Applying for a bloody job!

[Theremin]

Jobs, eh!

The furlough tap is about to be switched off, so I'm jumping back into the world of job hunting.

Feeling a bit rusty, folks. Been about 7 years since I last interviewed or wrote a cover letter.

Applying atm to work in a lovely government-funded arts organisation, in a field I have loads of experience in. The catch? It's in my second language.

Any tips? Besides offer to suck them off

[thundarrshirt]

Offer to suck them off in your second language

[Butchers Blind]

Take a loaded gun into the interview and say, "OK, this is how it's going to go down....".

[Hat FM]

Take a loaded gun into the interview and say, "OK, this is how it's going to go down....".

i got a job this way (as a hitman).

[Fambo Number Mive]

Is there anyone you can do a practice interview or two with beforehand, if you haven't been to a job interview for a while?

Have three or four questions ready to ask at the end of the interview. While I wouldn't ask more than three, a fourth might be handy in case one of them is answered during the interview.

Make sure your CV is tailored for the role - if you've done something that's relevant to the role you are applying for, make sure it's on there. Don't go into great detail about part of your previous role being going out and about inspecting art in the community if the current role doesn't require this.

If you are going there by public transport and it's an area you haven't been to for a while, plan out the route beforehand so you don't feel to stressed on the day. Ensure you leave plenty of time for getting there (apologies if this seems patronising).

I hope your interview goes well.

[Dex Sawash]

[Hat FM]

try to think of times in and out of work when you have:

Gone the extra mile
collaborated to produce a great result
dealt with a difficult situation/person and how you resolved it

also not sure what kind of job it is but try to weave into the interview your awareness and promtion of equality and diversity.

[Theremin]

burst out laughing

[Theremin]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Some great stuff as well that I hadn't considered.

If you are going there by public transport and it's an area you haven't been to for a while, plan out the route beforehand so you don't feel to stressed on the day. Ensure you leave plenty of time for getting there (apologies if this seems patronising).

This is spot on, it will be my first time traveling into the capital since the TOTAL FUCKDOWN of last year. Worth taking a chill route as well.

also not sure what kind of job it is but try to weave into the interview your awareness and promtion of equality and diversity.

Good call, it's a nationally funded arts org in a multicultural city.

Luckily, I've worked in theatre long enough to be able to chat on this.

I was tempted to play up being jewish for the diversity points, but digging my teenage kippah out of a drawer seems a bit too much of a Larry David strategy.

[Glebe]

Best of luck Theremin.

[Shit Good Nose]

All good advice.

I've only popped in to offer my virtual support, sympathy and empathy as Mrs Nose is going through similar having been made redundant earlier in the year.

I don't think it being in your second language should be much of an obstacle for you though - you calling it your second language suggests you do speak it, so I would say after confirming that it comes down to your ability to do the actual job.  And how well you suck them off

[rack and peanut]

Research the organisation, at least enough to answer a few questions. It's amazing how many people go to an interview knowing nothing about who they're hoping to work for.

Good luck!

[Fambo Number Mive]

Would also suggest printing out a copy of the job description now (in case it's removed from the website when the application period closes). Highlight the key points and have a look at it every so often, the last time being the day before the interview. If you don't have a printer, save it on your computer.

[Hat FM]

Research the organisation, at least enough to answer a few questions. It's amazing how many people go to an interview knowing nothing about who they're hoping to work for.

Good luck!

yeah maybe have your question at the end noting a recent development in the company and ask something about that.
re the equality and diversity, i have used (genuine) examples of times i have taken time to assist people with disabilities (disabled, deaf) to ensure that they experience the same level of service as others in attendance.

[Jasha]

At my last interview got asked "what do you think is the most important quality in an employee?", don't know if they were expecting reliability or attention to quality or safety but I answered don't be an asshole[nb]got the job too[/nb]

[Malcy]

Be prepared for having to make an account with pretty much EVERY FUCKING COMPANY you apply for. And lots of pointless, pain in the arse tasks before your CV is even looked at.

