On Wednesday I recieved a phone call while I was with the Credit Union. It was a company I applied for a while ago, offering me an interview on Thursday. The same day that I was due to be interviewed by no limits. This meant I needed to be in Portsmouth at 3 after the 11:30 interview in Southampton. It also threw off my usual preparation as I could not focus on just one organisation. After an evening of training I finally got down to planning my day around 10pm.
The day started badly. Stomach Ache and slight naseua are never the best thing to wake up to. However, by the time I set off for New Limits things had cleared up a bit and I felt a bit better. I arrived at No Limits with around 5 minutes to spare.
After a brief fight with the door I made my way in. I was met by a young woman who informed me the other interview had overrun and offered me a seat. I took the opportunity to quiz her about the organisation and we chatted amiably for 10 minutes or so.
After about 15 minutes the managers emerged from the interview room, took my name and then apologised as they did not realise they were meant to be interviewing me, apparently there had been some mix up and rather than interviewing for one specific role they had people for three different roles. Confusing!
I accepted this of course, was directed to the interview room, offered a drink and waited a bit longer. I talked with one of the interviewers about working with the Credit Union, my origins while I waited for the other to get the job description and begin the interview. At 11:55 my interview began, with the standard question about the company and role. It was followed by a mention of Lizzie, although the name rang a bell with me, the fact I had not heard it, sent the alarm bells ringing with my interviewer who embarrasedly informed me I was possibly in the wrong place. All initial interviews were conducted by Lizzie in the adjacent building owned by a different charity, apparently the two are not in any way directly linked but one is funding the other to employ people. After some frantic phone calls I was sent in the right direction only to be informed there was no longer any time for me to be interviewed and that I would be informed of a new date and time at some point in the future. I took it upon myself this morning to ring and organise myself though, just in case.
As I left I was bemused at the whole situation. It was amazing it was able to happen at all.
1. I failed to understand the interview was not with the organisation. I took a phonecall and wrote things down but got confused.
2. No Limits did not know who they were meant to be interviewing and thus were ready to interview me.
3. One of the interviewer asked "You're Anthony right?" He had met me the day before, but normally when a interviewer says this, it means they are confirming you are the right person.
4. Lizzie made no attempt to contact me or work out where I was, for an interview, where if I failed to attend I lost my benefits.
5. Each party was unaware of the others confusion.
This left me 3 hours till my next interview with a company in Portsmouth. I found my way with no difficulty ending up with about an hour to wander round the historic dockyard before finding my way to the company offices, 100 yards away. The interview was my first in a while and I was a little rusty to start with. The company started by asking, not telling, me about what I knew of the company. I had done some research but it had been minor due to the short notice and other interview. Another question involved breaking the rules of interviewing as I was asked to give my opinion of both their website and brand. The Marketing manager who would hire me, was himself unhappy with it, and I was lucky that I threw caution to the wind and criticised it, albeit tentatively. I feel the interview went reasonably well but that my lack of experience in design may let me down to a candidate with a similar background.
So ends the week and already I have something for every day next week, including 2 interviews. Busy times, hopefully leading to full time employment. I will cover funding in a different post.
Showing posts with label interview analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview analysis. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Post Mortem
You have left the room leaving your smiling interviewer behind. The exit is approaching as you manage to put one foot in front of another. Your mind is focused, focused on carrying out an immediate post mortem.
At least you do when things have gone badly. Yesterday was a blip really. A blip of confidence, a blip on practiced interview technique, a blip on exiting an interview with your head held high.
Finding the place was easier than expected. I did in fact arrive just under an hour early. Fortunately there was a cafe nearby which I could wait at. I had a cappucino and read newspapers. Waiting, waiting...
I have found the longer you have to wait for something the more nerves get to poke their head in and scream at you. Travelling does not count as waiting so much as when you are sitting in a nearby place which serves no other purpose to you than to be a place to pass time. Also this is probably a personal thing but the cappucino really didnt help. It made me mouth dryer, leaving a lingering unpleasant feeling.*
Heading to reception I was then sent upstairs, where I had to wait again. I read the book I had with me, except I didn't actually read if you know what I mean.
Ushered into the tiniest office I have ever been in I was then cross-examined by the C.E.O and my potential future boss. I was thrown immediately on to the back foot when I saw that on the desk lay the doomed covering letter, the covering letter written to convince GJS I was needy. (See Crossed Wires)
I stammered, stuttered, repeated myself. I tried too hard. The room was hot despite a fan. It was an unpleasant experience and when I left I felt as if I had escaped.
The immediate feeling afterwards was one of lethargy. I tore to pieces my answers, looked for things I had got right(which were few and far between), and thought about what I should have said. But I did so with little convinction. It took several hours after the actual event for me to recover, it was quite unusual, as was in fact, going to pieces in the interview.
