Good Evening My Dears,
The sun seems to want to shine in Edinburgh just when I am considering another post. Thankfully, the time difference makes it possible to both blog and enjoy the outdoors. When last I wrote, I had shortlisted for a second interview with Black Rock. I had that second interview and was hopeful about my prospects, until I was told that "my interview was perfect but they interviewers felt that I would get bored very quickly." Oh, and they thought I was overqualified for the position. What? Well, needless to say, I had a polite earful for the person at the agency that got me the interview. First of all, I don't believe that it is possible to get bored with a job that is only supposed to last for three months. Secondly, in a market such as this one, where the jobs are few and far between, there is NO SUCH THING as overqualified. In fact, I just moved to a new country where I am unfamiliar with the accounting systems used. So I fully expect to be applying for jobs that some might consider not advanced enough, but let's face it people, I spent the last year and a half in retail management. And if I were to be honest, I really was an assistant manager, if not an assistant assistant manager. Overqualified? Not bloody likely.
However, I had two interviews last week and one, perhaps two this week. Interview number one last week was for a company called Business Stream, a division of Scottish Water that provides water to corporate customers. I got to the interview 10 minutes early and was told to have a seat in the most unwelcoming reception area I have ever come across. Needless to say, I sat my backside down on a padded stool-type object and waited for 25 minutes before anyone even came to talk to me. I then sat for another 10 minutes as the interview room was prepared. I walked into the room and was confronted by Macbeth's three witches...I mean, the interviewers. It has been my luck that I have met my interviewers anonymously at a couple of my interviews in the ladies' loo. So it proved again. One of the witches (interviewers) was a woman who seemed perfectly nice when I ran into her in the loo and we exchanged polite hellos and nods. Nice didn't last long, however. I was subjected to a competency interview. The questions run something like "Describe a situation in which you...what actions did you take...what was the result?". Now to be fair, I knew what I was in for and prepared accordingly. Based on a prep sheet I got from the agency, I began to write down situations to match the job spec that I got from the agency. There were four essential qualities and one desirable quality listed so I wrote down two examples for each for each requirement. I walk into the interview expecting that it would be about forty minutes. It wasn't, the witches had a book of spells, I mean interview questionnaire, that was, no lie, 15 pages long. For an Accounts Receivable Assistant position. Can we say nightmare? I tried my best with the questions and the hostile vibes from the three women and completed the interview, only to proceed to that most dreaded of accounting job horrors, the excel test. Turns out, scarily enough, that was the easiest bit of the interview. I hightailed it out of there and the second thing I did, (the first being change out of the stilettos) was call the agency and give Business Stream, the worst review ever. I told the agent that just as they interview candidates, the candidates need to feel that the company is a good place to work. That didn't come across for Business Stream.
In contrast, I had what I thought was a fabulous interview with a company called EAC, an English language school that needs temp help through August. The girls were in their mid twenties and it felt much more easy. Also, the location was right in the city center. No word on either of those interviews, but am hopeful for the EAC interview at least.
Yesterday, I went to Glasgow with my friend Sabrina. I have been infected with the anti-Glasgow bug since I moved, and yesterday I was proved right. It isn't that there is anything wrong with Glasgow per se, but Edinburgh is a much more picturesque and charming city. One thing that Glasgow has that Edinburgh lacks is absolutely brilliant shopping. Oh, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the architect who pioneered the Glasgow Style of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century which is heavily Art Nouveau. We went to the Willow Tea Rooms that he designed and had lunch. It is a lovely airy building with lots of stark clean lines and beveled glass. Then we wandered aimlessly through the shops of Glasgow and looked at The Buchanan Tearooms and the Daily Record Building, two other Mackintosh creations. The Daily Record building was memorable because it was damn difficult to find, being tucked away in an alley that must have done duty as a drainage ditch in the 18th Century. I did not go to the museums or the other Mackintosh sights as I wanted to save them for my sister since she like Mackintosh as well.
Right, that is all she wrote, folks.
Next Up: An interview or two and the US comes a-callin'.
