So I was interviewing with a company for a role in technology advocacy (it seems like the job will in reality be providing training and assistance with their systems, mainly Microsoft based ones like SharePoint and Teams)
I passed the CV screening, passed the values test, passed the first video interview (I managed to get the questions beforehand via a bug in HireVue). How do I go about the interview with a manager? They said it’s to talk about my experience, skills and if I’m a good fit for the company.
What do I do exactly? I have no experience, it’s why I’m applying for an internship. I have no real skills other than great GoogleFu and a simple knack for being able to learn. I taught myself most of what I know outside of university and nothing they use is something I’ve touched in university (besides maybe an internal penetration testing team?)
Once you’re beyond the technical aspects, it’s about you and how you act.
Does this person seem like they will fit within our company/values. Can you talk about something without staring at your shoes, are you presentable, are you able to listen, understand etc. Are you on time, do you ask good questions, do you seem interested etc.
If you went to Uni, then you have experiences there. A time where you learnt a valuable lesson, a time where you had a setback, a time where you had to overcome something tough blah blah blah.
How did you learn what you know, when did you learn it, what made you learn that over x/y/z.
And remember, you’re interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you!
And and have questions ready, don’t say “No, I think you’ve covered everything” ask something out of scope.
“What’s been your proudest moment in your current role?”
“What does success look like in this role?”
“Is there anything you’d like me to clarify that we’ve been over?”
No idea if those questions are good/bad, but I’ve asked them and got jobs.
University, secondary school or by myself. Every time I need to do something, I learn it. I don’t know if that’s a good response but I’m very functional. I don’t look at things because I might need them, I look for the answers for what I need and remember that.
That’s also why I learned what I have learned. It’s all functionally done for what I need to do.
Very good idea. They will want to see drive and that I’m not just taking any old job.
Well, this is actually probably a good thing for me. The job application didn’t really specify what we’d be using, so everything in the video interview was kind of out of field to me, I guess I’ll use the questions to work out exactly what I’ll be doing within the job (it’s some form of digital advocacy role to my knowledge)
I’d also like to ask about what success looks like, I think that’s a very good one. In my eyes it’s releasing pressure on the IT team by providing an FAQ / Short Video series on fixing simple problems. Like a central knowledge base for issues.
If anyone else has any ideas, I’d love to hear them. I think I’m near the end of the interview process now.
I think it depends how you word it. Your answer here might not be how you word it in an interview. But…
“Every time I need to do something , I learn it”
vs
“I’m very interested in technology and using it to improve. If there’s a new program, coding language or something that I feel would help my professional or personal development, then I’m keen to learn more about it. Whether that is through books, tutorials or watching YouTube videos. Recently I… ”
Although my answer does sound a bit like I’ve been sick over myself with my own praise, it’s sometimes what’s needed.
I hate hate hate the LinkenIn-ness of it all, the “I’m a strong team player but work well on my own” bullshit that job applications entail, but sadly that’s the way it is for most roles/companies.
I’d talk about with your approach to learning, as @anon46977588 suggests. Go through the process of how you learn under your own direction; what makes you adaptable and perhaps include examples of when you’ve had to be --it doesn’t have to be in a work context, they’ll appreciate you’re just starting out.
Universities are big on the extra-curricular activities that students take on (aside from binge-drinking and bringing traffic cones home), so perhaps talk about some of those etc
Yes, these days companies like people to be “well-rounded”, so it’s probably a good thing if you have examples you can use from outside of a work-style context.
Any opinions on the questions I’ve picked? Ones marked with * are prioritised since the interview is only scheduled for 30 minutes
A late night but I think very productive. About to write some notes for the questions they’re likely to ask me not that I have any paper left… resorting to envelopes now as obvious the last interview prompts I wrote, is on the other side
Edit: found another; curious about thoughts on these too. I’d like to make note I quantified all my skills via previous things I’ve done for example: receptiveness by acknowledging that one of my assignments was overly detailed in one section after feedback and then evening out the detail amongst the different sections, or working with a team during exams (under pressure) for teamwork.
Also, please ignore my handwriting I have an exemption form so I don’t have to write anything normally but I’m trying to stop being a little weenie and to overcome it. Who would have known it’s especially hard though when you’re using fountain pen ink in a roller style pen, paired with very poor hand-eye coordination (so I end up dragging across the page like I did w/ internship)
Thankfully, I’m pretty much semi-retired, well, I haven’t bothered working since February. I am still on Indeed Jobs and the other day after updating my profile, I got an email within the hour asking me if I’d like to work, no interview required. I’ve politely turned it down, far too much to do at home at the moment.
Thanks just got out like 10 minutes ago, called my mum to let her know how it went
I’ve beaten 135 people so far. There’s 8 left ! (incl me)
I think they’ll hire a couple since it’ looks like I’ll be covering intracompany workers from Ireland to Luxembourg and, they let me know the jobs remote too. Although I live in their HQ’s town, so I would be able to go to the office once they’re all back.
The company culture seems real great and apparently they’re trying to work on shifting the company to a startup mindset.
They said they really liked that I researched everything in advance (not sure how they know, since I used a bug in their hiring platform) and that it epitomised what the role was really about. Willing to own issues and problems and be an end-to-end technology source for the company worker.
It looks pretty decent, getting to fuel a company’s digital advancement will give me good experience in entrepreneurial ventures in the future. Really good for consultancy work.
“How do I know you’re trustworthy” ah, yes. “I worked at a large insurance firm where I helped fuel the transition from paper to digital and helped optimise processes, automate processes and provided good education to ensure good uptake.”
We’re hiring at my work and maybe 90% of the people applied are rubbish or asking for ridiculous amounts of money (mind that the wage is advertised on the job posting). Of that the people making it to interviews are a mixed bag.
The kind of work I have been involved in is sort of specialised and I would say that a lot of employers expect to pay less than the market rate (and hope a young, inexperienced graduate turns up who’s miraculously got all the skills already ;-)). You can occasionally see this when it’s advertised a couple of times with an increase in salary, because no-one applied
We’d pay more for more experience for sure. But we’re talking people asking for £80k for a standard engineer role (not even in London). If we were advertising for a specialist sure maybe. But we’re clearly not
Out of curiosity do any of you know where one buys cufflinks from? I bought some cheap ones from Suits Direct as a last minute ditch since I couldn’t find any nice ones but for the longer term I want something of quality
not that I have any paper left… resorting to envelopes now as obvious 
the last interview prompts I wrote, is on the other side