Job application and interviewing skills help: urgent!

[WelshCerys]

DH is better qualified than me but he's not getting the jobs. (Languages teaching, mostly higher education sector). Occasionally we go after the same job (esp if more than one is advertised and they are few and far between in these parts). I'm getting offers and I'm working now - albeit part time.

He's mostly doing low paid work, long hours.

The trouble he's got is that I guess he interviews badly - previous feedback has suggested that he waffles (prob cos he's nervous). He produces poor applications when left to his own devices. He doesn't prepare well, especially for presentations. Yes, interviews with presentations are always a bit forced and a chore to prepare for but if you want the job, you go along with it ..
DH is talented, bright but cannot show himself in the best light from the job application onwards.

Now, just seen that I've got an offer (more pt time) and he hasn't - I know he'll be p'd off - pleased for me but very sad and despondent about his prospects.

Any suggestions? I wonder if there is any help out there for adults wanting (needing) to improve their interview skills, in particular. I can help DH with applications (I do) but I can't interview for him. He needs to be so much more dynamic - show himself off - and learn to be focused when answering questions. Presently, he's none of those things though, as I say, with bags of potential. Very good linguist and teacher but you wouldn't know it, certainly not at interview.

We could get to London but there might be UK wide services? There must be stacks of people who hide their light under bushels and need focused help to get those jobs. Any ideas very gratefully received. We can't on with low incomes and, especially, DH can't go on getting more and more demoralised.

Hi

I'm currently job seeking & received some feedback yesterday re including detail of my experience on my CV...it should be applied in interviews but works for CVs too.

The person I spoke to even said that it prevents waffling!

Not sure if it can be applied to your industry but thought I'd share

STAR Model interviews

I sympathise with your DH, as I interview terribly. I know all the theory about how you should answer questions, but I still end up waffling.

I don't really have anything helpful to add, but there was a thread a few months ago with a few useful pointers, might be worth having a read through that if you haven't already seen it? Best of luck to your DH.

HAOD - thanks so much for this link. It's good, to the point, will be showing it to DH. KikkiK - thanks, too. I hadn't seen the thread and have just read through it - some excellent suggestions, especially around practising out loud. The same questions come up, more or less, time and time again so it shouldn't be too hard to concoct a list.

Thanks again both of you - will pass the good wishes onto DH and try very hard to help him shake off this feeling that he's destined for the scrapheap. He isn't, no one is - but it is tough out there, isn't it?

Hi, I really sympathise with your DH. Being interviewed can be terrifying. Been there done, that and occassionally have flashbacks to some horrible experiences . I eventually got to grips with it and got promoted through a few grades and more recently I've been a member of an interview panel and it is so hard when you know the person sitting in front of you has the skills to do the job but just turns to jelly in front of you. I promise you that we do our absolute best to try and draw the best out of the candidates but sometimes there just isn't much we can do.

The links to STAR are well worth studying as most public sector organisations used competency based interviewing, which is what STAR is all about.

The best advice I can give your DH is to try and find examples of something that he did to match the competencies. A problem he solved or a process that he improved and then to bullet point it through to completion. He needs to be able to get his head around the thought that he is telling the interview panel a story - albeit an honest one - about a problem he found, the solution he identified, how he assessed whether the solution would work, how he implemented it, if it worked, what the benefits were and what he learned from it. It is basically a circular process - problem - solution - implement - assess - review - amend and learn if necessary. Keep it fairly short and if you don't get asked a whole load of extra questions about it then that is a good thing.

And practising out loud is excellent advice. You feel like a right dick but it really focuses the mind.

Agree with all that has been said here. DH and I practice likely competency based questions using STAR. I think that really helps as one example can apply to lots of different situations, it makes you think about it and having said it through it increases confidence and decreases waffling.

you could also look at a career coach - a few years back I lumped them in with self help and crystals but having worked with a lot of them now I realise that they are very good. They mainly work freelance so there are bound to be people in your area of various sorts. Get recommendations if you can. Due to restructuring of employability support by con/dem govt there is not so much work for many of them now so I bet you could get someone really good, affordably. They do stuff like CV revamping, application assistance, career direction, interview skills and so on. One redid my CV and afterwards I started getting interviews.

and good luck to your DH and well done to you on getting the job!

Everyone is entitled to one free session a year with a Next Step adviser. He could have one and use it for interview skills.

nextstep.direct.gov.uk/Pages/home.aspx

Just coming back to this thread to update as this week I was on a course (through the Job Centre as I am unemployed just now) and the course leader had the following tips for preparing for interviews:

• Write a script for each example you will use to answer a question, and practice it. You don't have to learn it off by heart, but if you are a nervous speaker it will help you to set down and remember what you want to say.
• Think of examples of when you have demonstrated certain competencies or behaviours, even if you don't have an interview coming up. That way, you will be able to develop and practice them without having pre-interview nerves to worry about as well, and will be better prepared when you do get an interview.
• Search on You Tube for hidden camera interviews to see examples of real-life interviews and observe what people do well or badly. I haven't had a chance to do this yet but I thought it was a good idea.

These were all new to me, so I thought I would share them here. Hope they might be of help to someone!