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A job has been advertised that is a promoted post in a school. I really fancy going for it as I meet all the essential and desirable criteria with ease.
The problem is that I am horrendous at interviews. Can anyone recommend an interview coach etc? Thanks in advance.
Read your second sentence. Read it again. And again.Quote:
Originally Posted by H18 SFR
Quiet confidence but no over-confidence. They want you and you want them.
What specifically is it that you struggle with?
What kind of help do you need mate? Sounds like you might’ve had a bad experience in the past that’s knocked you confidence?
I’m no expert but happy to try and help via PM if you want?
Prepare, prepare and prepare. Have your examples ready to recite, but try to make them sound conversational and try to tie them to the details in the job description. Be aware of what skills you used/demonstrated in each of them. I used to make up a list before interviews, writing/typing it helps commit them to memory.
PS - good luck!
A little dab of speed is just the ticket man. :wink:Quote:
Originally Posted by H18 SFR
Try and approach it as a conversation as opposed to a one way quiz.
Imagine sitting having a chat with the “interviewer” in a coffee shop. It would be two way, good flow, conversational. You would have questions, thoughts, ideas as opposed to single answers to questions.
Good luck.
I’ve used voice notes on my phone in the past. Record some of your examples that you’ve written out and go for a nice walk. Take in some scenery, get the voice notes on and try and follow them in your head, where they go next etc.
I’ve also found that doing little bits of prep each night leading up to an interview, rather than one or two solid nights of preparing.
Try and split your timeinto Visual (Mindmaps are good) Auditory (like practicing out loud/voice notes) and old fashioned reading and writing examples.
I also like to think of the interviewer as a colleague, instead of an interviewer. How would you react to this person if you met them on the first week of the job? You would be relaxed and be yourself!
Might seem a bit much but I used to panic for interviews in the past. The more I prepared in this way, the more confident I’ve felt and performed better!
Best of luck to ya, sure you’ll be great
I would echo this and some of the other advice around trying to make it conversational.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mixu62
One thing to add. Try to get across your personal impact and approach to your examples. So don’t just focus on what you achieved, but rather how did you go about it?
One way to help prepare that is thinking of “active” words that bring to life your approach... So maybe you listened, empathised, negotiated, planned, compromised etc
Really appreciating the advice folks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mixu62
I'd go along with this but also note that you don't want to depend entirely on word-for-word memory as you don't know exactly what you're going to be asked. It's all about being able to think and adapt on the spot, linking your examples etc (as above) to what they ask you. But having plenty of examples to promote yourself in your armoury gives you a good chance of being able to use a decent one for whatever they throw at you.
Asking questions to them also is a good thing. Even if it's just at the end. It's good if there is a degree of it seeming like them convincing you the job/workplace is for you, as well as the other way round.
Go in confident, express yourself, come across as genuine, and don't panic. Remember that they want you to be right for the role too.
If you're by yourself beforehand, interview yourself. Ask yourself the question out loud, then reply out loud. You can usually guess some of the questions that are going to come up, you'll likely get "give us an example of a time you had to work as part of a team", "give us an example when you had to take lead of a situation" sort of thing and keep going with it.
Speaking to yourself sounds daft but treat it as getting a first and second draft of the question out loud, out of your mouth and listen to what you say. Improve what you have to. If that question, or something similar comes up, then you're ready to go and you've got your worst answer out of the way and you've improved on it.
Let us know how you get on !
In addition to the practice, practoce, practice advice. Some good advice I've had is to think about the impact you're trying to have on the person interviewing, what do you want them to think about you?
Think about that as much as the content of your answers.
I just got a new job that was the grade up. New boss said about it being a promotion. That ripped my kitten. Think there's few jobs nowadays people still get promoted. Promotions are on merit. Applying for the job and getting it is based on you meeting the criteria and being the most suitable candidate for the role.
Try to give as much detail of your experiences as possible. Be brief though. If you know about the role or someone who works in the role speak to them for advice. Try to think of good questions to ask the interviewer.
Good luck!!
Nervousness and excitement are only really differentiated by breathing and heart rate in terms of the way the brains process them.
Slow your breathing down just before the interview, tell yourself "I'm excited about this" as much as you can and it's amazing how you process nerves. When I was in the motor trade if you wanted to become certified with your manufacturer you had to do a full sales roleplay with a professional sales coach, an hour long one on one interview and two written exams. You'd wait in a waiting room between them and I seen quite a few people crumble with nerves.
Slowing your breathing will help with your heartrate, convincing yourself that you're excited rather than nervous puts you in such a good position mentally for an interview. I don't suffer from nerves that much anymore and in my current job I can find myself doing presentations in front of up to a hundred people. I can't get enough of it now and I used to struggle badly with that sort of thing.
I had a meeting today with an Educational Psychologist about one or two on-going matters and at the end she commented that she'd never met such an informed class teacher in 10 years in the job.
See what I mean - why can't I bloody do it at interviews!!!!!!
So frustrating.
Some folk are just really good at the job they do.Quote:
Originally Posted by H18 SFR
Because you keep telling yourself you can’t! You can!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by H18 SFR
Absolutely bombed a video interview today 3 days preparing and practicing and sunk like a stone, it’s not an easy thing interviews I struggle to blow my own trumpet and I definitely struggled doing it over video whilst looking at myself in the phone as I’m speaking.
Got another video interview, don’t suppose anyone works for Virgin Media as a field technician? Looking for any pointers that could make this go a little better than the last one