The Work Thread 2 - Get back to work!

It seems odd to have a separate interview with HR. If required normally an HR rep will sit in on the normal interview.

Zilnad wrote:I'm being progressed to the next stage of the interview process and have been asked to arrange an online meeting with their Head of HR. They wanted it to be tomorrow morning but I have that other interview so I've asked if we can do the afternoon.

Anyone got any experience with multi-stage interviews? I'm assuming that a talk with HR won't be an interview in the same style as the interviews I've already had but I'm not sure what they would be looking to find out.

Want to be prepared!

For My current role, I had 3 interviews. 1 was a 5 minute informal chat with the HR intern arranging the main interview.
2 was the interview proper.
3 was a 1 on 1 with the head of HR, which I was informed after by a colleague was to pretty much sniff out bullshit and see how much of a banana split I was going to be.

What kind of questions did they ask you?

Looks like I'll be having the call tomorrow afternoon and I've never interviewed with HR before so I'm trying to prepare at the same time as preparing for tomorrow morning :dread:

For HR I wouldn't sweat it. I think in my case that one was just a general chat - why you want the job, why you're good at it, what you like doing in spare time, etc

Rocsteady wrote:For HR I wouldn't sweat it. I think in my case that one was just a general chat - why you want the job, why you're good at it, what you like doing in spare time, etc

It's pretty much that, although I was asked to elaborate on a few answers and I had nothing more to say :fp:

What sector do you work in Zilnad?

For interviews I've had, and the sector I'm in, it's usually:

Stage 1: HR screening - why are you applying, general questions about your background and qualifications, how much do you know about the company.
Stage 2: Hiring Manager - same as above, but with more focus on specifics about the role and relevant experience
Stage 3: Presentation/Competency questions - usually different people from related teams or the team you might be joining, maybe someone from HR sitting in as well.
Stage 4/5: potentially another interview with the hiring manager, or someone more senior, or maybe the competency was its own interview, and a presentation might come next at this point, with the hiring manager after that. Seems to differ by company at this point.

If it's with HR I'd imagine it'll be about you, why are you applying, what do you know about the company, etc, nothing specific about the role (unless you work in HR :slol:

).

I'm in finance/accounts. After reading some articles online and reading posts here, I'm hoping I've got a good grasp on what might get asked tomorrow. I'm going to be completely wiped out by the end of the day!

I think I interviewed very well again this morning but the interviewer was clearly in a state of stress which made them come across as stand offish, almost like they were trying to convince me I wouldn't be interested in the job.

It's a shame because I really wanted to come out loving this one but it's left me with very mixed feelings. It could be great for future opportunities but a bit crap early on (it does sound like the HR/finance duties are all mixed into one role). The other issue is it sounds like the owner could be another slave driver similar to previous businesses that I've run from.

Both positions I've interviewed for this week have pros and cons but maybe the fact that I'm so conflicted about this morning shows that this one isn't the right one?

Just need to try and clear my head now so I'm ready for the 2pm HR interview.

It might help to make a clear list of pros and cons for each one of you're torn. Might make it easier to weigh things up more objectivity.

Just go for the most money. Get that dolla dolla and worry about working conditions later.

Good idea on writing a pro/con list. I've been weighing it all up but writing them down might be a good exercise.

Anyway, let's see if I get any offers first. I'm not superstitious but this has got to be tempting fate.

I think the HR interview went well. Even though I felt quite comfortable, it still felt like the most difficult of them all so far. It was definitely an interview to make sure that the successful candidate is going to fit in with the culture and be a good investment for the company.

There is another stage to the interviews though!

If I reach the finals, I'll be having a Teams call with the business founder and it sounds like he'll have final decision. To be honest, I'm really impressed that the founder and owner of a global business is taking the time to speak with the final candidates.

I think this is definitely the job to go for if I get an offer. I just feel so much better about it, like I feel uplifted every time I speak to them.

The Teams video feed froze again today so all I could see was a still image of my face and nothing from the other end. I really, really hope that doesn't happen if I have a call with the founder because it'll throw me off completely.

Zilnad wrote:I think the HR interview went well. Even though I felt quite comfortable, it still felt like the most difficult of them all so far. It was definitely an interview to make sure that the successful candidate is going to fit in with the culture and be a good investment for the company.

There is another stage to the interviews though!

If I reach the finals, I'll be having a Teams call with the business founder and it sounds like he'll have final decision. To be honest, I'm really impressed that the founder and owner of a global business is taking the time to speak with the final candidates.

I think this is definitely the job to go for if I get an offer. I just feel so much better about it, like I feel uplifted every time I speak to them.

The Teams video feed froze again today so all I could see was a still image of my face and nothing from the other end. I really, really hope that doesn't happen if I have a call with the founder because it'll throw me off completely.

Make sure you tell them this, be honest and enthusiastic. You can guarantee most of the other candidates won't show any enthusiasm at all.

Say something like "after our interviews I've come away feeling really positive and optimistic in a way ive not got from the other interviews I've had". Or something like that.

Thanks, Ad. I was definitely gushing with enthusiasm during the HR interview. But that's definitely a good and concise way of putting it and might be a really good talking point with the owner.

Tomous wrote:One to prepare an answer for Zilnad:

twitter.com/beetagolsh/status/1389625758319005703

Is this the test now?
Yes. You've been given an elephant, you can't give it away or sell it. What would -
What one?
What?
What elephant?
It doesn't make any difference which elephant, it's completely hypothetical.

Got sent on a training course today for good telephony behaviours.

strawberry float, that was dull. I actually felt really patronized at the end of it. I made a joke about it being like stockholm syndrome and it did not go down well at all :lol:

Winckle wrote:
Tomous wrote:One to prepare an answer for Zilnad:

twitter.com/beetagolsh/status/1389625758319005703

Is this the test now?
Yes. You've been given an elephant, you can't give it away or sell it. What would -
What one?
What?
What elephant?
It doesn't make any difference which elephant, it's completely hypothetical.

Only next week to go before work expect me back in the office immediately. I'm not going in so I just hope things go my way next week and I get a job offer. The close timing is dread inducing.

Zilnad wrote:Only next week to go before work expect me back in the office immediately. I'm not going in so I just hope things go my way next week and I get a job offer. The close timing is dread inducing.

Chin up mate, I'm really impressed by how positively you've handled this sudden multi interview drama and taking positive and constructive steps to change your situation.

Ad is right about the enthusiasm thing. It's never done me any bad to be forthright about how this experience is compared to that experience, if you feel good about a job and the the process that's means you're vibing with them (and their apparent diligence, your note about the head guy actually taking the opportunity to speak to all the late stage candidates is a very valid point) and that's perhaps the last and most important thing to HR types because they want to find their guy and having to go through another round of interviews is the worst possible outcome. Sure they want to hire the right person but that still means they want to hire someone, after all that's the point. The fitting in part is about not having to deal with dismissal or someone jacking it in super early further down the line, again that's just more work for them.

You've been really resilient in your current role so hopefully that came across in a positive light (I've been criticised for complaining in interviews in the past but they really were gooseberry fool working conditions to be fair). Good luck! And you can totally keep doing this, just think where you were not long ago feeling stuck and persecuted by your weird management.

Thanks GG, that means a lot. I've been very careful to not say a single bad word about my current employer because I've always been told it's just something you don't do.

It's going to be a long weekend as I'm desperate to find out how this is all going to go but I definitely need some R&R. Multiple interviews with multiple companies in one week has wiped me out. I've completely lost any sense of time. Yesterday's interview feels like it was a week ago.

The Work Thread 2 - Get back to work!

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