So I've Got A Job Interview Tomorrow!

I had an interview last wednesday! I have no idea when I'll hear back about it though.

X-post, what is a green scourer and why do I think that would take off part of my skin as well?

It doesn't really look like tattoos any more, it just looks like dirt. What's funny is most of the HEROINE tattoo scrubbed right off except for the E, or at least, I find that funny, never mind. Usually it's the other way around.

What's worse is no one actually *GOT* my costume. Sigh.

x-post... yeah, please Sarahsonic, can you post it here coz being in a web cafe, I don't really have the time to search.

One of the questions was something about delta-hedging of a cap with a swap. I had no idea how to get the answer, and told him this. The test was quite important, but I remembered they were after some personality for the role (rare in what I do).

We went for lunch with his boss (fourth stage of the interview), who asked me if I had any questions for him. I straight asked his the question from the test. The other guy laughed, and his boss said he hadn't a clue but could bluff it if he had to. I was offered the role.

I guess that kind of says my attitude to it - they have to want you, and you want them. It often feels a one-way situation but it truly isn't. Go in with an open mind, be honest, and try to enjoy it. Good Luck and that.

(x-post to virtually everybody)

Weird thing is, I'm usually very good at job interviews, because I don't get particularly nervous at interviews (compared to fanzines, no HR is going to be difficult). And I'm quite good at faking confidence.

I guess I just have to go in and say "This is what I do, this is what I'm good at, now you tell me if that is the sort of person that you need to sort things out around this place" which is what I did at the last job.

Neat hair, clean, nice clothes...the Account Managers are the ones who have to dress up and shake/fake, not you. It is always blindingly obvious who the tech/support/accounts folks are in PR offices. Look them up to see what kind of PR it is, if you can (an agency should tell you the sector at least).

Apparently they're an "independent" PR firm, which sounds good. 1ngr@ms were the last of the "independent" marketing agencies, which might work in my favour, that I already have that kind of experience.

"Let me tell you about my last real interview for a real job: I had scheduled 2 in the same day, one in the morning at like 10, one in the late afternoon, both with non-profit science journals. I got a good night's sleep, got up and put on my new suit and new shoes and horrible nude hose, and set off to the first in good time. The woman interviewing me had given me directions, describing it as a 5-minute walk over a small hill from the metro stop. I ended up following her directions and getting lost on the HUGE National INstitutes of Health campus in Maryland, wandering around desperately looking for a payphone so I could call her to explain, while my heels had started bleeding from my new shoes. I ended up finding the way there, which was actually a 20-minute walk from the station, and arrived an HOUR late. At that point, I was thinking, okay well my chances of getting this job are shot, but fuckit, I'm going to do the interview anyway. If nothing else it'll be practice for the afternoon. I thought it went alright, she was nice and apologetic about her directions, I was taken around the small office and introduced to people, hoping they didn't notice my bloody feet, and then she very kindly drove me back to the metro stop. At home I changed into less-good but comfortable shoes and went off to the afternoon one, where I spent most of the time mired in an HR office doing stupid tests and rewriting my CV on their forms, and barely talked to the hyperactive guy who would've been my boss. The HR woman I dealt with was rude and argumentative about points on my CV.

Anyway, that night I got home and was nursing my heels when I got a call from the first place, offering me the job at a salary above what I'd been prepared to accept! Result! I think during the interview I relaxed because I thought I'd fucked it up and was just like, oh well whatever, about the whole thing. And then I had the pleasure of calling the evil HR woman the next day and telling her I'd taken another position and could she withdraw my application. Heh. "

That's pretty long, sorry. For my interview last week I kept telling myself it was just a meeting, since I don't know if they'll have a permanent job going, etc. but then once I was there it totally felt like a real interview, and I've had to stop myself from over-analyzing everything I did/said.

Anyway, good luck! Hope it all goes smoothly.

x-post... will go back and read that, S!

My driving test was just like that, if it's any help. I passed.

The thing I always need to remember at interviews is that I'm interviewing *them* as much as they're interviewing me. To pay attention to the tone and the atmosphere of the office.

Anywhere that I'm interviewed by a HR department and I don't even meet my potential boss, that's a big no-no for me.

Of course, it doesn't appear to actually be working (at least not on this 'puter) but still!

