Interview Advice: pooping myself

quigleyjames50

quigleyjames50

quigleyjames50

Associate
Joined
17 Jul 2013
Posts
38
Location
Isle of Wight
Okay, so I have an interview on Tuesday for a local Architecture firm and I'm crapping myself.

This is the first professional interview I've had since Uni, as I walked back into a previous practice when I left, and I'm very nervous about having my body of work judged and scrutinized right in front of me.

I'm having to whack together a Portfolio as I haven't got one currently and was completely unprepared for the interview. (I recently returned from 15 months backpacking and have only got the interview as the chap who runs the local bike shop hooked it up for me).

Anybody here an experienced interviewer/interviewee who can shed some light onto how best to prepare?

Mucho thanks.
 
Good call on holding the poop.

I will research the company but as there was no job advertisement it's hard to tell what my place will be in the company. My friend just happened to mention that I was looking for work and they know my previous employer and so were keen to meet me, which I'm taking as a good sign as they are potentially creating a position for me.

My previous employer is notorious around here for overworking and underpaying his staff so they are assuming if I can work for him then I can work for them, haha.
 
An interview is a two-way thing - if there's no job description then use the interview as an opportunity to ask about what the role is, if the impression you've got of the company from your research is accurate etc.
 
1. Research the company.
2. Ask questions - even go as far as to have a list of questions that you can produce - above all it demonstrates that you have prepared for the interview.
3. Dress to impress.
4. Take a few seconds to think about your answers.
5. If you present them with documents, make sure they are professional, clean and tidy - perhaps even have a couple of copies in case there is more than one interviewer.
6. When entering the room - be polite and confident, shake hands - first impressions last.
 
Another one for research the company.

I've seen around 30 interviewee's over the last 3 months for various role and the first question is "what can you tell me about this Trust". Most of them don't even know we are a specialist Trust, or in what area despite it being on a massive 15ft high sign on the entrance to the site telling them.

If they don't even bother to recite a facts about us from our website, that is a massive fail in our eyes.
 
Research the company, arrive early, try your best to relax. An interview is a two way discussion, be sure to think of some questions to ask.
 
I'm Part 1 at the minute but to be honest don't see myself doing Part 2 any time soon. I didn't really get on with the University environment (may have just been the Uni I chose) and have learnt a lot more working in a real world environment than I did in my 3 years at uni. I found the course to be very creatively driven and to some extent I find that more a natural ability rather than something you can learn.

Being a small Island (Isle of Wight) I have some knowledge of the company and have even worked with one or two of the current employees. My main concern is I tend to get flustered in interview situations and start rushing my answers, I'll just have to remember to take a breath and be clear and concise with my answers.
 
An interview is a 2 way thing. I think of it more in terms of do I want to work for you, rather than do they want me to work for them.
 
quigleyjames50 said:
I'm Part 1 at the minute but to be honest don't see myself doing Part 2 any time soon. I didn't really get on with the University environment (may have just been the Uni I chose) and have learnt a lot more working in a real world environment than I did in my 3 years at uni. I found the course to be very creatively driven and to some extent I find that more a natural ability rather than something you can learn.

Being a small Island (Isle of Wight) I have some knowledge of the company and have even worked with one or two of the current employees. My main concern is I tend to get flustered in interview situations and start rushing my answers, I'll just have to remember to take a breath and be clear and concise with my answers.
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This is purely about the fear of criticism. Youve been through crits so dont worry about open criticism during interview, embrace it for what it is, an objective opinion about your work.

Remember that its not a definitive judgement of your work, merely an opinion. If you disagree then say so, its expected that you defend your work IF you have conviction in what you present. Dont fear criticising your own work either, it shows that you understand you wont get it right everytime.
 
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I conduct interviews as part of my job.

1- its absolutely fine to be nervous, i wouldn't hold it against you.
2- try and be confident, even if you don't feel it pretend you are playing the role of a confident person for an hour. Its the only time i will ever see you, even if you are not naturally confident i will never know.
3- Don't ask questions for the sake of it. If you dont have anything to add just say "I did have some questions but you have covered them all already". Don't scrabble for something to say.
4- if you are doing a presentation as part of the interview don't try to make it look flash. I got two jobs that involved presentations with no handouts and no powerpoint. I was asked if a needed a big screen and said no. I was asked if i needed a PC and said no. It was met with a "Oh" from the lead interviewer. I just said that "i don't want to distract you from what I'm trying to say" and he was instantly impressed. Now of course you may need to use Powerpoint or whatever but the point I'm making is don't try to make it speak for you.
 
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