Interview process no 3 - Flagship Housing

This is the interview that I referred to in my introductory post. I applied for this post in the middle of a load of application forms I started but didn't finish, and wasn't even sure if the application form had gone through as I never actually got confirmation. The post was for manager of sheltered housing for the elderly.

Getting the interview

The application for this job was an online application where it was then sent directly to the company from the site where the form was filled in with no confirmation of sending. I filled this application in because when I looked at the job spec I thought I could do the job, but not really because I wanted it. I took very little time to complete the application form but did the same as with the previous one though in less detail. I even forgot that I had applied for it and only remembered about a week after the closing date when I was looking through all my paper work of things I had copied out. By that time I hadn't heard anything so was pretty sure that I hadn't got an interview and once again just forgot about it. A couple of days later imagine my surprise when I got a letter inviting me for interview on Friday 1st May.

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Preparing for the interview


The main problem for me that the interview was in a town some miles from where I live, and as my car was out of action I would have to take the bus, and I wasn't really sure I wanted the job (as is probably obvious by now) and if I could be bothered to bus it all that way. Even up to the morning of the interview I wasn't sure if I was even going to go. The interview was at 12.00pm and I woke nice and early after a good night's sleep because I wasn't nervous having pretty much decided I would call in the morning and tell them I couldn't make it. After showering and sitting with a cup of tea I got the feeling that I couldn't bear to sit and do nothing all day as it was a lovely day outside. After a brief conversation with a friend who just happened to be online at the time I decided that I had nothing to lose by going and it would be more practice for me and a nice day out. I then had 40 minutes to get ready before I had to get the bus.
As I wasn't really bothered about this job I thought I would try a new approach and chose a completely different outfit, neat and tidy but much less formal than what I had previously worn, and far more comfortable as I would have to sit on the bus for some time. I briefly scanned the internet website for the company but I have to say that this is the least prepared I have ever been for an interview and I knew that I would pretty much be winging it. I was actually having problems remembering exactly what the job was, and didn't think it would look good to ask if they could tell me about the job because I couldn't remember a damn thing. Anyway I set off for the interview stopping at the shop on the way to buy a sandwich and drink for my day out. After a long bus journey where I listened to my ipod and read a book in between staring out of the window and taking a trip down memory lane, I arrived at venue for the interview.

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The interview

I arrived at the interview about 15 minutes early only to be told that they were running about half an hour late. There was already someone there waiting and we spent a nice half hour chatting before he was called into the interview room. On arrival I was offered tea or coffee or water, the first time this has happened, and as it was a warm day just asked for a glass of water. While I was sitting waiting on my own I read my book and quickly looked over my application form in the vain hope that I would remember a bit more about the job.
I was finally called up to the panel, which consisted of three people sat around a round table. I was invited to sit down, and once again offered water to drink during the interview, this time in a nice glass.
The interview went as well as I would have expected with my complete lack of preparation but I could tell that I wasn't exactly setting them alight, although they were very pleasant I and don't think that I presented myself too badly. I was able to answer most of the questions adequately and left feeling that I might stand a slim chance of getting the job, but not a very good one.

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Conclusion and Feedback

As the interview was on a Friday I didn't hear anything from them until the following Monday. Unsurprisingly I didn't get the job and the feedback was that they were looking for someone with enthusiasm more than experience as the job could be taught to the right person. They felt that I didn't answer the questions very fully and seemed a little reserved. I felt that given how I felt about the whole thing that this was very fair feedback. Out of all the interviews I had had so far this was the nicest and friendliest setting and I was a little sad that I had not made more effort as I think they would have been a good company to work for.

Interview process no 2 - Scope

My second application was for the job of project worker for a new venture called Activities Unlimited. This was started by the local council but then the running of it tendered out to the charity scope. The purpose of it was to provide activities and short term breaks for children with disabilities and their families.

