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!