Saturday, October 06, 2007

Job Hunter: Revisited

I really enjoyed the exercise of having to answer a series of interview questions. Even though face-to-face interviews would be extremely different I still feel that this was a great experience for when the course is over.

I was quite unsure on what approach to take for the section “Why I want the job”, I eventually decided to show that I really want to work for that company and have thoroughly researched into them. I feel that this was beneficial as it shows commitment and desire for the job. I think that I could have taken another approach by matching up what they require in an employee with the skills that I feel I have. This is an approach that I may take if I were to do this task again.

One area that I had to put quite a lot of thought into was “Greatest weakness”. I didn’t want to put a totally negative answer to this as although it shows honesty I felt it could hinder my chances of getting the job. Because of this I decided to put a positive spin onto my weakness which I think was much more suitable.

One area of the exercise that I was not entirely happy with was my answer to the
“Hero” section. I didn’t really know how to answer this and was torn on whether to state an actual hero which would give a better insight into my personality or state somebody in the industry. I felt that if I chose the latter it would again show my commitment to work in the industry. I originally stated that my hero was Benito Carbone (ex Bradford City player) but later amended this to Dan Cederholm. I think this was partly due to the fact that I have recently been reading his book and partly down to the lack of time. Looking back I feel that it would have been much more appropriate to have stuck with my actual hero. I would certainly do this if I were to perform the task again.

3 comments:

Chris Towell said...

Like the old saying goes "Honesty is the best policy". I think putting an honest weakness is better than saying you haven't any and shows that you are a genuine person. I'd rather have honesty than someone telling me what they they 'think I want to hear'.

As for the hero again it shows honesty and character as it can reflect on what the interviewees interests are. I didn't really have a hero from the design industry but in a way mine kind of is. So I thought it would be better giving a personal hero than make one up for the basis of the interview incase the situation arises where they know more about your hero than you do. I do think there is a limit as to who you can put without sounding too stupid (e.g. ficticious characters should be a no go).

DREW said...

I think you made the right choice putting a hero that is related to the job application unless you would have been able to relate your personal hero to the job application.

I also considered putting a personal hero and was going to mention that they had lots of drive and ambition and this is why I admired them. I think it would be ok in that context. As you say it would also give them an insight into your personality.

Mirhad Kalabic said...

The hero thing was a wierd question, because we were told that we had to choose someone from the design industry. I dont really know a lot of people from the design industry at all, never mind calling them my hero, but its possibly something that we should all look into because no doubt these kind of questions will come up in real future interviews.