job interviews

Think about the job itself and how badly it will be done if the wrong person is appointed for the wrong reasons, and bid to foil those kinds of wrongs. As you know you can: whether it's social or psychological or technical, you have skills which — unless yr interview panel miss em — will NOT INDUCE ENDLESS NIGHTMARE FRUSTRATION AND RESENTMENT among those you work with. Yr rivals — esp. the worst-case-scenario rivals you dream up in yr head, based on idiots and/or monsters you have probably worked with in the past — will deliver exactly this nightmare. So save your new bosses (and more important, underlings, if any) from it. Make the world a (slightly) better place: get this job.

how are you supposed to answer questions as annoying as this one? The obvious answer is to just say "yes" but how the fuck are they supposed to know anything about you from that? What are they trying to find out from questions as pointless as this? somehow i think saying "yes if i don't have deadlines i take three years to do anything" is not going to help either. Thanks for all the advice, i've already started practicing my swearing.

Some (but, I think a very few) interviews are conducted with the purpose of the interviewers working out wehether the interviewee can do that job. It's far more common that everyone invited for interview can do the job and the interview process is about working out which of the candidates they reckon they can work with, whose face fits.

Don't talk too much, but try to anticipate questions. There's nothing worse than asking a question, getting a very basic answer, and having to drag more information out of the candidate. And don't talk to fast, as your brain never manages to keep up, as I've found to my cost!

You don't need to go on about how great you are, you need to show that you can think things through, and show how you would respond in certain situations. You wouldn't be there if they didn't think you were capable, you wouldn't be there if you didn't think you were capable, so don't panic, just listen and think things through properly. And don't be afraid of being honest, they can see straight through bullshit.

Good luck!

how are you supposed to answer questions as annoying as this one?

Interviews are a blunt instrument. They're notoriously bad at selecting the right candidate for the job. This is why larger companies (who can afford it) use assessment centres where candidates are set tasks as well as being interviewed. Nonetheless, learning to do well in interviews is something you'll have to do if you want a job.

I think what Vicky says above about interviewers being nervous and inexperienced can sometimes be true. Their questions may seem unspecific or cliched. But, regardless of how good an interviewer they are, you have to be ready to give them a reply they'll want to hear. One American president famously used to ask reporters at press conferences "Who here has got questions for my answers ?" I think this kind of pre-emptive strategy can be a good one. Use the questions as an opportunity to say what *you* want to say. Prepare before your interview using the job specification and get some stuff ready that they'll want to hear. If you can come up with a couple of killer phrases that will identify you from the other candidates then that's all good too. Some people are good at thinking on their feet in an interview situation. Other's (like myself) have to do a lot of preparation.

Of course, if they ask this at all, it may be a signal that they're cruel and you wouldn't want to work for them, anyway.

'In essence no, the Netherlands has a far more developed welfare stated but the theoretical side to the profession is more or less the same."

"Good. Can you then explain the difference between practise and process based social work particularly in relation to the 5 interview model?"

"Errrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm. (long pause). Not exactly......"

"Yes. Yes, that's right."

"What do you consider your biggest weakness?"

"Public speaking."

It seemed to go quite well though

*scans through copy of application form she sent off to remember what arse she said she could do*

HAHAHA oh god if anyone has a computer with web editing proper programmes please could I borrow them to re-familiarise myself with them as I said I have used them - YES but can I remember ANYTHING about them hahahaha.

Oh god I'm nervous. I need lunch. WHERE IS ECWM?????

good luck to sarah and chris.

I am still panicking!

Also, don't move too far away from the subject. No matter how much they like you, they don't want to hear about irrelevancies or, another failing of mine (in all walks of life), overly personal stuff.

Sigh. Does anyone want to give me a job too?

Do you get firsts in A-levels too?

Who is this David Baddiel?

The degree starts from a third (you scraped through), the common 2:2, the very good 2:1 (aka lower/upper second) and the first.

David Baddiel is a British comedian. You're not missing much.

GROWL. ;) ;) ;)

First (first class honours): bloody impressive. Second: so common that they were split into two types, 2:1 and 2:2, where the former is better. And then there are thirds. Basically, that's it. I think fourths have died out completely (they were very rare, my great grandfather got one for being, well, not very good but a nice bloke, or thereabouts; cynical people will tell you that they were for thick aristocrats who basically failed but were rich and influential and so had to be given some kind of degree just for turning up, and this may well be partly true, but my greatgrandfather was not rich or particularly posh).