The post mortem revealed a mess, one of my worst performances so far but as for the reasons it found none. The questions were no harder than others I have undertaken, the atmosphere less harsh than many, the interviewers kind and supportive. The frustrating thing is that the company are committed to providing feedback on candidates who failed to get the role. In my case the feedback is mostly wasted. Its the equivalent of carrying out analysis purely on an anomaly and its frustrating that such a good opportunity has been wasted.
At least you do when things have gone badly. Yesterday was a blip really. A blip of confidence, a blip on practiced interview technique, a blip on exiting an interview with your head held high.
Finding the place was easier than expected. I did in fact arrive just under an hour early. Fortunately there was a cafe nearby which I could wait at. I had a cappucino and read newspapers. Waiting, waiting...
I have found the longer you have to wait for something the more nerves get to poke their head in and scream at you. Travelling does not count as waiting so much as when you are sitting in a nearby place which serves no other purpose to you than to be a place to pass time. Also this is probably a personal thing but the cappucino really didnt help. It made me mouth dryer, leaving a lingering unpleasant feeling.*
Heading to reception I was then sent upstairs, where I had to wait again. I read the book I had with me, except I didn't actually read if you know what I mean.
Ushered into the tiniest office I have ever been in I was then cross-examined by the C.E.O and my potential future boss. I was thrown immediately on to the back foot when I saw that on the desk lay the doomed covering letter, the covering letter written to convince GJS I was needy. (See Crossed Wires)
I stammered, stuttered, repeated myself. I tried too hard. The room was hot despite a fan. It was an unpleasant experience and when I left I felt as if I had escaped.
The immediate feeling afterwards was one of lethargy. I tore to pieces my answers, looked for things I had got right(which were few and far between), and thought about what I should have said. But I did so with little convinction. It took several hours after the actual event for me to recover, it was quite unusual, as was in fact, going to pieces in the interview.
The post mortem revealed a mess, one of my worst performances so far but as for the reasons it found none. The questions were no harder than others I have undertaken, the atmosphere less harsh than many, the interviewers kind and supportive. The frustrating thing is that the company are committed to providing feedback on candidates who failed to get the role. In my case the feedback is mostly wasted. Its the equivalent of carrying out analysis purely on an anomaly and its frustrating that such a good opportunity has been wasted.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Advice from a veteran (of many lost battles)
As I strolled out of the interview on Friday, a smile on my face, I realised something. I am becoming a veteran of interviews, all be it for jobs I have failed to get. Analysing my answers and the process of the interview I realised how much I had come on since my first interview early last summer. The mistakes I had made and avoided repeating, the better answers, the preperation experience and the different interview approaches. There are many guides out there on the internet about what not to do and what to do. Below are 10 things I have learned. More will follow each Monday. Aren't you lucky?
As I said, and the title insinuates, I am still unemployed. Some of this advice, goes against what is commonly suggested and other bits support it. You may therefore take the advice with a pinch of salt. Its the equivalent of taking military advice from the French. Ha, see what I did there? Anyway, in no particular order:
1. Relax - One of the hardest things to do in an interview is relax. Sit back, take your time and be attentive. If you cannot answer a question do not panic. If you stay relaxed you present a visage of being calm under pressure. The best feedback I have had from interviews has come from when I have just sat back and been open, honest and treated the interview as more of a conversation than an interrogation.
2. Don't be afraid to ask questions as you go - This is seen as a big no-no in most guides but I have found it works well. So long as they are short and relevant to the point that the interviewer is making they are generally recieved well. It shows that are you being attentive and are genuinely interested. This beats five minutes of silence any day.
3. Avoid negativity - Everything must be shown to have an upside. Don't let your pessimism take over. If the journey was long it gave you more time to prepare. If you don't like admin, say you prefer other tasks. Negativity presents you as a negative person and negative people are not who you want normally.
4. The Journey- Plan, plan, plan! You can usually trust trains, and if they are really late then you cannot be expected to plan for that and won't be penalised. Buses on the other hand it is often better to make sure you can get a later bus and still make it if necessary. Also it does not matter if your journey was total hell, do not tell the interviewer, you can allude to issues just dont spend long on them. The interviewers reason for inviting you was not to hear about your journey.. unless your applying for a quality tester on public transport of course.
5. The Job description - Bring it with you. You do not need to memorise it but be aware of its contents. It is a massive error if you accidentally state you don't like something which is part of the job. If your aware of what is involved you can tailor your answers to the opportunity.
6. Don't prepare answers - Learn about the company, decide on strengths and weaknesses but do not pre prepare regurgiated answers. Its easy to do in a phone interview but questions in face to face rarely come as you expect them and unless you are a brilliant performer you will just look silly.