[bgmnts]

Be prepared for having to make an account with pretty much EVERY FUCKING COMPANY you apply for. And lots of pointless, pain in the arse tasks before your CV is even looked at.

Basically this, followed by signing up to every recruitment agency and giving them your CV despte telling you they found your cv online.

Jobless for 2 years now but dont care anymore. It'a all shite.

[Pavlov`s Dog`s Dad`s Dead]

Be prepared for having to make an account with pretty much EVERY FUCKING COMPANY you apply for. And lots of pointless, pain in the arse tasks before your CV is even looked at.

I'm back in the UK now, and accordingly back in the job market. I've had two interviews so far, and for both of them I had to photocopy my ID documents and qualifications to hand in on the day. That's a new thing, isn't it? Is it? I never had to do it before. Anyway, it certainly counts as a PITA task.

[touchingcloth]

In my last interview, I didn't get asked "what are your weaknesses?" like what I had prepared for, but "what would your friends and colleagues say are your weaknesses?". So be prepared for curveballs, I guess. PREPARE FOR THE THINGS YOU CANT PREPARE FOR CUNT JESUS CHRIST HONESTLY I ASK YOU

[JesusAndYourBush]

Take a loaded gun into the interview and say, "OK, this is how it's I'm going to go down....".

Then put the gun away and suck them off.

[pancreas]

I applied for a minor 'leadership' role recently. I didn't get it. I told the ... well, 'boss', I suppose ... during the feedback that he'd made a mistake by not appointing me, but [by way of attempting to appear conciliatory] that: of course I would say that wouldn't I. He asked why I thought he'd made a mistake, and I explained again why there's no-one who could do it better than me, which turns out to be just obviously true. Anyway he came up with some unconvincing reasons that I hadn't performed as well, which I said I wasn't particularly convinced by and thanks for the feedback but I have things to do.

It is a sort of travesty, really. Nonsense politics getting in the way of me making people's lives marginally better.

I am most irritated because there is this project to measure workloads accurately, that I'd agitated for, and started, and set on a morally and intellectually defensible basis, and then had to spend hours convincing a 'task and finish group' of the merits of the methodology, because they refused to accept its correctness until the third or fourth explanation. This project is now going to be handed over to someone else to develop who hasn't thought about it as much as I have and will do a worse job and take ten times as long to do it. But apparently they have more admin experience.

At least I think I fairly clearly registered my disgust at the decision. What else can you do.

Anyway, the obligatory mindless corporate question was: 'When did you last face a challenging situation and how did you overcome it?' So maybe prepare that one just in case.

Actually that gives me an idea.

[touchingcloth]

I applied for a minor 'leadership' role recently. I didn't get it. I told the ... well, 'boss', I suppose ... during the feedback that he'd made a mistake by not appointing me, but [by way of attempting to appear conciliatory] that: of course I would say that wouldn't I. He asked why I thought he'd made a mistake, and I explained again why there's no-one who could do it better than me, which turns out to be just obviously true. Anyway he came up with some unconvincing reasons that I hadn't performed as well, which I said I wasn't particularly convinced by and thanks for the feedback but I have things to do.

It is a sort of travesty, really. Nonsense politics getting in the way of me making people's lives marginally better.

I am most irritated because there is this project to measure workloads accurately, that I'd agitated for, and started, and set on a morally and intellectually defensible basis, and then had to spend hours convincing a 'task and finish group' of the merits of the methodology, because they refused to accept its correctness until the third or fourth explanation. This project is now going to be handed over to someone else to develop who hasn't thought about it as much as I have and will do a worse job and take ten times as long to do it. But apparently they have more admin experience.

At least I think I fairly clearly registered my disgust at the decision. What else can you do.

