Confidence

[Betterfly]

And how to get some. Quick.

I am in my 40's married with two DC. And I have ZERO confidence in myself.

I have been working for over 20 years but only ever had two jobs, both of which I got through people I knew. I have never really had a formal interview as such.

I am really unhappy with my job. I haven't been promoted for 9 years (which coincides with taking maternity leaves - funny that) and now I work PT I find I am given shitty jobs to do and I find out what is going on in the company from the gossip, I am never told anything.

I found out recently that there is going to be a restructuring and reassessment of how we work as a result of the past year. It has led me to thinking about possibly taking redundancy (looking to be offered voluntarily in two weeks) and look for a new job. I saw a job advertised that seems perfect, the deadline to apply is this Friday.

And yet, I am procrastinating. I have updated my CV but I also have to submit an application where they ask for 1,000 words on your experience and why you want the job. I just cannot do it. I cannot sell myself.

Then I think what if I submit something and get an interview? They would probably just laugh at me, I don't think I could do an interview. My industry is a bit small world and so I would either know of or encounter the interviewers at some point. The job is local.

It is actually crippling me. My DH doesn't understand - he has moved from job to job and works in sales, he was born to sell.

HELP!

Well, you can either go to the interview and possibly get the job, OR - don't go and obviously 100% not get the new job...

I'd prefer to go and fail (or not fail!) than never knowing?! X

Read the JD and person spec, do you have the skills and experience to do the job? Read inbetween the lines in the job spec, what are they looking for.

Read each line and think of examples where you did this. Use the STAR technique:

The STAR technique is a method of answering questions that is comprised of four steps:
Situation: Describe the situation and when it took place.
Task: Explain the task and what was the goal.
Action: Provide details about the action you took to attain this.
Result: Conclude with the result of your action.

Research them, 3 things that make them unique, 3 reasons why you want to work for them, 3 reasons why you want the specific job.

The top thing (a recruitment consultant told me) that people forget to put across in interviews is your enthusiasm for working for them. If you can get across enthusiasm that's a lot of work done there. It doesn't have to be 100% confidence, people expect you to be nervous, in fact you can even mention being a bit nervous, it makes you human (But try and think of the nervousness as excitement.)

I had some interview coaching and these were some of the tips. They have helped my in my last two jobs.

The vast amount of interviewing success is prep work, then psyching yourself up. The prep work comes first but think about what to wear, what to take, how you will introduce yourself, questions to ask them.

Thank you!

Re the job spec - I am not sure I do have the skills - I am sure I could learn them but I have been pigeon holed in my current job and have never been allowed to train (I took some courses myself which I paid for but I do not have the practical side to go with it) and no one is willing to teach/ help me. It is a strange company really - lots of consultants who are self employed have the top jobs and so have no interest in helping to develop anyone else because it impacts on their billing and therefore their salary.
I have the qualifications on paper though.

I am going to read through your post later @MistySkiesAfterRain and work through it to get this "essay" done. Thanks again.

What happened in the end? Did you go for the new job?

Ok the best advice I got from my DH about job interviews/applications, especially after being a parent for ages when it is all about the kids, but you don't need kids to appreciate the advice.

They want to hear about you. Glorious you, you get to talk about you, your ideas, what you have done, who you are what you want to do.

So think of it as a glorious half hour or so to talk about you. And ask a couple of questions. Do a bit of research.

Well this is funny timing!
I celebrated 1yr in my "new" job today 🎉

I didn't get the original one (wasn't even offered an interview which was disheartening) and then my job was made redundant at the end of 2021.

However, word of the redundancies got to the company I applied to and they got in touch with me about another job, I went in for an "informal chat" which basically turned into an interview and I got an offer there and then.

It's more junior than the one I applied for but there are far more development opportunities and I am on track for promotion in the next six months.

so far it is working out really well.

My advice would definitely be to go for it as I doubt I would have got this job without applying for the other one, or at least not as easily!