GRcade

Good luck sat. You can do worse that our field. It's done me ok for nearly twenty years now.

Cheers, I wasn't going to wear one but as most people seem to agree that you should, I'll buy one tomorrow.

I was an IT field engineer about 5 years ago but then went off to do (and fail) the University thing while I was still young.

Ah yeah so you know the game. Always good to look smart and professional , even if you never normally wear it,

My suit lasted the interview and two days in this job.

I didnt wear a suit to mine, but got smart like. I still regularly go in with a shirt and that when everyone is jeans and tshirt for the most part.

I had a 2nd interview this week. Did pretty well, given 2 sets of data and left to get on with it and draw conclusions between the 2. Only thing they didn't like was my 3 month notice period, and I should hear back next week. I thought I'd best be upfront about it being 3 months. If I get lucky enough, anyone got any advice on shortening a notice period - apart from the scene in Fight Club so I can give them options when I hear back.

On the dress code front like Fishy says, I'd always go suit and tie unless specifically instructed otherwise. Also look like you've worn one before and are used to this sort of lark, an outrageous tie and Harry Hill lapels isn't the look you want!

Falsey wrote:I didnt wear a suit to mine, but got smart like. I still regularly go in with a shirt and that when everyone is jeans and tshirt for the most part.

nice, be smart and think smart falsey.

Can't go wrong with a shirt and trousers.

Falsey wrote: you could probably get away with smart pants, shirt and a cardi

Falsey at an interview.

Why not just, y'know, wear a suit? Worst case scenario, you're the smartest dressed out of everyone. Wearing a suit can only help your chances of getting the job. Better to be overdressed than underdressed.

Oh Teh Noes wrote:Why not just, y'know, wear a suit? Worst case scenario, you're the smartest dressed out of everyone. Wearing a suit can only help your chances of getting the job. Better to be overdressed than underdressed.

I don't have a suit which is why I asked if it's necessary. As everyone thinks it is I will buy one on Monday. I actually went into Guildford today to buy one from Burton but then discovered that the shop has been replaced with an Urban Outfitters.

My interview on Monday went OK. I had to do a 40 minute test to see how brainy I am and I think did really well in that. I had spent the whole weekend researching the company and practising interview questions, but it was actually just an informal chat and I didn't get to show that I had prepared.

Now I've got an interview at an airport this afternoon and I can't really be bothered with it. I've done almost no research or preparation, and they want to charge £17 to park for 2hrs so to avoid that I'm having to drive most of the way and then get a bus the rest. Oh well, at least I've got my suit so I look the part.

Edit: The letter says that I need to bring the card and paper part of my driving licence and that failure to do so means automatic withdrawal from the recruitment process. Which is fine as I have both parts, but I just realised the photocard expired a week ago.

Triple post combo!

The interview actually went really well! They have three vacancies and are interviewing 8 or 9 people so I'm pretty confident. The only slight negative was that I didn't sign on for jobseekers allowance when I started looking for work six months ago. I only signed on about 3 weeks ago and the airport need a personal reference for any 28day+ gaps in work/study.

They looked at my driving licence really closely but never mentioned that it had expired. I not sure if they noticed or not but they seemed happy enough with it.

I had to do a stupidly easy questionnaire but it was written by one of their own engineers and some of the answers they had were wrong. For example:
1. Which of these describes the CPU:
a. The brains of the computer.
b. Sausages.
c. It receives information, processes and presents it.

Now I was told some questions have two answers so I said A and C, but they said the answer was just C. I explained that some of my tutors described it as the brains of the computer and they agreed it was a bit vague and my answer was fine.

Another question:
2. Which of these is stored on ROM:
a. Software
b. Sausages
c. BIOS

I chose A, but they had the answer as C. I explained that the BIOS is software and that you can get non-BIOS software on ROM and they agreed with my reasoning, but still insisted the answer was BIOS. I think they were happy with my technical knowledge anyway.

Well I suppose technically BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System....

So I wonder how you write to something that's ROM?

1 is incorrect on all answers they gave.

2 is techically correct as the BIOS is stored on the ROM of the mobo. Software in the general sense would be stored on more standard memory like a disk drive or used in real time with RAM.

Cheers, it wasn't really a pass/fail test anyway, it was just to get an idea of what I know. When I explained my answers to those two questions they were satisfied with my reasoning and agreed the test wasn't very well written.

Agree with the faster there.

I guess calling the CPU "the brain" is not unreasonable though. I've heard the metaphor back in my early days as it process instructions and is ultimately doing the "thinking" loosely when running any program,

I have a job interview tomorrow for nationwide. Can't wait, work for a decent company that doesnt strawberry float you over, and pays you a decent wage to. Fingers crossed

satriales wrote:Cheers, it wasn't really a pass/fail test anyway, it was just to get an idea of what I know. When I explained my answers to those two questions they were satisfied with my reasoning and agreed the test wasn't very well written.

I think thte fact that you could competently explain your answers with sound theory would be what swings it. In my last interview I totally strawberry floated up when I was asked what a DFS was. I explained what I thought it was (which was wrong) but the theory behind it was accurate.

Falsey wrote:

satriales wrote:Cheers, it wasn't really a pass/fail test anyway, it was just to get an idea of what I know. When I explained my answers to those two questions they were satisfied with my reasoning and agreed the test wasn't very well written.

I think thte fact that you could competently explain your answers with sound theory would be what swings it. In my last interview I totally strawberry floated up when I was asked what a DFS was. I explained what I thought it was (which was wrong) but the theory behind it was accurate.

You were so near yet sofa...

Just saw this thread, currently looking for a job, I've actually started getting some call backs after I went to my uni's job centre and got some help fixing up my resume, it made me realize it was a mess before.