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Getting the Interview

The application form for this job was a more 'normal' one than the previous one with all the information you would expect to be asked for. The hardest bit was showing I met all the criteria for the job, and it was a long list in four sections. Luckily I was able to complete it online as I hate filling out forms by hand, computers have made me soft. The way that I did it was to copy and paste all the criteria then overwrite each section with the relevant experience that I had. As this was the first proper application form I had completed for some years, and I really wanted this job I took nearly a week to complete it to my satisfaction. I was able to give relevant experience for all but one of the criteria so I was very happy with the end result. About a week after the closing date I received a letter inviting me for an interview on Wednesday 8th April at 4.00pm. A couple of days before the interview I got a call asking if they could bring the interview forward by about an hour and in my non thinking way replied that that would be great as it meant I got it over and done with earlier. I then had to hurriedly explain that I meant that the longer I had to wait the more nervous I would be. Then I thought it would be a good idea to just shut up. About 15 minutes after I got that call I received another one asking if I would like it to be moved to 1.00pm. Even better I said! So that was the time we finally settled on.

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Preparing for the interview

This time I had actually remembered to keep copies of all information about the job so was able to look over these and remind myself of what the focus for the job was and the criteria. As with the previous interview I spent quite a lot of time online looking at information about the company and trying to find information about the project. It took quite a bit of tracking down as with it being a new project the information about it was hidden in a site about another project that will be working in conjunction with the new one. I even saw a photo of a couple of the people who were named as being on the interview panel. I also altered my list of prepared questions to fit this job.
Same outfit laundered and ready the day of the interview dawned nice and sunny. I woke in the morning after a not too bad sleep but was in a very negative mood about the whole thing. I think it was because I really wanted the job and was trying to lower my expectations in case I didn't get it. and nerves had really kicked in big time. After giving myself a very stern talking to about my attitude and doing some meditation to calm my nerves, I set off for the interview in a much more positive frame of mind feeling very excited about the job and the opportunity.

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The interview

I arrived at the location of the interview nearly half an hour early so had quite a bit of time to kill before I went in. I used this time to go over my notes and review my application form and to sit and watch the activity going on around me and keep breathing deep and get myself into a nicely calm state of mind.
When I was finally invited into the interview room I was introduced to three people, one of whom I recognised from the picture on the website, and said so, showing I had done my research. This was a very informal interview setting, with sofas and comfy chairs, but oddly positioned so it was hard to keep eye contact with all the interviewers successfully as it meant moving around a fair bit. While the interviewers all had drinks, I wasn't offered one but as I was sat on a low sofa, while I would have liked some water, I would probably have thrown it all over myself so was quite glad there wasn't one there.
The interview started well with all the questions about things I had put on my application form which I was much more comfortable with and felt I answered easily. The interview progressed well with lots of smiling and head nodding so I was feeling pretty confident. I was asked a couple of questions by the woman who's photo I had seen and got a little confused as they were very woolly questions and I really wasn't sure that I had answered them properly but I followed advice I had been given and asked throughout the interview if they wanted me to elaborate any more and was told no that was fine thanks. I felt that it was all going very well and I had made a good connection with the interviewers and answered the majority of the questions well. Then it was my turn to ask questions. I referred to my list and was a little disappointed with the answers, but also quite excited. As this was a brand new project I was told that it would be very much up to the new team that was being put together to make the job work the best, and that there would be team building sessions and working sessions to set up when everyone was finally in post. I was very excited to think that I could be in on the start of a brand new project and have input into how that was set up and run. The interview ended very oddly, with someone coming in and saying the next candidate was waiting and despite the fact there was an ongoing conversation going on I was suddenly told thanks, time to go now,. which I thought was a little odd. But on the whole my instinct said that it had gone very well, with very positive body language from the interviewers, so I was feeling very hopeful. I was told I would be contacted in the next couple of days with the outcome.

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Conclusion and feedback

As I have said, when I left the interview I was feeling very positive about the way things had gone. Having done what I knew were shocking interviews in the past, this felt very different and I felt that I had presented myself very well and positively and fully and adequately answered about 95% of the questions that were asked. The following day the phone rang and with my heart in my mouth I answered the call. I was given the bad news that I had not been successful, then when I asked for feedback was very surprised to be told that they could tell that my nerves had got the better of me and that I hadn't answered the questions as well as they would have liked. I found this very strange as by the time I got to the interview I was more excited than nervous, and had hardly stopped talking through the interview, and they had told me I had answered the questions well.
He did say that my application form was excellent, and if a job became available in the future they would like me to reapply. My immediate reaction was that if I wasn't good enough this time why would I be any better if I reapplied.
I was very very upset not to have got this job, and very down hearted as I felt that in all aspects I had followed the advice about the whole process and given as good an interview as I had ever given and still hadn't got the job. It was only later having spoken to several people with recruitment experience and told them what the feedback was, that I was told that that was pretty much word for word the sort of feedback that was given to unsuccessful candidates when the successful applicants had been decided even before the interview. Looking back this did make sense of the way the interview had ended. I will probably never know if this is the case or not and if it is then this is not an organisation I would have wanted to work for anyway. Sour grapes? Hell yes! I could have done that job standing on my head and been a very valuable member of the team, but now I will never know as I wouldn't put myself through that process with those people again and I found it completely demoralising to do my best and still be unsuccessful. It took me quite a while to get some semblance of my confidence back after this set back.

