The job hunting support thread

[Pat24]

I've got an interview next week, for a role in a charity, doing a similar thing to what I used to do in a more junior role in the company I am currently working for in the private sector.
I am happy to move away from the company I work for, even though it pays well, as I feel I can get so much more work satisfaction working for a social cause than for the sake of lining the pockets of fat shareholders. There are also a lot of politics and my boss is basically a sales guy with no idea of what I do. Plus I don't see my role going anywhere and I am bored to tears on a daily basis. I will be taking a pay cut, but you know what, what I'll be earning will be enough. I want a reason to get up in the morning and feel that what I do really means something positive to the world. Such n idealist but if I have this opportunity, I will take it! Wish me luck!

 

[Cloo]

Good luck, Pat - sounds like this sort of thing is the right move for you.

 

[Pat24]

Thanks Cloo! I'm actually feeling very excited, let's see how it goes

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I've got an interview next week, for a role in a charity, doing a similar thing to what I used to do in a more junior role in the company I am currently working for in the private sector.

hope all goes well.

although (without wishing to be a miseryguts) how much do you know about this charity?

some charities can have a considerable amount of politics (especially when you have the potential for friction between volunteer committee members and paid staff) and some can be bloody awful employers.

hope this is not one of those...

and i ought to go to bed so I can function at the interview tomorrow late morning -

(working until nearly midnight, then a slowish drive home through a blizzard on the M4, then had to do and e-mail a report about a cock-up on this afternoon's shift which has to be in before monday lunchtime - )

 

[weepiper]

Someone's opening a bike shop concession in a big garden centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh and advertising for a senior mechanic. I probably won't be able to do it (doesn't say what the hours are) but I've emailed for further info anyway as from the job description I'm amply qualified.

 

[Cloo]

*Sigh* been offered an interview for the education role, but it confirms, as I feared, that if I want it to be London based it still would mean going to Oxfordshire once a week, including overnights much of the time, so I think it's a no go. Good to get the offer, though.

 

[Pat24]

hope all goes well.

although (without wishing to be a miseryguts) how much do you know about this charity?

some charities can have a considerable amount of politics (especially when you have the potential for friction between volunteer committee members and paid staff) and some can be bloody awful employers.

hope this is not one of those...

and i ought to go to bed so I can function at the interview tomorrow late morning -

(working until nearly midnight, then a slowish drive home through a blizzard on the M4, then had to do and e-mail a report about a cock-up on this afternoon's shift which has to be in before monday lunchtime - )

I have been researching them for a while now and they seem like a good charity to work for. I will reserve my observations until I get to meet them at the interview.I have worked in a charity before which was absolutely awful! the director was the most awful person i have met in my life, a real bully. So yes, hopefully it won't be a bad place.

 

[sorearm]

congratulations extra dry!

 

[sorearm]

applied for another job online today, going to research the 2 people on my interview panel for next week (there is a third but it looks like she is an HR bod), they have university profile pages so can look up some recent papers. I already have some ideas about talking about 'future stuff' for projects, I am pretty confident I present as fine in an interview and I have lots of relevant experience working in a hospital site (liaising with clinicians, being around patients, collecting biopsy samples). The only thing I'm really worried about is basically age discrimination and also that I'm viewed as 'too overqualified' for the position - which is ridiculous as with all my experience I am a self-starter, have experience in the techniques, fully motivated to do the job and contribute to the research group!

 

[Cloo]

I'm about to try approaching a non-fiction agent to ask if he can give any advice on commissioning on non-fiction, or might know anyone who can. Given that the last time I managed to meet someone in non-fic his view was 'TBH, not likely to get a job in it unless you've worked in it from the bottom up', I'm wondering how much longer its worth persuing this line. It's not a burning ambition, it's just something I think would be nice if it could happen. Maybe if another one or two people in the field tell me it's not a goer, I'll drop it.

Thinking of focusing more on asking the same question of academic publishers, from whom, as I think I mentioned, I've had a stony silence regarding all my applications, though I've sent a few and don't see any reason I shouldn't do. It's ironic that I've been offered several interviews for school textbook commissioning roles (which was not what I was doing, though I was at an education publisher), when actually academic is probably closer to what I was actually doing in some sense (ie, I was working on education theory).

 

[weepiper]

Someone's opening a bike shop concession in a big garden centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh and advertising for a senior mechanic. I probably won't be able to do it (doesn't say what the hours are) but I've emailed for further info anyway as from the job description I'm amply qualified.

Well, he's emailed me a full job spec now:

The annual salary of £17,000 is based on 46 hours per week. Core hours of work will be 08.30 to 17.30 with a 60 minute break. You may be required to work additional hours over and above your working week for the proper fulfilment of your duties. Paid annual holidays: 20 days plus Scottish public holidays (mainly to be taken in lieu)

That's £7.10 an hour, for what's a skilled job requiring a qualification and several years' experience, plus they expect you to train up more staff as the business expands. Fuck that! I'd be taking home less than my childcare costs too

 

[Puddy_Tat]

 

[Cloo]

Applying for charity role - I can totally match the spec. It's a bit below what I was doing before seniority wise, and they say people 'usually' come in at the bottom of any given payscale, and that's 2.5k less than my previous role. I'm not sure we'd actually clear childcare on that little... but heck, cross that bridge if we come to it.

No news from second-interview role, guessing I won't hear before Thursday earliest, but I'm still going to jump onto the ceiling every time my phone rings from tomorrow - I expect the agent will phone in either case.

 

[Cloo]

FFS! Called in for a THIRD time for this job.

Agent says they mainly want to decide which of the two available journal editing jobs I would be most suitable for. I asked whether she thought this meant they were definitely going for me, or if they were seeing more people. She said they're still working through people because the second role came up midway through the interview process, so she can't guarantee anything, but she thinks I'm in a very strong position. They'd better bloody give me the job after all this!