7. Seem interested - you want to work for the company. Listen with real intent when they explain about the company. Be willing to engage with any points they make and do not be afraid to get on to an off topic discussion. If it is something you can talk about with authority and it interests the interviewer it will only enhance your chances.
8. HONESTY - Don't lie, don't exaggerate and don't bullshit. It just is not worth it. Take yourself out of the truth and you have left your comfort zone. You may contradict yourself or suggest something out of character. Remember you have probably written a covering letter and they have your C.V. This gives them an idea of what to expect. If you overplay the significance of things you may find yourself lost. Even if you manage to get past this stage, there is the reference and then employment. Don't wreck your long term chances.
9. If your mind goes blank - Admit it. Apologise. Interviewers know that the process can be intimidating and will usually give you time to recompose yourself. Its best if you can avoid it altogether but trying to speak with a blank mind only results in disaster.
10. Be careful blowing your own trumpet - Again this goes against the traditional suggestions. It is usually suggested that you should focus on your own achievements and what you did and not what others did. This is true but taking too much credit for group work only results in you looking like a poor team player. It says to the interviewer that you like to take credit for other people's work. Clearly not a good thing! You do want to give an impression of your skills, competences and generally how awesome you are, but modesty is always respected.
Feel free to disagree but these are 10 of the things I have learned and will continue to practice at all future interviews. As I said more next week
As I said, and the title insinuates, I am still unemployed. Some of this advice, goes against what is commonly suggested and other bits support it. You may therefore take the advice with a pinch of salt. Its the equivalent of taking military advice from the French. Ha, see what I did there? Anyway, in no particular order:
1. Relax - One of the hardest things to do in an interview is relax. Sit back, take your time and be attentive. If you cannot answer a question do not panic. If you stay relaxed you present a visage of being calm under pressure. The best feedback I have had from interviews has come from when I have just sat back and been open, honest and treated the interview as more of a conversation than an interrogation.
2. Don't be afraid to ask questions as you go - This is seen as a big no-no in most guides but I have found it works well. So long as they are short and relevant to the point that the interviewer is making they are generally recieved well. It shows that are you being attentive and are genuinely interested. This beats five minutes of silence any day.
3. Avoid negativity - Everything must be shown to have an upside. Don't let your pessimism take over. If the journey was long it gave you more time to prepare. If you don't like admin, say you prefer other tasks. Negativity presents you as a negative person and negative people are not who you want normally.
4. The Journey- Plan, plan, plan! You can usually trust trains, and if they are really late then you cannot be expected to plan for that and won't be penalised. Buses on the other hand it is often better to make sure you can get a later bus and still make it if necessary. Also it does not matter if your journey was total hell, do not tell the interviewer, you can allude to issues just dont spend long on them. The interviewers reason for inviting you was not to hear about your journey.. unless your applying for a quality tester on public transport of course.
5. The Job description - Bring it with you. You do not need to memorise it but be aware of its contents. It is a massive error if you accidentally state you don't like something which is part of the job. If your aware of what is involved you can tailor your answers to the opportunity.
6. Don't prepare answers - Learn about the company, decide on strengths and weaknesses but do not pre prepare regurgiated answers. Its easy to do in a phone interview but questions in face to face rarely come as you expect them and unless you are a brilliant performer you will just look silly.
7. Seem interested - you want to work for the company. Listen with real intent when they explain about the company. Be willing to engage with any points they make and do not be afraid to get on to an off topic discussion. If it is something you can talk about with authority and it interests the interviewer it will only enhance your chances.
8. HONESTY - Don't lie, don't exaggerate and don't bullshit. It just is not worth it. Take yourself out of the truth and you have left your comfort zone. You may contradict yourself or suggest something out of character. Remember you have probably written a covering letter and they have your C.V. This gives them an idea of what to expect. If you overplay the significance of things you may find yourself lost. Even if you manage to get past this stage, there is the reference and then employment. Don't wreck your long term chances.
9. If your mind goes blank - Admit it. Apologise. Interviewers know that the process can be intimidating and will usually give you time to recompose yourself. Its best if you can avoid it altogether but trying to speak with a blank mind only results in disaster.
10. Be careful blowing your own trumpet - Again this goes against the traditional suggestions. It is usually suggested that you should focus on your own achievements and what you did and not what others did. This is true but taking too much credit for group work only results in you looking like a poor team player. It says to the interviewer that you like to take credit for other people's work. Clearly not a good thing! You do want to give an impression of your skills, competences and generally how awesome you are, but modesty is always respected.
Feel free to disagree but these are 10 of the things I have learned and will continue to practice at all future interviews. As I said more next week
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