Interview process no 1. DWP

My first application was for the post of Personal Advisor at Job Centre Plus.

Getting the interview

I have to say that this was the easiest application form I have filled out as it was a competancy based form so there were hardly any bits to fill out, just a load of situations you had to score for the way you thought you would behave. So that done and sent off I waited to see what the outcome would be. A short time later I received an invitation to attend an aptitude testing session. This consisted of two timed papers, one for literacy and one for numeracy. Now I'm not the best at maths, about average I would say, so I wasn't looking forward to this. Fortunately we were allowed to take calculators. Phew.

7th April 2009

So on arrival I settled down at my table, away from other people so that I wouldn't be distracted. This being my first invite to attend part of the process on from the application form I was super keen and organised. I had my calculator, a pencil case, some mints and a drink as well as my calculator and my son's in case the first one broke for some reason. I organised them all in front of me along with the pencil and paper that had been provided by the testing people.

The first paper arrived and we had 8 minutes to find 15 mistakes in a written piece. Well I found the first 12 pretty easily then after much searching found another one, but for the life of me couldn't find the last two, so I had to just cross my fingers and hope that would be enough.
The papers were taken away for marking and the next paper arrived. In this one we were given 15 minutes to answer 20 questions.
Along with your answer paper you were given a statistics paper that gave details of rooms used in a college. This included times rooms were used, the numbers of computers in each room, whether there was wheelchair access etc, In all there were about 8 different sections of information. The aim of the paper was to analyse the data and work out the maths. So an example would be to say how many wheelchair users had access to computers between 7 and 9 pm, that sort of thing.
Well again I was motoring along, feeling pretty confident and tapping away on my calculator, until I got to a section on ratios and percentages. I have never been able to work out percentages, I always forget the formula so in the end I guestimated these questions. I managed to complete 17/20 questions before the time was up, and wasn't at all confident that I had got enough right to go through.
Once again the papers were taken away for marking then someone arrived with an armful of large envelopes that we were asked to collect on our way out. We were also asked to respect the other applicants and not open the envelope until we were outside the building. As I was queueing to get my envelope I noticed that there were two types of envelope being handed out, at the front of the pile were nice thick envelopes, obviously for successful applicants with details of the next stage of the process, and at the back of the pile thin ones, guess it doesn't take much paper to tell people they have failed the tests!
So finally I was at the front of the queue. I gave my name and waited while she looked through the pile of envelopes. A quarter of the thick envelopes gone and she was still looking, then half then on to the final quarter. By this time I had convinced myself I had failed and waited for her to move on to the thin ones at the back...... but no! to my surprise the second to last thick envelope had my name on it. Relief. Then we had to wait for someone to escort a group of us back through the warren that was the building, down to the exit. I was happily chatting away to a couple of other women who obviously had thick envelopes pointing out my observation and conclusion that those with thick ones had got through, when I noticed a man on my other side clutching a thin one. Decided that was a good time to shut up. Once outside the building my suspicions were confirmed when I saw the man opening his thin envelope and the look on his face and so I went to the nearest (and cheapest) coffee shop and sat down to look through the mountain of paperwork involved in the next stage. I did give a fleeting thought to the rain forest that must have died to provide this information to the large group of successful applicants. The first piece of paper told me I had been successful and would I please attend an interview the following week.