There are also degrees "without honours" for if you don't quite manage to fulfil all the requirements for a proper degree but I don't really know how common they are, I think how often they get given and what they involve varies a lot from place to place. Perhaps I should know more, since being a dropout from a university that's not as good as the one Martin dropped out of (HMPF ;) I spent a while reading the small print to see if there was anything I could do to get a non-honours degree. And there wasn't. Sigh.

As for non-honours degrees, at De Montfort there were a number of students who started on an HND, then transferred to a degree programme after that. For some reason they got non-honours degrees. This is fact, but I don't understand it!

Question - how on earth do you successfully duck out of work for the afternoon without arousing suspicion? I'm usually a scruffy bastard so there's no way I can style out turning up in a suit for a "doctor's appointment". Also, I'm supposed to be training an assistant as the moment so actually taking time off could be difficult. What to do?

It is also my philosophy that if you take a few hours of vacation it is your own damn business why; no explaination required beyond "I need to take a couple of hours off tomorrow -- that o.k.?" The end. I'm uncomfortable lying about sick leave or doctor's appointments.

nothing sadder than seeing the long line of interviewees streaming in and out, followed by the discussions i overhear about their positives and negatives.

nothing worse than realising you have no interest in a job 5 mins into an interview. as i did this morning. pretty much have another job i'm really keen on so was always a case of just seeing if it was somehow miraculous.

it was going really well, i was nailing every answer despite not caring (which may help), then couldn't resist the amazing dry internalol of

"how would you improve our website"

"i haven't looked at it, sorry."

I have the job interview of my life this afternoon. Idiotically, I was up all night preparing for it and now I'm shattered. Nice one Dog Latin, you plonker.

"how would you improve our website"

"by not getting the job"

nothing worse than realising you have no interest in a job 5 mins into an interview.

Well, at that point you can relax and use the rest of the interview as practice.

true

i was nailing every answer despite not caring (which may help)

haha yes this is always the way. some might draw parallels with "pulling" here.

going into a job interview for a job you don't want guarantees an offer 95% of the time IME.

Can you try to convinve yourself you don't want this job then?

.. because it's a crummy job and they desperate for people?

win-win situation: two job interviews, either would do but the second one is *TheOne*.

Int1= relaxed, I'll worry about job 2.
Int2= relaxed, int1 went well, so even if I don't get job2, job1 is in bag..

I had an interview which basically *frightened* me once - the woman interviewing me (it was a TL position for a helpdesk) banged on and on about how young the team were and how half of them were "a bit uncontrollable" and that "discipline is a problem" and I was like "oh god, Ive never even BEEN a helpdesk TL before, I dont need a team of 19 year old dorks who would rather be playing God of War than listening to me" and I got up and walked out and was SO reliveed when I didnt get the job.

I once applied for a job as a junior archivist (or sth similar to that, can't recall exactly) with the heritage park in one of my old cities. When I went to the interview, they instead interviewed me for the position of 'interpreter', ie the people who dress up all old-timey and role-play all day to show kids how people churned butter and ran hospitals or schools back in the olden days. I had to do things in the interview like 'tell a story about a time you did something new or different' and answer the question 'do you like children?' I am NOT good at improv/storytelling and I dislike kids.

They must've been p desperate for people because they offered me the job a few days later. I did not take them up on the offer.

LOL, you should have said in the interview, "I am NOT good at improv/storytelling and I dislike kids"... still might have got the job tho

I might as well have said those things!

One time I was investigating a move back upnorth, and had an interview for a job.

Interview one went really well, so far so god. Interview 2 was obviously with their 'beat-down' guy, who promptly decided that I was uncommitted, and reduced the salary offer *and* the role to 'looking after legacy systems' without any committment to training on the new platform.

So, I said no when they sent their final offer.

Two things happened: I got a nice contract role in't city which ran for 18 months, and by the time that job concluded I noticed that the firm up north had gone bust and closed.

good, not god. ALthough I was pretty good...

It's over. I'm a nervous wreck and I'm sweating more than Josef Fritzl on MTV Cribs.

"und here ist where das magic happens..."

A few years ago I went for an interview for a research position that was lower paid and a bit more junior than I was doing. It was near home, in a new industry and I was desperate to leave my job. I thought the interview went okay, I answered all of their questions and gave solid examples. Then one of the interviewers went 'So, what do you do in your spare time?' and I kind of fell apart. I hadn't really prepared that one and didn't want to say 'pub' & 'record shops' so I paused for a bit said "y'know, just normal.. stuff." and they looked at me like I'd confessed to be a serial killer.

The next day later the agent called, she was furious. She said the feedback was "he could do the job but didn't seem that bothered, so we're not going to offer." Since then I have found that a lot of interviewers are jobsworths and want you to praise their company and tell them how you've wanted to work for the company since you were five. This may be particularly finance companies.

want you to praise their company and tell them how you've wanted to work for the company since you were five

... they all do this, don't they? I thought every one knew this?

