So the interview is over. Whatever happens, I'm pleased to have been invited to a proper interview. Given the job advert had asked for a NEBOSH diploma and I only have the general certificate (albeit a distinction, in case anyone missed that…) my CV must have stood out enough to get the interview. I did find the “Table talk” article from recruiters in the May HSW useful. Take a look for some interview and CV tips.
I can’t believe how much time I spent preparing a ten-minute presentation. When I practiced it at home the first time it took over twenty minutes. I then had to delete some of the fantastic overheads I’d spent hours crafting. Lesson there for the future – just prepare the slides in outline first, then time it, and only spend two hours animating those slides you’re actually going to use.
I had thought through some of the typical interview questions suggested on websites. Like what are you weaknesses? What are your strengths? How do you deal with conflict? They asked the last of these, but not the other two. Some of the voluntary work I’ve done was useful for answering some of the questions. They did ask what you might call the “Obama question”. If you get this job, what would you hope to have achieved in your first 100 days? I think it was the first question where I had to pause, and leave what felt like minutes (but was probably only seconds) worth of silence before I answered. If you’ve got a job interview coming up, perhaps it’s one to think about.Now the wait. They said they’d let me know by next Friday. I can’t help thinking that however well I performed they are more likely to give the job to someone already doing this sort of work than someone trying to break into the area.