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Preparing for the interview

I have been attending a job search program and when I knew I had scored an interview I managed to time it to coincide with a workshop on how to sell yourself and good interview techniques. This was very good timing and gave me guidance on how to prepare for the day. I was also very pleased to be scored with a perfect handshake.
Unfortunately, in my opinion anyway, this was to be a competency based interview. Now I hate these things, they are a standardised list of questions based purely on the competencies listed for the post. This is when I realised I had made my first mistake. I had applied online for the post and whilst I had made a copy of the application form I had not taken any copies of the list of competencies required for this post. After some trawling of the DWP website I managed to find a similar job and printed off the list hoping that it was the same list that I would need for my interview.
Next step was to go through the competencies list and come up with examples of each, and following the guidelines on the paperwork I focused on experiences from the last 3 years. I carefully typed out the list and the examples and printed them off to be used for reference during the interview if I became stuck.
The next stage was to go to a newsagents and buy a posh folder to put all my paperwork in. I had to take a large amount of paperwork to the interview with me and also had to get a passport photo done. This didn't bode well imo as it meant they had so many people attending they needed a photo to remind them who you were and I have never been the most photogenic person in the world. That ordeal over with all I had to do was prepare a list of reasonably intelligent questions to ask and make sure my interview outfit was ready. I'd already bought a pair of 'interview shoes' with a gift voucher from my previous place of work and just had to decide what clothes I was going to wear. Finally plumped on a black blouse with matching maroon skirt and dug out a jacket from the bin bag it's been in since I moved last year. Damn, it was covered in cat fur and that didn't seem a good look. Several reels of masking tape later I had removed all the fur and the jacket looked reasonably smart. I really must invest in a clothes brush!
Final part of the preparation was to have a look through the DWP website and try to come up with a couple of questions that would show I had done my research on the company. Clothes ironed, shoes clean, jacket defurred, questions printed out and paperwork collected and ready I was as prepared as I could be. All that done I had an early night as I rarely sleep well before an interview.

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The Interview

14th April 2009

It's the day of the interview. Thankfully all the preparation I had done before hand meant that I got a reasonable night's sleep and woke up nice and early and as refreshed as I could be at that time of the morning on a Saturday (yes the interview and the aptitude tests were held on a Saturday!)
My interview was at 9am and I wasn't sure if this was a good thing, or not on the one hand it meant that I was the first of the day and the inteviewers weren't knackered and fed up of hearing the same answers over and over, on the other they probably weren't that happy about having to give up their Saturday and I really hoped they had had a good breakfast and several cups of coffee. It also gave them a long time to completely forget who I was.
So suited and booted, my shiney new folder in hand I set off into town. I took a nice walk down through the park and got a phone call from a friend while I walked. It was a beautiful sunny day, I had my ipod playing and I felt very positive and excited about my first interview in many years. I had given myself plenty of time, and popped into a newsagent to get mints and a drink and arrived at the venue about 20 minutes early. I hid round the corner and had a sneaky cigarette to calm my nerves which were begining to kick in at this point, swallowed half a pack of mints to get rid of the smell and walked towards the door. I saw a couple of other people in suits hanging around but didn't think much of it. I walked to the door and tried to open it, only to find that we weren't allowed to enter the building until 9.00 on the dot. As I stood there waiting more and more people were arriving including one person who I knew and hadn't seen for several years so we stood chatting and catching up which was a nice distraction. By the time we were allowed into the building, there were about 15 of us waiting including one man who couldn't possibly have looked in the mirror before he left home or he never would have come out looking like that. He was a very large man wearing a puke green suit that was about 4 sizes too small for him, and to make it worse he had even by some miracle managed to do the buttons up, leaving gaping holes. Not a good look and it did make me with my nicely ironed clothes and shiny folder, feel a little bit better.
Finally we were allowed into the building and after signing in and being given visitors passes, we were escorted in groups up the the floor the interviews were being held on. On arrival there we were greeted by a large number of staff who had obviously been roped in to help organise this massive process and all our paperwork was processed. I managed to get the important person who kept getting called away so it was 20 minutes before I was finally ready to be taken to the actual interview room. Due to the volume of people being interviewed there were quite a few people in separate rooms doing the interviews. I was led into a room with two people, a man and a woman. Great I thought, time to show my great handshake. The man returned the handshake with a firm one of his own, the woman did the limp lettuce shake and had a face like sour lemons. The room was set up with a row of desks with the two interviewers one side and me on the other. Water was provided (in a plastic cup). And so the interview commenced.
It took the form of the panel taking it in turns to ask questions related to the four competencies and the other person writing down the answers. These answers would then be scored and added to my previous scores from the application form and the aptitude tests to decide if I would then get the job.
As the interviewers started to ask the questions I quickly realised that I needed to use experience from before the last three years, that I had prepared, to answer the questions better. So there was all my preparation flying out of the window. I did check with them that that was ok, mentioning that my answers wouldn't be so well prepared as they would have been. I managed to talk my way through the interview but was pretty sure I hadn't done as good a job as I would have liked to have done. I did manage to ask my clever questions at the end but as my questions weren't scored because it wasn't part of the 'process' I might as well not have bothered trawling through everything and showing off my knowledge in this part. So finally it was over and I could escape out into the sunny day outside.

