Topic: Job interview - Tips

[RJ320]

They're quite common, it's meant to catch you off guard. Good thing I've never been asked a question like that, I'd probably waffle on about orange juice being more rich in nutrients and how it provides more vitamins than lemons etc.

One trick question that apparently Google ask about in their interview is "how many golf balls can you fit into a car?" The average joe would just randomly blurt out a number hoping it's correct. But the correct answer is to say I don't know, I need to know how big is the car, does it have seats inside, can I put the balls into the engine etc. It's meant to test you on your analysis skills.

[DanA]

They're quite common, it's meant to catch you off guard. Good thing I've never been asked a question like that, I'd probably waffle on about orange juice being more rich in nutrients and how it provides more vitamins than lemons etc.

One trick question that apparently Google ask about in their interview is "how many golf balls can you fit into a car?" The average joe would just randomly blurt out a number hoping it's correct. But the correct answer is to say I don't know, I need to know how big is the car, does it have seats inside, can I put the balls into the engine etc. It's meant to test you on your analysis skills.

That's all well and good but who the fuck wants to drink a glass of straight lemon juice? 

[.adam]

The golf balls in the car and the manholes in Manchester manholes are a testing the same thing; Fermi estimation.

I had been pre-warned that this lady might ask me a mad question like this so I brushed up on it.

Basically my technique was to start small and extrapolate. E.g. There are manholes covers every, say 10 metres. Multiply this up to how many in a square kilometer and then how many in Manchester city centre which is around 6 kilometres square.

My numbers might have been out but it showed that I could approach the situation logically.

The orange juice question though? Pffft, who knows.

[Crosby Nick]

That's all well and good but who the fuck wants to drink a glass of straight lemon juice? 

[So… Howard Philips]

The golf balls in the car and the manholes in Manchester manholes are a testing the same thing; Fermi estimation.

I had been pre-warned that this lady might ask me a mad question like this so I brushed up on it.

Basically my technique was to start small and extrapolate. E.g. There are manholes covers every, say 10 metres. Multiply this up to how many in a square kilometer and then how many in Manchester city centre which is around 6 kilometres square.

My numbers might have been out but it showed that I could approach the situation logically.

The orange juice question though? Pffft, who knows.

She should have asked how many potholes does it take to fill the Albert Hall.

[Gnurglan]

What sort of CV template are people using these days? Haven't done mine up in almost 4 years and getting fed up with my current job so doing up the CV today to start sending out.

* Same CV for all jobs, so you know which one they have.
* Word. 1 page.
* Apart from the regular stuff make sure to include name, address, email, phone number etc. Use the footer for it. Write 2-4 lines to explain the most important things, for example 2-4 lines describing your most recent job. 1 page ensures you only write the key stuff, but also that nobody will lose a second page. It takes a while to adjust it, but it's worth it.
* Pdf it. That way people won't screw it up. You know what it will look like.
* Keep a copy of it on your phone so you can email it.

[So… Howard Philips]

* Same CV for all jobs, so you know which one they have.
* Word. 1 page.
* Apart from the regular stuff make sure to include name, address, email, phone number etc. Use the footer for it. Write 2-4 lines to explain the most important things, for example 2-4 lines describing your most recent job. 1 page ensures you only write the key stuff, but also that nobody will lose a second page. It takes a while to adjust it, but it's worth it.
* Pdf it. That way people won't screw it up. You know what it will look like.
* Keep a copy of it on your phone so you can email it.

One thing is to make sure it's relative to the organisation you are applying to.

I used to get applications for posts in local government where people related their skills to our "company".

Not a deal breaker by any stretch but made you wonder had they done any research into what they were applying for or they hadn't bothered checking the CV before they sent it.

Mind you hardly any jobs going in local government so that may no longer be a problem.

[Keita Success]

Couldn't find a more recent thread for this.

Got a second stage interview for a national TV station and bricking it. I'm a copywriter and I've been given a task to write some ideas/a script for a campaign and I just can't focus enough to do it... Anyone else on a job hunt?

[ToneLa]

No, but if you haven't already research the station like you already work there, aim to know it better than anyone

The script will have to write itself. Maybe get drunk? Haha

[Jookie]

Couldn't find a more recent thread for this.

Got a second stage interview for a national TV station and bricking it. I'm a copywriter and I've been given a task to write some ideas/a script for a campaign and I just can't focus enough to do it... Anyone else on a job hunt?

Good luck with the interviews.

I'm 10 years in my current job so only had limited interviews in recent years. But as someone who hires people into their team I thought this was decent advice:

* Same CV for all jobs, so you know which one they have.
* Word. 1 page.
* Apart from the regular stuff make sure to include name, address, email, phone number etc. Use the footer for it. Write 2-4 lines to explain the most important things, for example 2-4 lines describing your most recent job. 1 page ensures you only write the key stuff, but also that nobody will lose a second page. It takes a while to adjust it, but it's worth it.
* Pdf it. That way people won't screw it up. You know what it will look like.
* Keep a copy of it on your phone so you can email it.

IMO, the bit's in bold are important. Be succinct about what traits and skill you can bring to a role that make you unique/desirable candidate. Use the current role to tie together what you say about yourself and the tasks/remit of current role. That'll show you have some evidence to back up the skills/characteristic you have exemplified in the 1st section.

It could probably go over 4 lines but think of your CV as a 2 minute pitch. There'll be plenty of time in any interview expanding on your examples or why you think you bring certain characteristics and skills.

Just my opinion though.