I guess they do all want this, but I wish some places would acknowledge that it's nobody's lifelong dream to work there. Plus there are plenty places where they don't even tell you enough about the role for you to have a decent answer prepped for that.

An int recently asked "Any Questions?" as their introductory question.

"Not at this stage, no" I replied. They seemed spectacularly underprepared, and I was less than impressed.

It's just as much a process of Them impressing you as much as you impressing them.

My experience since has taught me that the individuals that over play the corporate line and want you to be in awe of the organisation and all that it represents are just putting on a show. Once you're two weeks in to the job you can find them in the pub on a Friday evening bitching and moaning, ruing the day they joined the company. I just don't know why they do it. When I've interviewed people I just tried to gauge their motivations, at the particular stage in their career, to want the job. If they are going work in sales & marketing then they should have at least some understanding of the business aims and positioning and to have affinity them. The rest of the BS is just unnecessary.

Is it now a thing that employers do not even bother to call you back after an interview to let you know you did not get the job? Pretty used to never hearing from 90% of the places I apply to now, but it seems a bit rich to not let someone know after they have taken the time to come and talk to you, perhaps even prepared a presentation (as I have on some occasions), and then ignore them when they email to ask if the position has been filled.

Actually, people in general do not seem to feel obligated to reply to email requests anymore.

Sing of the times?

haha

I can't keep going for interviews for jobs that I can do well and be gripped by so much fear that I turn into a jibbering idiot.

job interviews are basically voodoo to me by this point

doesn't help tht I'm looking in a sector that is struggling & so flooded w/talent. still, getting interviews, so that's a plus

I don't like job interviews

How are you all preparing?

I had an assessment & interview on Monday for a job I really wanted. Breezed through the assessment, got called back for the afternoon interviews and blew it. "Too quiet" and didn't sell myself, apparently.

interviews are really stressful to prepare for and a bad interview completely and utterly sucks. but a good interview can be really fun

how do you tell the good and bad apart?

you just know?

Good interview is like a conversation

Bad interview is like bad sex with a woman while her father is watching you

A lot of it is down to the interviewers - I've had lots that just didn't really know what they were doing.
A good one tends to be more like an actual discussion imo.
Having only been on an interviewing panel once, I'd say be enthusiastic. As a kind of serious and reserved person it made me think about how I present myself at interviews.

lol xp

i've had interviews that ran an hour over time because they were going so well and i STILL didn't get the job

fuckin a

The last IRL interview I had lasted over a hour (not including the code test). This was after an initial 30 minute Skype interview.

Didn't get the job either.

Ugh. Hate these so much. I have had 5 in 2013 without a job to show for it. I am starting to fear that I am a terrible interviewee. Response to feedback request from one I did on Weds:

Dear Sktsh

As I said in my previous email, we had an exceptionally strong field of applicants. As this is a senior position, I was particularly keen to find someone who has managed a team and has operated at senior level. We have a team of very able administrators in place who need an experienced manager to direct and guide them. All the candidates whom I am taking to second interview, are a little bit older than you and have held senior management roles.

Your passion for working with young people to change lives, came over loud and clear, and I do hope you succeed in finding your next role.

Kind regards
Chief Exec

Which, like, thanks - but if that was going to be an insurmountable problem, why waste my time by getting me in at all? And should my age have any sort of bearing on things? (nb I'm 31!)

I guess it's good experience etc but to go through a couple of weeks of pretty intensive prep work, and to take a day's holiday to do it, only to find out you basically weren't really in their thoughts anyway is really fucking exasperating

:(

thought this revive was gonna be about this sun-setting-on-the-silly-season peach http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/05/currys-interviewee-radios-robot-dance

I dunno, if they were looking for someone with senior management experience then it may have been nothing to do with the quality of your interview. That said, if that were the case it does seem weird that they would waste your time with an interview in the first place.

Yeah, that's the bit I found a bit weird. OTOH she may have thought this was a kinder way of responding than saying "you were crap love" so idk.

probably hoping they could find a way to get what they wanted from someone they thought they could pay way less

If you were one of the older ones who didn't get it they'd probably have said they wanted a younger person

Fuck them. And fuck currys. I'm doing my bit to fuck currys by also posting that link to ilx on another thread

All the candidates whom I am taking to second interview, are a little bit older than you and have held senior management roles.

where do you live? in USA it's illegal to deny someone a job because of age except in very limited circumstances.

which basically just means you make up another reason not to hire somebody.