 

[sorearm]

Saw couple of scientist jobs (with rather vague job descriptions it must be said!) online for application via agencies, so applied for them with my CV.

... at least feels I'm doing something!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

FFS! Called in for a THIRD time for this job.

Agent says they mainly want to decide which of the two available journal editing jobs I would be most suitable for. I asked whether she thought this meant they were definitely going for me, or if they were seeing more people. She said they're still working through people because the second role came up midway through the interview process, so she can't guarantee anything, but she thinks I'm in a very strong position. They'd better bloody give me the job after all this!

How the heck employers who carry on like this expect people who are already in work to deal with this, I don't damn well know...

Hope there's good news at the end of it.

News from puddyville is that I has survived two of the interviews this week so far (another tomorrow)

Didn't get the job from Monday's one - fairly nice comments on the phone from the manager afterwards, basically he said he was confident I could do the job (slight tangent from what I've done in the past) but they had another candidate who actually had done it before and therefore scored a bit more. And he said there's likely to be a second similar post coming up in a few weeks, and encouraged me to apply for it.

Today's went fairly well (considering I got called out on an emergency on my casual job yesterday and didn't get home until about 0230, think it went pretty damn well - and it gave a few very fresh answers for 'what have you done in a challenging situation?' sort of questions.)

Another tomorrow.

And another couple of applications to fire off this week.

 

[Cloo]

Have asked the agent if she can give me any info about the format of this next stage in order to prepare. Without any other info, I think the important things are to address the weakness I felt in the last interview that was about having credibility with the specialist professionals I'd be working with (mostly in terms of being able to handle people pushing their own agendas) and also to continue to express my strong enthusiasm for the role. They seemed to really approve last week when I mentioned I'd been telling people I'd be gutted if I didn't get it, and I think it's important to them to find someone who seems really happy to the specific stuff they are doing.

 

[weltweit]

Hmm... well I just found out through experience that where jobs on databases like totaljobs or monster are concerned it is best to ring first to confirm the role is still available.

I wrote (at some length) a special covering letter yesterday and sent it in with my CV, following up today they said oh sorry, that job has been placed, it is just that we cannot remove the advert for the moment.

I rang another this am to check and the story was the same, job already gone!

Flipping agencies!

 

[Cloo]

Grrr - how frustrating. I always rang agents to ask for more details before drafting anything, and occasionally they had already put forward enough people, even though the closing date hadn't passed.

 

[sorearm]

Interview tomorrow morning, feel OK about it, did some prep over the weekend and have been reading up on the subject area/techniques

 

[Thora]

Well, he's emailed me a full job spec now:


That's £7.10 an hour, for what's a skilled job requiring a qualification and several years' experience, plus they expect you to train up more staff as the business expands. Fuck that! I'd be taking home less than my childcare costs too

I was fairly depressed to notice that Aldi are advertising check-out staff jobs at more than I get paid.

 

[weltweit]

Sorry to say but you are just far too experienced for this role, the client is looking for people with perhaps 2-3 years experience in a junior role.

wtf ... I wanted that job!

 

[Looby]

I was fairly depressed to notice that Aldi are advertising check-out staff jobs at more than I get paid.

Yup. My mate used to work for Zara and until I was promoted she was on way more than me after 8 years in the civil service.

 

[kalidarkone]

I was fairly depressed to notice that Aldi are advertising check-out staff jobs at more than I get paid.

Oooh will tell mdk1!!

 

[toggle]

I earn more per hour cleaning than i would at a fair few grad jobs

 

[Cloo]

So, 3rd interview tomorrow. It's quite difficult to find the wherewithal to draw more out of yourself for this many stages, but I think I've found some good new things to highlight that will play on what they seemed to particularly like in the last two stages.

I'm pretty sure now that, having at least done more preparation, nothing I do or say is going to 'lose' me the role at this stage - it's all down to who else is in the field, really. In other words, I don't know whether I have to win or merely draw

I sooo fucking hope this comes off though. I would really like the job, it moves me in a direction I'd love to go in but had not expected to be able to make the move to, and I'd be back in the working world and not having to worry about losing JSA (runs out a week on Friday). It's a pretty daunting thought, though, too - despite the number of interviews, and partly because I've been out of the office environment so long, I still don't really have any clue what daily life in this role is going to be like, and I'm sure it's pretty challenging.

I am assuming that this time I will know within two days, possibly before the end of tomorrow. The nature of the interview will also be a clue - if it's a grilling, I can't assume it's in the bag. If it's pretty informal, that would probably suggest an imminent offer.

 

[MBV]

Good luck Cloo. I keep an eye on this thread after been out of work a while ago but still remember how tough the task of job hunting was.

 

[weltweit]

Good luck Cloo, hope it works out for you. Three interviews sounds like a lot, but it bodes well for you that you managed to jump through all the hoops so far. Hope you get it!

 

[sorearm]

Just getting ready for my interview this morning, heading off in a bit for the bus will let you know how it goes.

 

[sorearm]

went OK, there was the usual 'tell us about yourself' bit which I linked various bits to the job to show relevance, answered their questions OK and expanded on a few areas.Interview was about 20 mins. I was quite nervous actually but spoke sensibly and made lots of eye contact and positive body language.

I just get the feeling that I'm always looked at as too experienced for this job or that they'll think I'll be off asap and instead go for the dull-but-safe-pair-of-hands.

Interviews were running late, there was a guy in before me (his interview was about 15 mins) who looked about late 20's early 30's and a lass was after me who looked similar age range. Ho hum.

They'll decide this week, will keep you updated.