Oh wait, there it is. Interesting.

Good luck Kate!

hee hee.

I hate hate hate job interviews. You're lucky you don't get nervous about them so much. The thing that always helps me the most is what beanz said way upthread - they are anxious to fill whatever position. They're scared too, because there could be a lot at risk if they hire the wrong person and end up having to start interviews over and retrain...

Anyway, that was ass-backwards from the way things usually are. I did great in the pre-interview screening at the agency (usually they have a hard time understanding what it is exactly I do and why I've done it for so many different places and why I don't wear makeup to job interviews, etc. blah blah) - really established a rapour with the interviewer, explained myself well... and then totally bombed when I got to the client.

Really hard interviewer, she didn't give anything away, gave no indication of what exactly she was looking for. The questions were quite difficult... not in the usual "where do you see yourself in five years time?" type thing, but very specific "what management style do you like and not like?" and "how would you convince a superior to adopt a new procedure?" and stuff like that.

Which I did my best to answer honestly, but I just wish I'd been a bit more prepared for them. Sheesh.

Anyway, she said that they were doing the second round of interviews next week, and that they would get in touch with the agency. I have a feeling I should go back to the drawing board...

Weex. :-(

At least I bought myself some CDs and some mad William Blake books to cheer me up.

That was my agency on the phone, and apparently they've spoken to the HR department and it looks like they're going to invite me back to the second round of interviews. So you never know, do you?

(And Pete? Honestly, a nonsense. Carl is my boyfriend. Get real!)

x-post, yeah, jeesh, there's some wonderfully whackadoo stuff going on in Jerusalem that I never guessed at.

Anyway, who are these Daughters Of Albion and what are their visions?

you love pete.

'this is for lovers. running away..'

Pete's just way too dysfunctional. We'd kill each other in a matter of hours. Carl has the whole codependent thing down pat, I just know that he wants to paint my toenails and tie me to the bedposts to stop me from going out and getting wrecked take care of me. So there.

Anyway, we're talking about Blake. Was Nash really the antichrist, and was the destruction of Albion's countryside to make way for Regents Park really the beginning of the apocalypse?

http://www.literary-cat.cwc.net/images/cat%20cat.jpg

Oh, God, don't ask me - I haven't read Jerusalem in years. These days when I read Blake I tend to stick to Marriage of Heaven and Hell, some of my favourites of Songs of Innocence and Experience, then try to plough through some of his stuff I don't know (though clearlt Jerusalem is in this category now...) like Book of Thel, or America: A Prophecy.

Jerusalem caught my eye because it had so many references to places in London. (Oh, blame Peter Ackroyd for getting me on this kick, yes.)

Maybe I should just start another thread on William Blake. Do we have one? or maybe even Taking Sides: Williams Blake vs. Hogarth.

I got CC:ed in on the reference from one of my former employers. That was a bit... wow! A nice boost to my self esteem.

Anyway. If I get called back to a second interview, I've decided that I'm going to draw up a string of questions that *I* want answered about the corporate climate, and attitude towards change, and the management structure and heirarchy. I mean, sure, they'll probably lie like employees usually do at job interviews. But it will give me some idea of how they will react to my style. (Plus, it can't help but impress that I've actually thought about this stuff.)

Then again, I suppose it's a bit of a testament to how completely I've compartmentalised my working life and my social life that both sides of my personality.

Gah. Has Cat done this *just* to torment me? She's left "What Became Of The Likely Lads" sitting on top of the computer. I will not... I will not... oh, honest, I'm only picking it up to figure out which bus route it's on. Honest.

Can you keep up? Coz I can't.

The third job is consulting work, part time, so I'm hoping to swing it as well as one of the other two. It's working for my old boss, so I'm quite keen to do it. I just don't know where I'm going to find the time to have a full time job, a part time job, school, and a band. We shall see what gives first.

Yesterday they made me take tests. Argh, I don't know how to use Microsoft programmes without the keyboard shortcuts and right mouseclicks and things. I scored a miserable 65% on the Word test. But something like 98% on Excel. They didn't make me take an Access test, which was weird. I like hacking the Access test and changing my scores to make them even higher. It's funny seeing the looks on peoples faces "Wait, how could you get 110% on the advanced section?" PH34R MY HAXEZZ SKILLZ, T3MP FUX0RS!!!

