sexy wrx69

you should always ask if there are any out of work social activities??

shows that you are a team player and all companies love that!!

bit worrying that you dont know what the job is tho. if i were you id phone the agency asap and find out what youre being interviewed for and then you can prepare yourself more.

in your interview turn every negative into a positive. if they ask if you have experience in something you havent...say you havent but youve been looking into teaching yourself it (if say a programming language) or that you are very eager to learn it.
NEVER put yourself down. be confident but not cocky.

and smile a lot. keep eye contact all the way through the interview. shows you have confidence.

hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!!!!


ooh ooh and ask about staff turnover in the last few years??
if people are leaving in droves...you'll want to know why!!!!


[Edited by sexy wrx69 - 11/4/2003 2:22:13 PM]

Defiant STI

I have my first interview tomorrow after months without a job and about 30 rejection letters I'm absolutely desperate to get it otherwise I won't be able to afford to buy X-Mas presents and I’ll seriously have to go and temp at Tescos

It'll be my first graduate job since I left uni in July.

So any advice please! Do you think it's worth me taking my laptop along to demonstrate my work? I don't really want this to shoot me in the foot in case my work isn't that good.

Advice appreciated, many thanks in advance. I'm p*ssing myself!

RB170

Whats the job ?

AudiMan

Tricky one this, I interviewed 10 people earlier this year for an IT support role, after trimming down the list of applicants from 160 !!!!!! (so you have done well so far),
One of the main things I was looking for was a 'normal' person (ie don't live and breath computers outside work), be smart (wear a suit and tie), on time, and not over cocky, I'd take paper examples of work rather than your laptop, neatly in a folder (like a portfolio), have some questions prepared (typed out) to ask, and do some home work on the company.
Be yourself, remember the interviewer only has a short time to get to know you.

Good luck.

Ian..

Defiant STI

Good question. After about 30 rejection letters I went against the advice of family and decided to sell myself so I redesigned my CV with fancy graphics and colour and sent it off to local companies requesting a graduate IT position preferably in programming and web design. They rang me up and asked to see me so I'm not entirely sure what the position is for.

SJ_Skyline

I wouldn't take my laptop unless I was totally confident that my work was better than anything that the company do and that they just couldn't function without me.

That aside - some printouts of your designs are always usefull. Remember that with web work the design is only a small part of it, many companies have designers that will furnish you with the site design and it is the method in how you encode a design image and make it functional that is important.

All IMHO of course!

Defiant STI

Thanks for the replies. Could someone give me an example of an intelligent question to ask at an interview ( no pee taking please )!

scoob_babe

what can the company do to further your career progression, will there be any training courses (internal or external), is there a mentor/grad IT scheme in place. But be yourself and be enthusiastic about the job!

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

How much time can I have off sick, before you need a doctors note ?

or ask about how the vacancy been created, career progression, training opps, company strategy, customer base, working environment etc.........

D

Defiant STI

Thanks guys Keep the advice flowing. Christ, I'm already getting nervous! Been out of the loop too long

scoob_babe

have a look at the share price and performance during the last few months and see how they've done in lousy market conditions

GaryK

Def,

Dont try and be a jack-of-all-trades master-of-none I think you need to put across your skillset as narrow and focused, if I saw a CV where someone had put they were fluent in 10 languages it would go in the bin. Too many people in IT think the more things they know the better it makes them. As AM said dont come across as someone who types all day and sits at home every night rigging up a water cooler for their PC or trying to extract an extra couple of hertz out of their processor!

They are probably keen because you have shown initiative already by asking for a position without it being advertised. If you have had any exposure to strcutured methodologies or testing mention this and ask them what steps a typical project life cycle takes in their company it shows you interested in quality not just churning out work with no planning!

Good luck mate.

Gary

SWRTWannabe

I once interviewed someone who brought his laptop to the interview. Sadly, he relied on it to do his communicating, which showed that his verbalk communication skills were fairly poor.

By all means take it and offer to show your work, but don't rely on it. Indeed, a printout may be just as good people are generally more interested in the way you work, not the work you have done.

Good luck!

supertouring

By the time you get to interview, they already think you can do the job they are tying to fill. What the interview allows them to do is check that you can back-up your CV and check you out as a person and if you will fit into their company.

It is important to listen to what they have to say, plenty of eye contact with the person talking and lots of those lovely questions.

Never ask "How did I do?" - you will soon find out.

And if you do not like the sound of the company or job on offer, then don't tell them at the interview. Let them offer you the job before you decide to turn it down. Remember that you have a choice in this also!

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

Try to come up with actual practical examples/experiences in response to their questions, answer using "In my experience...., Previously when....," rather than "I would ....." which sounds too theoretical.
You'll need to balance this, to ensure that you don't sound too cocky & the job's beneath you !

D

Defiant STI

Great stuff guys, a BIG thank you! I'm currently refreshing my programming skills so I don't go in completely cold Still feeling nervous though, don't think i'll sleep tonight!

Keep them coming, most appreciated guys

Mark Miwurdz

Sorry but don't agree with you. Sure, you wouldn't want to come straight out with a question like this but it is worth checking to see if they have any reservations or concerns. Far better to handle them there and then (if you can) and leave the interviewer with a favourable impression.

All IMHO, naturally.

Best of luck!

Cheers
Kav

Defiant STI

Right, HUGE thank you to everyone that gave me advice. I really appreciate it and I hope I can return the favour one day

I'm pleased to say that an hour after the interview they rang me and offered me the job! I start on Monday. Thank you to everyone.

scoob_babe

good for you

lpski1

Well done, so what is it that you are doing then ? i presume you found out.

scoob_babe

corner grabbing

druddle

Well done mate.

Dave

carl

Beers are on you then?

supertouring

That is great news. Good luck.

Mr Gee

Good luck with the new job.

super_si

Well done si

Hope you've booked a holiday for january

Si

midget1500

well done dude, i know what it's like as i'm in this hell at the moment also!

Defiant STI

Thanks for the support guys

I'm still not entirely sure what the role involves as I was interviewed but two non-technical people followed by a technical one who gave differing job descriptions!

From what I can gather it's support and development of their main software product plus some on site install and user training.

It's a great package with real career prospects so I'm pleased. I haven't stopped smiling since I found out!

BRING on the SCOOBY God I hope I get net access. Beers are on me

Goodluck Midget1500, just hang in there and keep applying. I just wrote to them on the off chance so anythings possible.

And i'll see what I can do about January Si