# Interview Preparation



## pricilla (6 Jan 2006)

Hello, I have applied for a job in the Civil Service, and I really want it. I would like to start preparing for it now as best I can. I was wondering if there is such a thing as a person who can help you do a fantastic interview, and where would I begin to look. 
I'm in Limerick.

Also I'd like your opinions about this... Is it a good idea to leave off your engagement ring in an interview? 
My instinct is telling me to leave it off because they could think I'm going to be planning my wedding/going on honeymoon/having babies/going sick.
On the other hand, leaving it on might be good because it may look like I'm settled and wont be high-tailing it around the world any time soon. So, on or off? They probably won't even notice


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*



			
				pricilla said:
			
		

> I was wondering if there is such a thing as a person who can help you do a fantastic interview, and where would I begin to look.


Doing realistic mock interviews is probably a good idea. I'm sure that there are career advice consultancy business that offer this service as well as more general _CV _and interview preparation advice.


> Also I'd like your opinions about this... Is it a good idea to leave off your engagement ring in an interview?
> My instinct is telling me to leave it off because they could think I'm going to be planning my wedding/going on honeymoon/having babies/going sick.
> On the other hand, leaving it on might be good because it may look like I'm settled and wont be high-tailing it around the world any time soon. So, on or off? They probably won't even notice


Personally I reckon you should forget about such relatively trivial and irrelevant matters and concentrate on more fundamental preparation for the interview.


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## pricilla (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

Thanks for the honesty Clubman! I'll get cracking on the preparation so.


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## DrMoriarty (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*



			
				pricilla said:
			
		

> They probably won't even notice


Pricilla, my wife once (successfully) interviewed for a bank job, to replace someone going on maternity leave. She herself was almost 6 months 'gone' and they didn't notice... 

IMHO, if it's a CS post (i.e. potentially permanent & pensionable), your interviewers are likely to place quite a high premium — consciously or subconsciously — on intangible, personality-type considerations about how you'll 'fit in'/how easy you'd be to work with, etc. While an aggressive, 'go-getter' attitude would normally be seen as a necessary attribute in an interview for a cut-and-thrust job in the private sector/business/sales, it could conceivably work _against_ you in a CS scenario. I'm generalising, but in this type of situation your prospective 'line manager' will often have an (unofficial) casting vote in the selection process, and may in some cases be keener on a pleasant, competent, dependable, 'non-threatening' type of individual than on a whizz-kid who's going to come in and start trying to 'reform' existing practices... 

Best of luck!


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## pricilla (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

Thanks very much for that, that is very helpful. I am in a semi-state company now and the attitude is similar. I just want to do the best I can, so any help is very much appreciated.


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## my2leftfeet (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

A female friend removed her child car seat from her car when going for interview for a Senior Management position! She got the job, and is there a couple of years, despite having said she would never work for them having been quizzed at interview about whether she had children and if proper childcare arrangements were in place!


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

How did that make a difference? Did the interviewers inspect her car or something?


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## my2leftfeet (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

Sorry ... rushed my reply and knew it would elicit queries.  She was thinking along the lines that Pricilla is currently thinking - don't let them know I have a life outside my job because it could affect the outcome.  
In anticipation of further queries - yes they would have to look out the window as she was driving off to see the car seat - but that often happens after interview .... usually to check out what model car one is driving!


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*



			
				my2leftfeet said:
			
		

> yes they would have to look out the window as she was driving off to see the car seat - but that often happens after interview .... usually to check out what model car one is driving!


 Really? I've never done it after interviewing people. And I've always taken public transport to interviews and don't think that it was ever held against me.


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## my2leftfeet (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

Believe me ... it happens!  As does being queried about kids and childcare at interview even though I believe that it is a total no no!


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## DrMoriarty (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

I would have thought it was _illegal_, in these PC times...


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## Audrey (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

I know that CARR COMMUNICATIONS definitely does interview preparation (either in a group or on a 1-to-1 basis, as I know somebody who recently took a 1-to-1 with them.


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## Audrey (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

This is the website for Carr Communications .........
http://www.carrcommunications.ie/


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## Kiddo (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*



			
				my2leftfeet said:
			
		

> Believe me ... it happens! As does being queried about kids and childcare at interview even though I believe that it is a total no no!


 
Yes it certainly does. At a recent interview I was asked the following questions:
How old was I (answer is on my CV)
Was I married (doh I'm wearing a wedding ring)
How long was I married
Did I have any children
Any plans to have children
Where did I live
Did I own my own home
How many bedrooms
What square foot was it.
How much did I pay for it.
And quite a few other questions that had no bearing on my ability to do the job.

I was totall incesced (sp) and conveyed all this to the recruitment agent I was dealing with. She conveyed my annoyance back to the guy interviewing me who couldn't understand why I was annoyed, thought we got on great and wanted to offer me a second interview ...dumb a**...to make matters worse he was in his early 30's so should have known better IMO.


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## PGD1 (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

reminds me of the time I went for an interview when I was younger and was asked to "describe yourself" and I said I was stable and reliable (which I am!) and he said I sounded like an Oracle database so I told him to stuff it!


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## DrMoriarty (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

In fairness, it has to be borne in mind — especially in a CS scenario such as pricilla describes — that the chief interviewer(s) may well have absolutely no training in/experience of how properly to conduct an interview. Half of the time, (s)he may well be looking across the table at you and thinking 'is this guy/girl after _my_ job...?'

