Friday, January 12, 2007

Feeling a little...

Well... deflated actually. I had 'the interview' today and I just came out thinking 1) I'm not going to get the job as I don't have enough experience (which is fair) and 2) is that it? The interview was fine - not nasty or anything - but it was rather odd, they didn't as a single question about me. It was pretty much all 'in this very specific situation in our organisation this might happen.... and what would you do? Now I'm used to a few of those questions thrown in with a few 'Tell me about a time when you solved a problem and how you did it' and 'where do you want to be in 5 years'.... but not a whole hour of just them...

I can't say I performed very well. About half way through I was beginning to get rather bored and frustrated. Needless to say I don't think they will offer me the job. I will be a little disappointed as, on paper, the job looks just what I want to do. But would I want to work somewhere were I come out of the interview feeling just so 'blah'?

4 comments:

AdventuringJen said...

Stroky knees! That's disappointing - that the interview was blah. But I suspect you are right that you wouldn't want to work there. Back in the days of ashville ave you may or may not recall that I went for an interview for an IDEAL job at home...and was hugely relieved when I got the rejection letter cos I just couldn't imagine putting up with the tedium of the people! But you may yet surprise yourself and get this one. I'm sure they loved you, why would they not?! xxx
ps book blog to be updated very shortly, I have finished it...

Rand said...

They'd be lucky to get you, but you might be lucky NOT to get this job - a creative and inquiring spirit can often be crushed under the weight of procedural bureaucracy.

Certain jobs LOOK good or have a title that SOUNDS good but I've had my share of both. It does, in the end, come down to the people with whom I work as the most important factor when it comes to how much I enjoy any job.

You certainly deserve better than "blah." And you are so young! :) Many many many opportunities await you. Don't know if the UK is like this, but in the US it is so much WHO you know vs. WHAT you know. The best jobs come about as the result of meeting the right people along the way.

Are you making connections professionally? Do you socialize with others who share your career interests? I failed to make connections early on and wondered why my sparkling credentials were opening so few doors. Now I make it a point to have lunch or a beer with a colleague (from another institution) at least once a month.

Every interview is a learning experience, anyway. Perhaps this was the dress rehearsal for an even better job interview in the future!

doctor/woman said...

on the other hand... I came out of my interview for my GP training scheme feeling exactly the same as it was very similar - very scenario based and nothing at all about who I was as a person. I wonder whether it's the way interviews are going now in the public sector, because they have to be seen to be fair.. it all has to be based on whether you say the right things instead of who you are as a person, in order to avoid that whole "who you know, not what you know" thing. I found the whole experience dehumanising and as if I was groping around to find the correct buzzwords to get points, but that didn't particularly reflect on the job I am doing now.

Rand said...

So have you heard anything????