For some reason, the post below is one of my most read posts. I have even seen it used (via a ping back) by some HR Agencies. I thought I would re-blog it today – partly to remind myself about interviews – and partly to see if it is still a popular post.
I applied for a job yesterday as a Casual Real Estate Writer for our local newspaper. I always follow the real estate market so hopefully I will at least get an interview and see how it goes from there.
Here is the earlier post:
I had a job interview this morning and now I am reflecting on how I could have improved my performance. Below are some of my reflections that may be useful next time.
1. I didn’t have a really good handle on the nuts and bolts of the job. I should have asked a lot more questions when I rang up to ask about the vacancy. I could then be more specific in my responses and be relevant to the job role.
2. I was taken by surprise with one panel member participating via video conference. This made it a little difficult to make eye contact and respond to that panel member.
3. I should have asked how much time they expected the interview to go for. I could have given a lot more information than I did, but I didn’t want to overdo it either. If I knew how much time I had I could have paced myself better.
4. I didn’t refer to any of the information I prepared beforehand, however, it was still worth doing as it made me do more research and think more deeply about my answers.
5. There is a lot to think about – with each response I tried to use relevant examples but I also wanted to use more recent examples. Some of my answers related to jobs I had much earlier in my career. It is a bit like studying for an exam – do I go into great depth on one topic or do I broadly touch on a range of examples?
In summary, I did the best I could with what I know. I will now try to let go and await a phone call or letter in the post. If I am not successful, the experience wasn’t wasted – life (and job interviews) involves ongoing learning and growing 🙂 Nothing is lost!
Hi RaInee. I like your new, easier to say, online name. 🙂
The interview that you wrote about; did you get the job? Did you write a followup post describing the outcome?
Hi, glad you like the name – it only took me two and a half years to realise I didn’t have to stick with aawwa! And yes – I did get the job 🙂 but I didn’t write a post about it. It was at the Uni that I am studying at now and I found that I didn’t enjoy working with academics :-). I quit after 9 months.
LOL! A lot of academics are too serious, too competitive, and too obsessed with being “right”. Kinda like BD00 🙂
Ha Ha 🙂
I’ve never read this post before, but its a really good evaluation of an interview. I’m not surprised the HR agency was interested
Thanks Peter. I did get the job by the way 🙂
Good luck with your current application, Rainee!
Thanks Nancy – I will keep you informed of any progress 🙂
Great evaluation of the interview! Good luck with the newspaper!
Thank you – much appreciated!
I think the biggest job you ever took on occured on 16/6/2012 🙂
That wasn’t a job – that was a pleasure 🙂