Teetering on the brink

MayDogsandCoffee

I once 'lost a passport' the day before traveling for an interview, started turning the house upside down, friend came to help, we were pulling draws out to empty, moving furniture etc etc etc. Another friend turned up and asked who had ransacked the house, explained looking for passport. She asked where it was normally kept - pointed at the travel wallet, she had a look in there, turns out it was zipped into the back and not the normal sleeve at the front. I put the bed back together and went to bed, traveled for interview and came back to the house needing putting right.

Sometimes these meet the teams are more about 'soft skills' - can you chat to new people, quickly find common ground etc etc especially if you are going to be dealing with stakeholders. Also remember it is a chance for you to consider if you want to work in that team - how long have the team been there, constant churn or long termers etc, how do they chat with newcomers an indication of how included you would be from day one.

Cherryfudge

Fatigue is so frustrating, but doing surveys is a good idea. Didn't you used to do Testerup as well? I'm stuck on about £10 there but it has surveys, and maybe your DDs would start a couple of the games on it for you while you're resting? (I assume that's allowed but I haven't checked).

It's great that you got so close to being offered that job, even if it's not what you particularly want. They must think well of you to offer to keep you in the process.

kmcld2

Good luck with your interview today! 🍀

Cherryfudge

Recent experience has shown you interview well - go in and smash it!

EatingBeans

Thank you! 🤞

biggerpickle

Good luck in today's interview 🤞

dawnybabes

Hope it’s gone well and they love you !

EatingBeans

Happy to report that the interview went well. 👍 The team seemed really nice and whilst they did ask the occasional ‘interview’ questions, most of the time we just seemed to be having a good chat. I asked if there were any areas where they felt I had gaps that I could expand on (because I had way more answers to give than they had questions), but they seemed very happy and said it was very clear that I was capable of doing the job. Apparently they had another candidate that gave more ‘textbook’ answers than I did but they liked that I gave more real life answers because life is never as straightforward as the textbook. I took that as a good sign but I guess it will come down to the combined scores and what the manager wants for her team. Nothing more I can do now - I will hear back by the end of next week.

Honestly, my impression of the job market right now is there are just simply lots of very capable people all going for the jobs I am looking at, so it really comes down to who gives the best performance on the day. I suspect it will take me a few attempts to find something, not because those chosen ahead of me are particularly better than me at the job, rather there is only one job, they just have to pick someone, and the other candidate squeezed more into their answers than I managed. The way I see it, the more interviews I do the better I will get at interviewing, and as long as I try to improve every time eventually my answers will be better than the next equally qualified candidate and I will get the job. 🤷‍♀️🤞

ellenvan

Well done on the interview. Sounds like you have a good chance.

Reminds me about a conversation with someone from HR a few years ago. She had been asked for feedback from an unsuccessful applicant. As she had about 60 applications, it had been difficult to even shortlist. Some of the applicants didn't really do anything wrong and might have been successful if there had been 10 jobs. But ultimately they had to pick one.

EatingBeans

Yeah, I am very much getting that vibe from everyone I have been speaking to lately. I’ve just decided not to take it personally if I don’t get the job and I am focusing on doing quality applications to those I am best fit for, (over quantity), at least for the moment. Where ‘good enough’ applications might have been enough to secure a post in the past, I suspect more dedicated effort to score points will be needed to secure a role right now. Same people, different outcomes. I’ll get there eventually.