So to get back into the swing of posting again, this week, I
have decided to describe my journey from handing in my application to securing
a job offer at IPC Media. In a few weeks, I’ll be going into more detail in
regards to tips. My description of each of the 7 days should give you an
accurate understanding of what I undertook and will shed light on why I was
ultimately successful.
The other day I read an article on the Guardian Careers blog regarding a graduate whom managed to gain her
first job after 10 or so months, after completing relevant work experience.
From what she was saying she feels as lucky as can be, and it really makes me think
how extremely lucky I am.
Before you make any negative judgements about my quick success
– e.g. I only got the job because I had contacts – I had NO contacts at IPC and
no contacts that helped me get the job. However the bribes worked (kidding!).
Anyway, this is why I believe that it’s not all about contacts, and others
(like me) are fully capable of securing a job before graduation.
So, let me take you back to three weeks ago. At this point I
had started applying for jobs and had secured zero interviews – to be honest I
was getting worried. I had always had in the back of my mind the thought that
it would be simple for me to get a job considering the wealth of experience I
had already attained. Like other graduates, I found myself resentful at the
amount of internships companies were offering with very little of them paid,
and certainly never paid well. The applications that I did make were to well-known
large companies and obviously the most competitive vacancies. One application I
sent out was to a company that I had already done multiple placements with, I
had all the experience necessary, but I didn’t even get an interview – that was
certainly a shocker.
For each application, I made sure that I tailored every
single one to the job vacancy. To be honest after 2-3 weeks of applying for jobs
(on average I’m sure that this is a very short period of time), but I was
already feeling concerned about whether I would get a job at all in the publishing
sector. I had even set myself a ‘cut off’ date, so after x amount of months I
would give up on publishing and try other routes – e.g. a PA. However, this
outlook changed as less than 2 weeks before I went on holiday I saw a job
advertised on the IPC Media twitter page. I immediately emailed to ask for a
job description.
Day 1 (2 hours*) The
next day I received the job description and started to write my cover letter
and CV (of course tailoring it to IPC and the job description). Within 10
minutes of sending through my email application I got an email back from HR
offering me an interview. I couldn’t believe how quick they had got back. After
receiving this pleasing news I decided to start my preparation. This involved
what I was going to prepare for the interview and when. My interview was
scheduled for Day 5 so I really had
4 days to prepare myself. On this day, I as well did some casual internet
research, but really, I was just collecting my thoughts for a plan of action.
Day 2 (3 hours*) This
day was spent going onto the company website, firstly, to find out about IPC
Media as a company, and secondly the magazine itself. I extended my research to
their press office, which I always find useful in preparation as you can
research accurate facts and figures – e.g. the success of the brands etc. I
spent about 4 hours on this research and printed out my findings to create a
pack for myself. These were all complied into a folder that I would then take
with me to the interview in case I needed a point of reference. I also bought
the magazine so that I was familiar with it.
Day 3 (8 hours*) I
spent more time doing website research for the magazine, the magazine’s website
and the Editor. The more I knew, the better I could perform in the interview
(I’ll do a blog post on this at a later date). The rest of the day I spent
collating a document of all the possible interview questions. This would range
from the standard questions like ‘What is your weakness?’ to other killer
questions such as ‘If you were an animal what would you be?’ Once I had these
questions (I had 8 pages worth) I compiled my answers.
What I began to notice is that the scenario/behavioural type
questions would require situations to reference. In this instance, I complied a
document that included about 5 situations I had been in that represented
different skills – e.g. paying attention to detail and showing initiative. Once
I had these situations in my mind, I was able to link them to questions better.
Some of the readers may remember a link I had advertised in one of my blog
posts, which was basically 50 interview questions with tips on how you should
answer them. Websites like these are certainly useful to read whilst preparing.
Day 4 (8 hours*) This
is really the last day that I was able to prepare for the interview as it was
in the morning on Day 5. Therefore,
with my questions and answers, and the research pack I created, I then started
to look back through all the pages to make sure I was familiar with it all.
Again I turned to internet research because there is never too much research
you can do - as long as you remember it and learn from it - it is always
useful. As well I researched my interviewer and any suspected other
interviewers (I suspected there would be two the HR person who contacted me).
This extra research helped me to create my own interview questions for them.
On all the days listed above, I did small bursts of research
on my iPhone, which includes podcasts on the Guardian Careers site. Just before
I went to sleep I would listen to a couple of their interview podcasts to gain
any other general interview tips. In my previous post – The Graduate Jobseeker:Where do I start? -
I have supplied links.
Anyway, that is it for now. Next week I will continue with
days 5 to 8.
*hours stated give a rough estimate to how many hours
preparation I did per day.
Please use the comments box below to post any questions or
responses.
Intern opportunities will recommence this Tuesday!
(03/07/2012)
No comments:
Post a Comment