I probably shouldn't pontificate further; I've only ever gone for three 'proper' job interviews in my life, and got the job each time (Dr M pats himself smugly on the back...!  ) But I do know/have heard of some appalling errors of judgement being made by inept/prejudiced interviewers, invariably to the greater cost and detriment of the company/organisation doing the recruiting.

To come back to my original '' — is it not strictly illegal, nowadays, to ask this kind of (technically irrelevant) personal stuff? Marital status, kids/home ownership or nay, (ethnic status, religious beliefs, voting preferences, etc.)? I'm amazed, if so...


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

I didn't think that it was illegal to ask such questions although it is illegal to discriminate . Obviously proving a link between the two might be difficult though!


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## willmy41 (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

Pricilla go for your interview. Don't push. Be yourself - answer any questions honestly. If you have the qualifications and, if as a person, they like the look of you then you are in. Good luck.


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*



			
				willmy41 said:
			
		

> Be yourself - answer any questions honestly.


What if she's not an honest person?


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## buzybee (7 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

If you are getting married in about 8 months or less, leave your engagement ring on.  If you did not leave your ring on, and went on to get the job, then you would look sneaky, asking for honeymoon time off, and sporting an engagement ring.

If you are not getting married for a while, then you could leave your engagement ring off.  If you get the job, you could always announce your engagement after a few months, and then look for honeymoon time off.

Also, a lot can depend on your age.  If you are 40 and have ringless fingers, the employer might think you are too much of a go getter, which may not fit in with public sector.  If you are 22, they might wonder why are you getting married so young.

I was trying to move out of my last position.  Went for lots of interviews and left my engagement ring off.  Then last year I went for an interview and left my ring on (wedding in a few months time).  I waved my hands around during the interview as I was talking.  Got interviewed by 2 people and no one mentioned the ring.  In fact they offered me the job on the spot!!!!

Of course it helps that my ring has a few stones in an oval shape, and is not like the original solitaire/three stone ring.  They probably thought my ring was a dress ring.

I was there a month when a relative of the owner noticed it and asked me when I'm getting married.

Wearing the ring could work for or against you.  Wear the ring if your wedding is soon (as I said above) as you need to be reasonably honest at interviews.


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## RainyDay (7 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*



			
				ClubMan said:
			
		

> I didn't think that it was illegal to ask such questions although it is illegal to discriminate . Obviously proving a link between the two might be difficult though!


Any HR manager will tell you absolutely NOT to ask questions about marriage, children or other discrimination grounds. If the interviewee doesn't get the job, these questions would strengthen any case they might take for compensation re. discrimination. 

I'm amazed at Kiddo's story above! Kiddo - What kind of company (sector, size) was this?


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## ClubMan (7 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*

Obviously it's prudent not to ask such questions but there are no laws against asking them as far as I know.


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## Kiddo (8 Jan 2006)

*Re: Interview help*



			
				RainyDay said:
			
		

> Any HR manager will tell you absolutely NOT to ask questions about marriage, children or other discrimination grounds. If the interviewee doesn't get the job, these questions would strengthen any case they might take for compensation re. discrimination.
> 
> I'm amazed at Kiddo's story above! Kiddo - What kind of company (sector, size) was this?


 
It was an accountancy practice..three partners and about 30 staff. 

It was the junior partner who interviewed me. A right smarmy git he was too and I took an instant dislike to him anyway but even more-so with his choice of questions. It transpired early in the interview that he was buddys with an ex-colleague of mine which did nothing to improve my impression of him 

He actually couldn't see why the questions he asked me were unacceptable and actually argued with the recruitment agent when she took him to task about it. He couldn't understand why I didn't want to go back for the second interview.


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## Chamar (8 Jan 2006)

I am amazed by all this talk of engagement rings!

I'm gay, so at my next interview should I:

a) wear a wedding ring to indicate I'm straight and married
b) wear a white gold wedding ring to indicate I'm gay and married
c) wear no ring
d) wear a neutral ring on the 4th finger of my right hand to indicate I'm gay, unmarried -  just in case you are interested
e) sit on my hands and hope my eyebrows don't give it away


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## ClubMan (8 Jan 2006)

Chamar said:
			
		

> b) wear a white gold wedding ring to indicate I'm gay and married


Myself and my wife wear white gold wedding rings and neither of us is gay.


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## DrMoriarty (8 Jan 2006)

I'm Brian, and so's my wife.
_(Sorry, couldn't resist...)_


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## Chamar (9 Jan 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> Myself and my wife wear white gold wedding rings and neither of us is gay.




You're just ahead of the times Clubman. They're all the rage for gay unions I hear...


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## ClubMan (9 Jan 2006)

Chamar said:
			
		

> They're all the rage for gay unions I hear...


I didn't realise that homosexuals engaged in collective bargaining.


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## robyn (9 Jan 2006)

I went for an interview in the UK recently and I was asked was a married or in a relationship. Since the job means moving to the UK I think they were taking a genuine interest in my re-location and my circumstances.


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## pricilla (12 Jan 2006)

Hi, just wanted to update you. I have contacted a professional interview coach who is going to work on my cv, and give me 2 x 1hour intensive sessions to coach me with what to say at the interview. I'm delighted. It's money I don't really have at the moment, but it's an investment if it works!!
All I have to do now is pass the apptitude tests, whats the best idea, just read a load of books? Does anyone have any tips or recommendations?
Thanks for all your help, you really put me on the right track


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## DrMoriarty (12 Jan 2006)

A few handy tips [broken link removed], and sample tests ...

Good luck!


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