Interviews

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

the actual job appears to be a fantastic opportunity but I don't wanna head down there & be like Spud on Trainspotting... or more the opposite with nothing to say.

 

[orly]

@Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian will write you out a longer response later but one technique is 10 minutes for presentation, 5 minutes for questions to you (you can tell them this is your approach at beginning - quality > quantity)

 

[orly]

Also I would usually allow a 500 word 'scripted answer' to take 5 minutes, so scale it up from there on your prep

 

[GrandOldTeam]

reidy, nothing to lose mate.

go for it.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

Also I would usually allow a 500 word 'scripted answer' to take 5 minutes, so scale it up from there on your prep

yeah, I saw a guide of how to break it down but tbh a fair bit of it will have been covered in the interview, in fact the 1st 6 minutes 'subjects' that they say to cover is stuff that they'll have already asked me during the interview.

The irony is that if I gave a truthful answer to what advice would you give to those looking at engineering it would be "Don't unless you want a merry-go-round of short term employment, rubbish pay & shift work."
I wouldn't recommend the industry to anyone based on my experiences in it.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

reidy, nothing to lose mate.

go for it.

I do still have a miniscule amount of dignity, I'm assuming that a 1st time powerpoint will stand out a mile as well, the fact that I'll have to learn how to do something & then rely on it working ok really isn't giving me much confidence... and that's all as well as actually coming up with the content as well.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

I do still have a miniscule amount of dignity,

Who cares what other people think?

You'll never see them again.

I'm assuming that a 1st time powerpoint will stand out a mile as well,

You'd be surprised.

Be modest in the delivery - say it's been some time since you've delivered a presentation, make a joke it's actually kept you awake, or you've pissed the wife off rehearsing it so much. Maybe say you appreciate you can talk quickly, please do stop me with any questions or if you're unsure ask etc.

the fact that I'll have to learn how to do something & then rely on it working ok really isn't giving me much confidence... and that's all as well as actually coming up with the content as well.

Sometimes knowing the inside out of something is worse - learn the basics, communicate what your interpretation of the basics are and dont get hung up on the 15 minute element. It'll fly, talk slowly - there will be gaps, break it up with some questions...

But above all - you've nothing to lose other than a bit of time and feeling like a soft arse - in the grand scheme of things who cares about that?

 

[orly]

If it's a first time powerpoint, go onto one of the million small-admin job sites and pay someone for it. It'll be of good quality if you go to the right people.

Check what sort of room you will be in, and how many are on the panel. If it is in a small room, you may have to do a sit-down presentation to avoid being weird.

the fact that I'll have to learn how to do something & then rely on it working ok really isn't giving me much confidence

You could teach yourself to use a PowerPoint over the weekend mate. It's really intuitive.

I'll be honest, it sounds like you are defeating yourself before you've even gone in, need to be a lot more positive mate as it shows so clearly.

 

[Brisan123]

These days, they're mostly trained (or at least should be...) to ask for specific examples of you showing good leadership/teamwork/communication or whatever. That's why they often start with 'tell me about a time when....'

The idea is to give them real, true stories of your exploits - the more recent the better. So you could start an answer with 'a good example from my last job was the time that I.....' They'll follow up (assuming they're any good) by asking what the outcome was and what you specifically did in the story.

So the best prep is to go back over any incidents in your last few years that show you doing stuff that's relevant to the job you're applying for. So if you're applying, for example, to work in a call centre you could tell stories of being really patient with someone who's very upset/angry/dissatisfied etc. Or examples of you handling somebody who doesn't speak good english.

As long as the stories are true...

To ask what you see yourself doing in five years time is a bit meaningless, really. Few people have a planning window that big. And the real answer for most of us is: "in work, please god"

Just play the game - remember your objective is to avoid being rejected. Do that a few times and you'll get offered the job. You may or may not want to accept the offer but the relationship changes the instant they offer you the role - you have the power.

Good luck.

Or you could just make some really good stuff up

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

I'll find out in next few days, seemed to go ok & was quite informal.

 

[Lickle eric]

Last interview i did was going so bad that terminated it myself half way through and politely left.

 

[Alanbileysfeathercut]

I recently sailed through an internal interview for a job i had previously done .
In fact I done the job perfectly when someone phoned in sick at the last minute recently.
Probably made the company 100-200 K in product (seriously )
Just received my knock back as...
This decision casts no reflection whatsoever on your qualification and past experience but is one taken in respect of our current needs.
I asked my immediate boss what this means and he doesn't know or won't tell me .

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Did you go @Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian ?

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

Did you go @Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian ?

yeah, seemed to go ok.

it was VERY laid back though, even the interview wasn't so much of 1 & certainly not a formal 1. Had an interview with the principle too & that was also just a relaxed chat with her really.
They struggle to get people as the wages within the industry in that area are decent & blokes with experience have probably got a bit of service in at 1 place & a decent pension, so they don't want to leave a comfort zone.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

yeah, seemed to go ok.

it was VERY laid back though, even the interview wasn't so much of 1 & certainly not a formal 1. Had an interview with the principle too & that was also just a relaxed chat with her really.
They struggle to get people as the wages within the industry in that area are decent & blokes with experience have probably got a bit of service in at 1 place & a decent pension, so they don't want to leave a comfort zone.

Well in mate. Fingers crossed for you.