Another week, another interview.

Today I had an interview with JPA in Bishops Waltham for a sales and marketing executive position. Before I give any details of the interview itself I will explain a new problem to add to the list.

Finding the Company!

Now in a lot of cases, if you are a graduate seeking a job you will be interviewing with small firms. They may be based in remote areas, in office complexes. They may not be well sign posted. Now if like me you have not got a car or do not know how to drive you will have to rely on public transport.
Finding the bus stop in town proved easy, an old woman there struck up conversation with me, she didnt know where Victoria Road was but stated that anyone in bishops waltham would help me. After a rickety ride of 40 minutes she turned to me and asked if it was near any landmarks. I mentioned the priory inn, which it turns out is on the corner of Victoria road. After thanking the old woman and bidding her farewell I looked at my phone. 1pm, 30 minutes early! First objective, find the actual building where the company is based.
This is at times a difficult problem to overcome, you can use the map provided, or something such as google maps to help you locate the building. Asking around does not hurt either
Except today none of that seemed to work. JPA is based on Victoria Road in Bishops Waltham, a street which takes around 5 minutes to walk from one end to other.
Google maps told me the wrong building so I ended up walking into private housing to consult with a couple of guys hoisting a wardrobe up some stairs.
Nobody seemed to know where it was.
Eventually after many minutes of searching and several spans of the road I rang the company and asked them and soon figured out where they were. There was nothing I had noticed anywhere to tell me it was the right place. In fact if I had not been directed there I would never have found it.
This can be a little demoralising just before an interview but for me it meant my focus had gone away from nerves. It was not a case of panicking as I could not find it, but more utter confusion as to why I couldnt. Incidently my time arriving was 1:26, 26 minutes after stepping of the bus. This served me well as I went into the interview relatively relaxed. After all the surprisingly hard part was out the way.

The interview

I was a little surprised to see the M.D of the organisation sitting in on the interview as the email about it had stated it would be someone else. I was asked a series of pre prepared questions after a brief explanation of what the company did.

I think I fielded them relatively well. A number asked about previous experience or understanding of sales terms and I think I took the right approach in being honest. Amusingly amongst my answers I made several references to gamesoc and in particular "selling" the society at the bunfight.

If you read my last post you will know that the interview for the last job I applied for put me off the position. This one had the opposite effect. I was very impressed with JPA and what they are doing and also what their plans are for the position. I left feeling satisfied with my performance and hopeful that they will be the ones to give me a chance to begin my career in business.