Yeah, equally so in the UK! In fairness to her I don't think she really meant "you didn't get through because you're not old enough" and her email was nice enough, but it was a pretty clumsy/stupid way of putting it. I can completely understand not getting through (it was a much more senior role than my current one, like several levels up, so I was pleasantly surprised to get an interview in the first place) but I could imagine someone much more entitled/irrational/desperate trying to complain about age discrimination.

Pay thing was weird too - for a job that had director in the title it paid what I'm on but with fewer benefits. And I am not a high-earning fella.

I think maybe she misinterpreted my "do you have any feedback that I can take with me to future interviews elsewhere" as "why didn't you give me the job waaaah". I'm fine with the not being chosen bit, but would have been happy to hear general sort of "you babbled a bit" or whatever advice, if she had any. But maybe there wasn't any, or she felt she couldn't give it because she thought I might take it badly. Anyway, jokes on her because I abhor 'working with young people to change their lives'.

Basically cardamom otm. Fuck 'em.

i've been unemployed for 6+ months now. it is really fucking discouraging.
the only places that have even replied to my applications are a dog walking service and a juice bar.

Why were they at the airport if the husband wasn't due to return from his tour of duty that day?

Wrong thread shit

ian, it's far more likely to be them than you

if she told you in an email that you weren't hired b/c you weren't old/young enough, regardless of what actually went on you have a lawsuit.

(another way of saying that is: if this company knows what is good for them, they should fire the woman who sent you that email.)

When I started going for teaching jobs 20+ years ago, I was hopelessly inept at interviews--so much so that when I finally was hired full-time after seven years of supplying (by basically asking for, and getting, a mercy hiring by the outgoing principal at a school where I supplied regularly), I never tried to switch schools again. Fifteen years later, I'm still there--because I like the school, but also because I never want to go through another job interview for the rest of my life.

Teaching interviews require that you're fully conversant in the acronyms du jour (ADJs, if you will). They change every three or four years, but they never go away.

Job interview at TK Maxx tomorrow. FML. Perhaps a consolation is that if I get the job, I can start a thread about it.

Full/part time? Cover your outgoings?

if she told you in an email that you weren't hired b/c you weren't old/young enough, regardless of what actually went on you have a lawsuit.

To be fair, that wasn't the spirit of what was written though. clearly she meant 'experienced' though she used the word 'older,' e.g. 'these other candidates are a better fit because they are older (and therefore more experienced).'

Hmmm, I just had an interview go really well for a job I don't really want but I really need any job. Hoping I can have a similarly good interview for a job I'd be more down to actually do before I'm called on to take this one. Meh.

I didn't even apply for this. My roommate did and they called him yesterday and he was like "I already took a job but my roomie's here and he's looking for work" and handed off the phone.

I'd say take it up and give it yr best shot because whether or not you like it depends on things that won't be apparent until you've worked there a while

Well, it's doing janitorial work for $11/hr late nights with a 27 mile commute, so I can't exactly see myself growing to appreciate it, but I'm fairly desperate and can't afford to pass on work at the moment.

I figure if nothing else, I might do it for a couple pay periods and bail when I can pull down something else.

yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

anyone ever withdrawn from an application when they've been offered an interview? just not sure I cba doing all the prep (company research, working up answers to the competency qs etc) and my current job is... fine I guess

Loads of times

did it. kinda regret doing it now. inevitable

said it was bad timing (financial year end) and hadn't had time to properly prepare and didn't want to waste everyone's time. can I say to something along the lines 'if you're still interviewing in dec/jan, let me know. it's the ideal role but was just very unfortunate with the timing'

have heard from several people that the application is about the past, the interview is about the future

but i live in the now

the application is about the misery your past employment bestowed upon you, the interview is about the horrors which lie ahead

Tend to agree with bizarro.

Application is partially about the future tho - a cover page can make clear how your values align with the company and how you can see yourself fitting in there. Hopefully that's not too literal

make sure your cover letter stands out by using an eye-catching font, like comic sans, in a colour which reflects your personality, like lavender

you can also add visual interest by breaking up the text with clip art of businesspeople doing business things, eg

https://openclipart.org/download/236805/Businessman-Pointing-To-Graph-On-Monitor.svg

All of my application is in the past for sure

the interview should also be about the past, the idea is that you provide specific examples of how you've demonstrated the competencies required for the position

so I 99% completed an application for a post but did not submit it....... & I have been invited for an interview....
-\..o../-

I made it to the third and final stage of a job interview, which is a “chemistry meet” where I’ll meet the five people I’m going to manage and my co-managers.