[ToneLa]

My place is doing interviews again, I am running several, gaming industry so might not be applicable to all, I did this last year too, but since four years ago I was on the other side of the table on universal credit I will share some observations:

- Make sure you understand the interview format. It should be explained to you and you should be made to feel as comfortable as possible. Any questions, do ask. You should be guided through the interview. It should be fair.
- More the 'who do we interview?' phase: No cover letter = no interview. Sound harsh? I don't work with anyone who doesn't also do this. Exceptions may exist, but why hedge your bets? You will be passed over by the candidate who bothered.
- Your CV and cover letter needs to be readable. People obsess about templates and fonts a bit too much. No comic sans though. If you're using font size 8 to bang on about all sorts you might want to think about what you're saying.
Paragraph breaks. Use short, declarative sentences where possible and be honest. We want to know where you are 'at', what you think of us, what you've done, and where you want to go.
- You don't need a selfie on your cv. Isn't an automatic No, I just ignore it, but does the role need it? Seeing this more and more 
- Research the company if you're interested in joining it. Back it up. You want to align to it, right? At least have a strong idea of what the company is about. If you're really into what they do, good. It isn't too much to ask for a quick Google, or to read a Wikipedia entry. This also saves your interviewer time, which can tick this internal box of 'oh, this one's a bright spark' it's not bad, yknow?
- Don't give up. I didn't. I don't mean apply to the same place over and over; but it is like a football match: there's many variables in play, too many to truly predict, and the other candidates are the other team, the unseen enemy: you can't do anything about those.
- I've had employment gaps, at the time I was probably posting here about taking care of family. I don't think employers generally mind, as long as it wasn't prison. I would say not to be embarrassed about time out of work; it doesn't matter and it is impossible to score. If you have genuine talent or skill, focus on selling what you have done with it, or failing that, how you will use it.

Some of the people we said No to I still wish we said Yes to. There are sometimes slightly square things behind hiring decisions, at the moment it's budget. They are only rarely directly 'about' the candidate

-
In our place find it funny that not everyone is comfortable leading an interview. Sometimes the candidates are more confident than the interviewer 

When there is a test however I think you get a feel for them and don't feel they favour an academic background. If anything it's the format that seems to put those people off

LinkedIn has nothing to do with any of it
I don't even have one. Your mileage may vary but don't feel pressured.

That's it I reckon. Might update over the next few weeks if more occurs to me

Looking forward to it, fresh faces, there's a satisfaction in getting someone into the right position. There's still pressure on the interviewer side... But a nicer kind.

Good luck everyone!

[Claire.]

On the selfie thing, I've always been told that's a bad idea but our eng manager shared with us what we're doing now and the cv gets lashed through some software to redact names/gender/age and other bits of info that may bias the reviewer at the first stage and the applicant is given a generated name. Don't know how widely used that kind of thing is but thought it was quite interesting.

LinkedIn - I'm mixed on, it's only real use is keeping in touch with old colleagues, most of the posts are awful 'look at me, aren't I great' shite from people you don't know. I've heard that the applicants numbers you see on jobs aren't real, they can't track whether someone has actually applied and the numbers are clicks on the button, probably by people attempting to read the job description away from the hideous formatting on LI. When you're in a job, even if you have 'not looking' on your profile, recruiters/hiring managers will still make approaches so make sure you hide your phone number and conversely, it's never actually helped when I was looking for work.

[Keita Success]

A week on from my interview with ITV.

They said they're hoping to let me know last week... have a feeling they've offered it to the other candidate and are waiting for them to accept. Shame, it was a really exciting job.

[Buck Pete]

Sorry to kind of derail a serious thread.  Good luck jobseekers.

[Nobby Reserve]

Many of the more general questions (ie, not relating to your experience or the job in question) in interviews are not ones with a right and wrong answer, more a way of finding out what you are like as a person, what you're like to get along with (particularly in more pressure situations)

In the mid-00's I was at an interview that wasn't going particularly well, and they asked me who my heroes in life were.

The honest answer was that I didn't have any heroes and thought the idea of a 30-odd year old bloke having a hero was really wanky. But I felt I couldn't say that so stuttered about a bit and gave a really bland and unconvincing answer. Something I felt was the corporate answer. Because I was flustered and lying, I felt myself blushing, and that was me struggling to get back on an even keel.

I don't know how much that answer played a part, but I didn't get the job and part of the feedback was that I was too passive.

Which brings me onto the other thing: come across as keen, enthusiastic and full of energy.

And be prepared always.

Around that same time, I had an interview in the same specialist line of work I worked (and still work) in, for another company. The first interview I was sailing along, full of energy, and it went really well. At the end, the guy interviewing me told me he really wanted me on board and was keen to work more with me; we talked salary and other details, along with start date. He'd be in touch to arrange for me to meet with his big boss in London, which was just a chat so they could get to know me a bit better.

A week later, I went to their London UK HQ and met his boss. I was full of confidence and was going to play it cool and easy. She was aloof and as cold as a dead fish, which knocked me off my stride a bit. She began asking me questions and I was talking like to a new colleague. It was a few questions in that I realised this wasn't simply a formality of a casual chat, but actually a formal interview - and an extremely forensic one (in terms of my sales figures, activity in generating leads and fostering introducers, achievements, etc). I was totally unprepared for this and it showed. I fought to pull it around, but you never get a second chance to make a good impression. I didn't get the job. the bog boss wouldn't speak with the agency who'd introduced me, and refused to take my call. The bloke who'd initially interviewed me was evasive and wouldn't give any reason why I didn't get the job.