Interview on Friday for brilliant job!

[FeelingFinePorcupine]

Hi everyone,

I applied just after Christmas for a 'dream' job of mine and I've got an interview on Friday! it came up early last year and I applied but didn't get an interview so, while I'd really love to get this job, I'm just delighted to have got this one step further.

I don't want to get my hopes up as, even if they did offer it to me, there's some questions I have around conditions/WFH, etc. There are also at least three other people being interviewed, but I'm trying not to think about that!

I've gone back through the job description and made notes about how I meet the criteria and thought of examples I can give for the key points. I've had to write a presentation to submit tomorrow ahead of the interview, so I'm practising that as well, timing and recording myself and listening back. I'm making a list of questions to ask them (one of them is 'what do you enjoy about working here?' - is that too cheesy?!). I'm also going to do some STAR examples for the key points on the job description. I've been reading some key policies as well, and I'm familiar with the work the organisation does because I do some work for them already on a (very) P/T basis.

What else can I be doing? Does anyone have any recommendations? It's a academic-related role in HE, if that helps.

Thank you!

You sound well prepared.

I always ask what they like about working there!!! It's a hit!!

Best luck and report back

Thank you so much, @HeyArnoldHey I'm actually quite excited for the interview (excited in a nervous way, anyway!)

I've had another run-through of my presentation this morning and I'm getting DP to listen to a recording of it it's excruciating listening back to your own voice, but I find it helps things sink in.

Thank you for the tip/reassurance about the question! I have one about WFH/amount of time I'd need to be in the office, but are there any others you'd ask?

I got my (hopefully) dream job recently and I signed up to linkedin premium for the free month (set a reminder to cancel it) because there is tons of help for interviews on there.

One tip that's always stuck in my mind from somewhere is that interviewers know when you've really researched the company as you can throw bits and pieces into your responses and questions. They like that as it shows that you have done your homework. So I always spend a few hours delving into their website, googling them for any information in the press, look at their annual report as the front end (the waffly bit, not the numbers bit - unless that's part of what you do as it is for me) as that will tell you about the past year's performance and what the directors/owners are planning for the future.

Then you may find that questions for them naturally fall out of that? Looking at my interview notes, I asked about the team structure and who my direct line manager would be. As it was in December I asked what the culture was like outside of the company too - I'd seen a job previously that on its website stated proudly that people like to work hard and play hard which totally put me off, but for the company I'm going to they spoke about how they'd done social things online during lockdowns and for Christmas had booked a restaurant. All very run of the mill but it really gave me an idea of what they are like out of the 9-5.

And good luck!

Ah I've just reread your OP and a lot of what I said is going to be irrelevant given it's HE and you already do some work there. Sorry!

Thank you for your replies, @Sparticle! That's great advice. I'll definitely ask about the team structure. Annual report is a good idea too, thank you! I've had a look at their subject-specialist one, if that makes sense, but I'll look at the more general strategy too!

Good luck. I hope the team are nice to work with as this is what will ultimately determine how much of a 'dream job' it turns out to be.

That's so true, @musicalfrog, I hope so too, if I get that far.

I'd ask questions to try and gauge why they're recruiting for the role again less than a year later as this would ring alarm bells for me, I'd wonder if the role not as it seems, if there are some difficult personalities within the team etc. Sometimes I ask why the current role holder is leaving, its great if they've been promoted internally.

I'd ask what challenges the role brings, what the perfect candidate would be like. If I want the job, I'd find out if they had any reservations about my education/experience/ability to do the role, if there was anything they though I was missing and if they thought I'd slot into the existing team/dept. (Obviously I'd ask these in a subtle, roundabout way).

I'd also have a brief research about data within the dept. Eg student details, research etc

Best of luck

Thank you, @steelrose, that's one of my concerns too. I wasn't expecting to have another opportunity for a while and I was surprised when it came up again before Christmas. Where I work currently, there's a high turnover in our department (I've been there about nine months and four people have left in that time, two of them had arrived after me), and I don't want to end up in that kind of situation again! I'll think of a way to ask. Thanks

I've always asked at interviews 'what's the best thing and the worst thing about working here?' You get some useful nuggets with that one!!!

@emsyj37, do they tend to be honest about it? I wish I'd thought to ask about worst bits in previous interviews

You could think about how you’d answer a hypothetical scenario vs experience question on the same point differently.

Hypothetical: imagine you have joined a new project. How would you go about establishing rapport with key stakeholders?
Experience: When you worked on a project in the past, what actions and behaviours helped to build rapport with stakeholders?

Hypothetical is the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding and knowledge of best practice in your field. Experience questions allow you to show how you’ve adapted to circumstance and applied your knowledge in practice. It can also help to show some reflection in the experience answers, noting what you learned and would do differently.

If you work at the university already could you contact the careers service and have a mock interview? I did this before going for a promotion at my university and it was brilliant. The mock interview was far tougher than the actual interview!
My feedback from the interview panel was really good and I know it's because I felt like I'd already been through the process!

@boatyardblues, thank you, that's great! I'll go back to the job description and have a think very good point about reflection as well!

Thank you, @SpinsForGin, that's such a good idea. I don't think there's time to do that now, as it's tomorrow morning, but I'll definitely keep it in mind if the opportunity comes up again.

Good luck!

I think it depends who is on the panel, but generally the panel will be fairly senior people so if they thought it was a terrible place to work then they wouldn't be there?? So the answers are never anything major, just interesting quirks!
The point raised about addressing why they are recruiting again so quickly is a valid one- there could be very genuine reasons for it, but it's worth asking about. Possibly you could ask if this is an additional role that is newly created, as you're aware they advertised a very similar post last year??

@emsyj37 thank you! That makes total sense I know the culture is supportive and kind from the bit of work I've done there already, so I don't have concerns about that. I think your way of phrasing the question about the role coming up is great, thank you - I've made a note of it. I'm inclined to think it will be a new role/team expansion, so fingers crossed.

Good luck OP.

I'm interviewing for a job with a 30% pay rise. I was surprised I got an interview. I know I'm one of 6 being interviewed. It's on a Monday, so plan to spend the whole weekend revising / preparing for it. A 30% pay rise would literally transform my life 😀.

Huge good luck to you, @FanGirlX! I hope it goes really well 🤞

Good luck! X

Good luck today!

Thank you both so much! That's so kind that you remembered just re-reading my presentation now. Thank you everyone for your help and advice!

I used to work in HR in a University. When I had my interview they were most impressed when I asked how I would know whether I was succeeding in my role and how my performance would be measured.

Good luck with your interview.