I’ve done one of these before, as a team member not a candidate, and it was excruciating. I consider myself quite sociable and chatty but I can turn into an overpleasing dingbat when conversation gets awkward.

Any hints/experience? Definitely more nervous about this than the two other interviews...

Breathe
Relax
Less is more

think of some cool orders to give them, to show them how fun it will be to do your bidding

I have been jobhunting.

Note: I don't, strictly speaking, need to, because I already have a job. I just want a different one, and there are a bunch out there (for my particular niche type of work). I know this is a ridiculously privileged situation to be in.

That said, it IS a bit surreal - not just because everything is phones and zooms and teams and stuff, but because basically no one knows what tf is happening, so a lot of things are tentative. Thoughts in no particular order:

1. Almost every company has an online application; some are better than others.
- Sometimes you upload your resume and that's pretty much it. A+.
- Sometimes you upload your resume and the tool parses it successfully. B+.
- Sometimes you upload your resume and the tool parses it middlingly well - you still have to go in and correct/edit to correspond with reality. C.
- Sometimes you upload your resume and then you STILL have to manually enter every fricking thing. D-.

2. I have told a LOT of companies about my gender, race/ethnicity, disability status, and veteran-ness. This is fine and I understand why they collect the data but it's pretty repetitive and I find myself wishing for a way to do it all with one button.

3. I have talked to a LOT of initial screener interviewers (generally, recruiters or other HR types). These conversations generally go well. But the second phase (of talking to a person who actually understands the work) is usually slow to materialize. Because people are busy having, y'know, jobs.

4. Every potential calculation of whether/when to say yes is fraught. If I accept the first offer I will forever wonder whether I should have held out longer. If I reject an offer I will forever wonder if I should have taken it.

Friend just got a new gig, depends on the industry I guess

had an interview on friday - said I should hear the outcome today. still haven’t heard anything. know it’s a bit early to be worried (given ppl can get dragged into operational processes, final sign-off discussions etc) and thought at the time ‘on tuesday’ sounded ambitious. but that rational thinking isn’t helping my anxiety tho.

keep telling myself it was a bank holiday weekend and today the hiring manager needs to ‘score’/assess the candidates, get her big boss to give the nod, and - even though it’s her decision - she’ll need to get HR to give the nod too. throw in the fact the big boss might be busy or otherwise waylaid, same for HR… plus fact I’m asking for slightly above the pay band on the advert (which is another thing that would need signed off)… all that and they’re all doing their day jobs too plus whatever crap crops up… that’s giving me some comfort.

I just hate this waiting part. I’m impatient

also fuck a competency question / STAR response

What sort of question would you prefer to competency ones? Genuinely curious, since I seem to have ended up in charge of recruitment at my company, and we ask mostly (but not entirely) competency questions. We don't grade super strictly on STAR though.

And like I kind of get it, because anytime I've interviewed on competency questions I haven't gotten the job, whereas I can nail 'shoot the shit' sort of interviews or less formally structured ones. Is there a happy medium that's still 'fair' to candidates and gives interviewers a common ground for scoring?

I don't necessarily hate STAR questions but if they're looking for something extremely specific I wish they would tell you ahead of time what the questions might be. I interviewed a lot in 2022-23 and I found that getting "gotcha" questions popped at me was not an effective way to reveal anything except how I would react if rudely confronted. Which is poorly.

The best interview I ever had (and I did not get the job!) was with an NYC city agency and included questions like "How do you like to manage?" and "How do you prefer to BE managed?" and it taught me so much more about myself, how to talk about myself, and how to ascertain the right fit with the culture & expectations of a workplace. No one had ever asked me how I liked to be managed or get feedback--you got whatever your boss did, and by gum you liked it or at least shut up about it. Total game changer.

I change my mind - competency questions are good not bad. (they want to give me the job I interviewed for but think I might actually be a better suit for a more senior position they have open so we’re working through the details on that.)

way to go!

I’ve had some interviews lately, my first since…. 2011 maybe? Everything is different and I suck at it. I’m pretty good in person and people like me. I think. But the zoom and phone interviews are fucking me up and I hate it. Half the time there’s some technical glitch and it totally throws me off.

I had an interview for a library job and the zoom thing didn’t work right at the beginning and then the connection broke right before it ended, so it started and ended on bum notes. And the library is 15 minutes from my house. Everything is stupid.

good stuff ||||||
i took the initial post as just blowing off steam anyhow. these things suck. i'm on the interviewer side for the first time soon and am absolutely dreading it. Very formal format.

Well done barcode.

Had a job interview last Friday, apparently should've known the outcome on Tuesday lol

Last yr I had a gap between initial and final interviews of about 4-6 weeks