Diary of an Ex-Employee - Day 22.0

I had an interview yesterday.

It was through a friend which, once again, just goes to show that firing off resumes through Monster and TheLadders etc. doesn't get you as far as your own network does.

I was a little concerned that the meeting only lasted 40 minutes but I got on very well with the recruiter so maybe she just wanted to do a quick pre-qualify.  It wasn't for a role on their permanent staff, but to work through them if they get a specific consulting placement that I'd be a fit for, so that could also explain why it was a little less rigorous.  

I was looking at the firm's website while I was doing research and dreading having to look through my resume to prepare to speak about each role.  Then I remembered that, back in 2007 when I was job hunting, I wrote a bunch of "stories" about my career as interview prep.  So I dragged them out.

It was great because, even though they didn't cover my last job (obviously) they reminded me of stuff from my previous career.

First, I had a set of PAR sheets.  These were for each job I had.  I chose a story which I could, in theory, weave into a recap of that role.  A story which clearly demonstrated where I had made a contribution.  A clear, concise story on one sheet of paper in this structure:

• Problem - what was the issue
• Action - what I did to solve it
• Result - what was the positive outcome.

Insert trumpeteer here.

Then I found a set of story sheets.  These were responses I'd prepared to common interview questions like:

• Discuss the problems of a previous project.  How would you resolve them now?
  
• What was your worst group experience?
  
• What is the one good thing your last manager would say about you?
  
• What is the one bad thing your last manager would say about you?
  
• You have six months to do a nine month project, what do you do?
  
• How have you demonstrated leadership at a previous company?

etc. etc.

Re-reading these was really helpful in my interview prep.  

Of course I didn't read them enough and practice my answers aloud so they weren't really embedded in my head.  So I didn't remember to tell even one of my stories in the interview.  Ho hum.  Lesson for next time... don't just re-read them... work 'em!

Still, I don't think I did too badly.  

The point which seemed to really resonate with the interviewer was when I was honest about the time I tried to set myself up as an independent consultant.  She chuckled when I told her (don't forget my English accent) that I had been "spectacularly unsuccessful."