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Conclusion and Feedback

As I left the interview I asked when we were likely to hear the results and was told we would probably hear by the end of that week or the begining of the next. By the middle of the following week when I still hadn't heard anything I phoned the recruitment office and was told they were still analysing and inputting all the scores on the computer and it would be at least a week until the results were known. Great, I was a group of scores not a person. Finally nearly three weeks after the interview I received a letter informing me that I had been unsuccessful (no big surprise there).
I immediately followed advice and phoned to see if I could get any feedback. I spoke to a very snotty woman who told me that they didn't automatically give feedback (which is not what the literature had said) and if I wanted to get any feedback I would have to put it in writing and they would just give me my scores. However as they were very busy recruiting people at the moment it could be several months before I got the feedback as it was not a priority for them. Now bear in mind that this is the goverment organisation that is responsible for helping people find work and that attitude sucks big time in my opinion. Needless to say I didn't bother asking for the feedback in writing.

All in all the whole process was completely impersonal, the cups were plastic, the handshakes limp and the whole thing made me feel like a number not a person. While I do understand that in big organisations like this there has to be some standardisation of proceedure, I think the competency based process like this gives no room for personal expression and I personally do not perform well in such a structured process where I have no room to tell them of my skills and experiences that do not conform to the set questions but are still relevant to my ability to do the job.

So that was that.... on to the next!

Introduction

In the last few months I have been spending my time and attention on searching for a job.
After several interviews all resulting in knock backs I was becoming pretty despondent until today when I changed my perspective on attending an interview.
The interview today was in a town quite a few miles away from where I live and involved an hour and a half bus ride as my car is currently out of action.
I didn't remember much about the job as I filled out the application form in the middle of the whole lot of them, and as I had recently moved out of the area the interview was in to increase my chances of getting a job, I was really unsure about whether I even wanted the job or not. As I had not intended to go for the interview I got a good night's sleep and got up pretty early and jumped in the shower.
As I sat having a cup of tea I realised I couldn't face the thought of a day sitting at home doing housework or messing about on the computer. I hadn't as yet called to let them know I wouldn't be attending for the interview and started to think that it might be a good idea to go anyway just to get me out of the house. The sun was shining, the area I was going to was a lovely area and it suddenly seemed like a good idea to keep the appointment anyway.
I had a quick chat with one of my online friends and as she pointed out, when you don't have much money take your days out and experiences where you can. So following her advice I decided to go and attend the interview and just viewed it as a chance to get out of the house and have a nice trip on the bus (yes I know it sounds sad, but when you have been unemployed for a while even that seems exciting!)
I knew that going to this interview I was going to have to blag my way through it as I couldn't really remember what the post was and didn't think starting the interview with the question 'Can you tell me more about the job as I can't remember a thing about it' was a good way to start :P
I also decided that I would start to write down my experiences of interviews and turn my perspective around so that it became a fun thing to do and not just another opportunity to have my confidence crushed.

Many people at the moment are in the same position as me, if you want to read on feel free, and feel free to share your own interview experiences with me. It can be an isolating thing to sit in front of a computer and fill out yet another form with less and less belief that anything will come of it.

I do need to point out that the interviews will be marked on things like how comfortable the seats were, were you offered tea or coffee, was there a glass of water on the table, how good were the people doing the interview e.g did they have a firm hand grip or a limp wrist, did they have good eye contact and were the questions clear and easy to understand. And finally, what was the feedback after the interview like? Did it help or did it make you feel even worse than you did already for not getting the job?

This is my opportunity, and yours if you want it, to get your own back on those people who have sat in judgement on you and make you realise that you are doing the interviewing of them as much as they are interviewing you.