Cheerio for now,
Tina
The sun seems to want to shine in Edinburgh just when I am considering another post. Thankfully, the time difference makes it possible to both blog and enjoy the outdoors. When last I wrote, I had shortlisted for a second interview with Black Rock. I had that second interview and was hopeful about my prospects, until I was told that "my interview was perfect but they interviewers felt that I would get bored very quickly." Oh, and they thought I was overqualified for the position. What? Well, needless to say, I had a polite earful for the person at the agency that got me the interview. First of all, I don't believe that it is possible to get bored with a job that is only supposed to last for three months. Secondly, in a market such as this one, where the jobs are few and far between, there is NO SUCH THING as overqualified. In fact, I just moved to a new country where I am unfamiliar with the accounting systems used. So I fully expect to be applying for jobs that some might consider not advanced enough, but let's face it people, I spent the last year and a half in retail management. And if I were to be honest, I really was an assistant manager, if not an assistant assistant manager. Overqualified? Not bloody likely.
However, I had two interviews last week and one, perhaps two this week. Interview number one last week was for a company called Business Stream, a division of Scottish Water that provides water to corporate customers. I got to the interview 10 minutes early and was told to have a seat in the most unwelcoming reception area I have ever come across. Needless to say, I sat my backside down on a padded stool-type object and waited for 25 minutes before anyone even came to talk to me. I then sat for another 10 minutes as the interview room was prepared. I walked into the room and was confronted by Macbeth's three witches...I mean, the interviewers. It has been my luck that I have met my interviewers anonymously at a couple of my interviews in the ladies' loo. So it proved again. One of the witches (interviewers) was a woman who seemed perfectly nice when I ran into her in the loo and we exchanged polite hellos and nods. Nice didn't last long, however. I was subjected to a competency interview. The questions run something like "Describe a situation in which you...what actions did you take...what was the result?". Now to be fair, I knew what I was in for and prepared accordingly. Based on a prep sheet I got from the agency, I began to write down situations to match the job spec that I got from the agency. There were four essential qualities and one desirable quality listed so I wrote down two examples for each for each requirement. I walk into the interview expecting that it would be about forty minutes. It wasn't, the witches had a book of spells, I mean interview questionnaire, that was, no lie, 15 pages long. For an Accounts Receivable Assistant position. Can we say nightmare? I tried my best with the questions and the hostile vibes from the three women and completed the interview, only to proceed to that most dreaded of accounting job horrors, the excel test. Turns out, scarily enough, that was the easiest bit of the interview. I hightailed it out of there and the second thing I did, (the first being change out of the stilettos) was call the agency and give Business Stream, the worst review ever. I told the agent that just as they interview candidates, the candidates need to feel that the company is a good place to work. That didn't come across for Business Stream.
In contrast, I had what I thought was a fabulous interview with a company called EAC, an English language school that needs temp help through August. The girls were in their mid twenties and it felt much more easy. Also, the location was right in the city center. No word on either of those interviews, but am hopeful for the EAC interview at least.
Yesterday, I went to Glasgow with my friend Sabrina. I have been infected with the anti-Glasgow bug since I moved, and yesterday I was proved right. It isn't that there is anything wrong with Glasgow per se, but Edinburgh is a much more picturesque and charming city. One thing that Glasgow has that Edinburgh lacks is absolutely brilliant shopping. Oh, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the architect who pioneered the Glasgow Style of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century which is heavily Art Nouveau. We went to the Willow Tea Rooms that he designed and had lunch. It is a lovely airy building with lots of stark clean lines and beveled glass. Then we wandered aimlessly through the shops of Glasgow and looked at The Buchanan Tearooms and the Daily Record Building, two other Mackintosh creations. The Daily Record building was memorable because it was damn difficult to find, being tucked away in an alley that must have done duty as a drainage ditch in the 18th Century. I did not go to the museums or the other Mackintosh sights as I wanted to save them for my sister since she like Mackintosh as well.
Right, that is all she wrote, folks.
Next Up: An interview or two and the US comes a-callin'.
Cheerio for now,
Tina
Tea you say? Sounds delightful!
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