting but challenging - genuinely not expecting good news tho

Cheery_Daff

Aha - I'd clocked it was internal, but not THAT internal... At least you should get feedback either way I suppose!

smudge56

Sometimes the shorter the interview means that your answer ticked all the boxes for that competency without having to ask multiple questions.  

edinburgher

It turns out someone who had been covering the role on a temporary basis for 2 years also applied and got the job. Ah, the joys of local government work. Feedback was generally positive, no specific areas to address.