I'm scared. I mean, I always get the same indications on Meyers-Briggs and things (yes, I am a mastermind. Exxxxxcelllent) but I don't know what this is. Argh.

Time to practise my lying skillz...

Looks like it predicts how you will behave in certain circumstances and the like:

How you are likely to behave in the workplace
What you need to be aware of in terms of your relationships with other people at work
What really motivates and drives you at work
How you are likely to interact and work with other people
What style of management best suits you.
How you are likely to manage other people
How you react under pressure and your working style
What qualities you offer an organisation
What your perfect job would entail
What responsibilities you love and hate

Oh wait, there's a free sample test.

(sounds like the same thing)

INTP is the common MB code for us types: Introvertive, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceiving

(the only time i took one of these things the tester seemed impressed that i'd added up all the column totals for her. never heard back though...)

High Dominance people like taking risks and are highly competitive. They also have little tolerance for mistakes. They are assertive and confident. They could be intimidating at times and they resent anyone wasting their time.

They most fear losing or being taken advantage of. Status, power and making money would motivate them.

Except the last bit doesn't hold true. I'm not into status, power or making money. I want respect. But the little tolerance for mistakes and bloody intimidating and HATE BLOODY TIMEWASTERS is bang on.

Which is weird, because in my non-work environment, I'm far more like this:

High Influence people are enthusiastic, imaginative, idealistic, persuasive and highly verbal. They like to have fun and entertain people. They are often disorganized.

They fear rejection and are most motivated by recognition.

Very interesting.

Anyway, it doesn't matter as I'm really pissed off as they said they would email me this test an hour ago, and so I've gone to a web cafe (despite the fact that I should be at home waiting for the boiler repairman so I don't get bloody gassed) to sit and wait for it, and it just hasn't turned up.

They're all "We need this now now now, at least by the end of the day" despite my explaining what my schedule is, but they can't be bothered to get it to me.

This does not bode well for the job. I feel like ringing them back at the end of two hour and telling them that I can't work for a company that doesn't understand deadlines.

They don't have a problem with their email. I just emailed them to ask for it, and my agency just emailed me saying "email when you get it."

I'm wasting my time and money sitting in a web cafe waiting for them to get their asses in gear. Which makes me think that my job will be endless frustration sitting in an office waiting for them to get their asses in gear. Which, as a Quality Assurance Officer, I would find ENDLESSLY FRUSTRATING.

In 15 minutes, I'm going home to wait for the repairman, and sod their tests, they will get it when they get it. Maybe that's the test, and ifso, fuck 'em.

people here just check things into the codebase willy nilly without warning or any mention of possible consequencies. and no documentation. or design. drives me mad at times.

("What's this? Permissions error? I don't understand this error code. Why do we have to use this damn version-control system? I've never had any of these errors before - you should never have introduced all these Unix things. I'm a Mac user,* I shouldn't have to translate bizarre error codes. Macs just work without any of these problems")

(that was a genuine outburst, as best as I can remember it - the error was that BBEdit wouldn't save a file because he also had it open in Excel)

* he'd been an OS X user for about two years at this point, and still didn't understand the basic owner/group/world permissions system.

first one in 5 yrs tomorrow...

so I've heard they like it when YOU ask THEM questions. Is it incredibly presumptuous to go right into "tell me about your benefits and dress code."

financial state of the company is always a good one, and allows you to show off some knowledge about them (quick google to find out)

Don't ask anything about salary / benefits / working hours if it's plainly obvious it's 9-to-5 - apparently this shows you're flexible.

"Why has this vacancy come up?" is generally pretty good - plus you can generally get a good idea if the employee's leaving because it's a shit place to work at or if the team's a bunch of losers.

Depending on how they answer that, or if you think they're going to want you to progress or slug it out in the same position for five years, ask "Do you promote internally where possible?" - shows that you're keen to do well. Similarly try "What opportunities are there to gain extra qualifications or experience?".

If you want to show you're concerned with the overall objectives of the job/department/company, try "What will be the top priority of the job over the next six months/however long?"

Also, good luck to you.

Top advice ever seen for interview questions YOU can ask. Srsly.

Tomorrow afternoon...

g'luck E

crush it!