Anyway, the obligatory mindless corporate question was: 'When did you last face a challenging situation and how did you overcome it?' So maybe prepare that one just in case.

Actually that gives me an idea.

Me too - I'm going to use reading this post the next time I have to detail a challenging situation I've dealt with. Interminable.

[pancreas]

Me too - I'm going to use reading this post the next time I have to detail a challenging situation I've dealt with. Interminable.

Alright, tl;dr. If people just did what I said instead of invoking whatever confection of thought they are pleased to believe is their own wisdom, then the world would be a better place.

[touchingcloth]

Ignore pancreas.

I think a good thing to remember about interviews is to treat them more like a discussion than an exam. The interviewers will have set questions for you, but they're really trying to see how you think and communicate more than the answers per se. If you draw a blank, don't be afraid to say so and that you'll come back to the question later if that's OK, and if you think of something about an earlier question later on then say so and tell them what you've thought of. Err on the side of giving them too much information but without monologuing.

[Malcy]

I'm back in the UK now, and accordingly back in the job market. I've had two interviews so far, and for both of them I had to photocopy my ID documents and qualifications to hand in on the day. That's a new thing, isn't it? Is it? I never had to do it before. Anyway, it certainly counts as a PITA task.

Yeah and I think it's a bit shit because it makes it seem like they want you for the job so bring your stuff with you to get the process moving quicker. Another new thing to me is holding up your ID/Proof of address next to your face on a Microsoft Teams call.

[Mr Farenheit]

[flotemysost]

Another new thing to me is holding up your ID/Proof of address next to your face on a Microsoft Teams call.

My team have been recruiting for a new post recently and as the hiring process is all being done remotely, part of the pre-interview whittling-down phase requires the applicants to record themselves answering two or three set questions into their webcam. I thought that sounded fair enough - gives them time to prepare, maybe do a few takes in case of any stage fright or stumbling over words.

Then I was told that actually HR would be sending them a link to a site which starts recording once they press "go" and the questions pop up on screen in timed intervals, no heads up, not even an interview panel to picture naked. Probably quite a standard process, possibly even pre-COVID, but it doesn't sound at all reassuring or arousing.

Anyway best of luck Theremin, it sounds like you're well qualified for this. I always try to get this across in the cover letter in as concise but persuasive a way as possible, addressing any specific qualities/requirements mentioned in the job ad (where possible, showcasing more abstract and interpersonal stuff as well as practical skills or specific experience), but in a way that flows as a convincing argument, rather than sounding too much like a clinical box-ticking list.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Ignore pancreas.

I think a good thing to remember about interviews is to treat them more like a discussion than an exam. The interviewers will have set questions for you, but they're really trying to see how you think and communicate more than the answers per se. If you draw a blank, don't be afraid to say so and that you'll come back to the question later if that's OK, and if you think of something about an earlier question later on then say so and tell them what you've thought of. Err on the side of giving them too much information but without monologuing.

I know some interviewers who are essentially rigid procedural thinkers and anyone who asked to come back to a question would be marked down for having made them adjust the process.

Another tip: the interviewers themselves may be awful people

[Theremin]

Then I was told that actually HR would be sending them a link to a site which starts recording once they press "go" and the questions pop up on screen in timed intervals, no heads up, not even an interview panel to picture naked. Probably quite a standard process, possibly even pre-COVID, but it doesn't sound at all reassuring or arousing.

Anyway best of luck Theremin, it sounds like you're well qualified for this. I always try to get this across in the cover letter in as concise but persuasive a way as possible, addressing any specific qualities/requirements mentioned in the job ad (where possible, showcasing more abstract and interpersonal stuff as well as practical skills or specific experience), but in a way that flows as a convincing argument, rather than sounding too much like a clinical box-ticking list.

Thanks mate!

Will all the great advice here and some extra help in fleshworld, it's been going swimmingly.

[Jasha]

Remember, those interviewing you are looking for someone to make their lives easier.