Interview 1:
I sent a CV to this commercial property company on spec, and was deluged with vague emails suggesting dates when I could come along for an interview - I’d arrange a time, and then they’d cancel it. Finally, I went along and met the mad head secretary. She spoke at a hundred miles an hour, barely drawing breath and not giving me a chance to speak at all. She wasn’t sure which position she wanted me to fill (“There’s a place in Building which you might like, but then again maybe you’d like M&E more? No, actually, thinking about it, perhaps you could work with me and help me out”). Nor could she make up her mind when she wanted me to start (“Come in on Monday for the day and see if you like it. No, I tell you what, come in for the week. Wait, no, we’ll put you on a months contract.”) Decided it was obviously too disorganised for me and turned it down, mostly because I was horribly confused by the end of the interview and still didn’t know what job was on offer. I later heard this head secretary had emailed other companies asking if any secretaries wanted to work for her - not a very professional thing to do. And you have to ask yourself, why was she so desperate to get people to work there? Even once I turned down the job, she still tried to phone me at home (fortunately, I was never there - I was at work! - so my sons took messages and told of some ‘mad woman’ who was after me).
Interview 2:
This was an accountancy firm and I was now onto the ‘new’ type interview, which is all very vague and surreal, more like a therapy session. They ask about personality, your likes and dislikes, why you liked or disliked them, and examples of when you last organised something/prioritised/delegated etc. Despite the fact that this was an accounting firm (I’m not keen on figurework), I was quite enthusiastic about this job because (a) it paid well, and (b) it offered £2.50 lunch vouchers for Philpotts every day (yes!). As always, I was relaxed and confident at the interview (perhaps a trifle over confident … after all, I’d never been turned down after an interview, it was me who always did the turning down). They turned me down and went with someone with ‘more accounting experience’. It was a huge blow to my confidence. Maybe I was getting too old to be traipsing the streets begging for work! As always, I took the view that it Wasn't Meant to Be and that Fate was telling me there was something else much better for me out there ... but where?
Interview 3:
This was for a small commercial property company and I was keen on it. The bloke who interviewed me simply wouldn’t stop talking and I could barely get a word in edgeways. He did ask at end if I had any questions, but by then I’d lost all motivation. It must have shown because I didn’t get the job (not that the agency bothered to tell me this until I chased them down 10 days later). At lunch a few days later, a girlfriend told me, “Oh, you don’t want to work there, they’re a bitchy bunch.” Phew, I consoled myself, lucky escape.
Interview 4:
My agency taunted me for months about potential vacancies at this legal company, but nothing ever materialised, so eventually I wrote to them myself including my CV. They finally (after 7 weeks) got in touch via email, attaching a list of my duties for this particular vacancy. The list was endless – its virtually stopped short of cleaning! And they weren’t paying that well. And the company didn’t have a very good reputation anyway. So I simply never replied. Its amazing what some companies expect secretaries to do!
Interview 5:
Another legal firm, but my agency assured me it would be a busy department, which I was looking for (busy, but not frantic, like at my last job - see Permanent Job No.2). The interview with two ladies (one looked more nervous than I did), went well. One of the questions (from the new ‘therapy’ type interview) was, “How would your friends describe you?” I thought for a moment, jumping between modesty and the need to sell myself. “They’d say I was funny, laid back, easy going, not prone to stress (ha!) and a hard worker.” They seemed pleased with this, and proceeded to tell me, over and over again, how busy the department was. I began to get suspicious and pushed for more information. “Just how busy is your department?” I asked. “Well,” they said hesitantly, “We do expect the secretaries to do at least (and don’t miss this bit, at least) 10 full tapes a day.” Now that’s 5 hours worth of dictating, about 7 hours of typing, per day. Even my last job wasn’t that bad, and I’d left because of the workload.
And there was more. “I smoke,” I told them honestly, “Is there a problem with that?” I always ask this because you can learn a lot from this simple question. And I always, always, get the same answer. “Oh we have a no smoking policy in the office,” (like, nobody has smoked in offices since the early 70’s). They added, “Mostly, our secretaries don’t go for cigarettes during the day because they feel guilty because they’re so busy. They have one before the come in in the morning and then wait for lunch.” Cue for me to leave. I wanted busy, I didn’t want increased stress levels and a heart attack brought on my incessant pressure … again. I turned them down. They afterwards informed my agency that they didn’t think I was quite right for the position (i.e. I wasn’t typing pool/slavery material).
Interview 6:
Sticking to what I knew best, this was a commercial property company and, again, I thought it was 'just right' for me. When I arrived, I discovered the building itself was a veritable bomb site. It was being extensively refurbished, both inside and out (which accounted for the entire building being wrapped in plastic). The lift took an age to arrive (a woman wearing a yellow jacket with DUST EXTERMINATOR written on the back went by as I waited, as well as a few burly workers). There were only 6 floors in this building, but it took forever to get to each floor and, by the time I arrived on my designated floor, I was already a few minutes late. There was one decent looking office in the whole building (even the reception looked decidedly unfinished, with wooden boards leaning against the walls and two reception desks to chose from, one brand new, the other antiquated).
The interview went well, I liked both the head secretary and the boss I would be working for, and I even took a typing test (about my 12th that month!). While I was doing the test, the phone rang at the desk I was sitting at, and I hesitated whether to pick it up or not (was it a test to see how adaptable I was?), but I resisted the urge. Afterwards (as is always the case) I heard from three separate sources that this company weren’t doing very well and were making people redundant. On the basis that I would be last in, first out - and because I couldn’t visualise me working in the middle of a building site - I turned the job down.
Interview 7:
This was a window company and, although I couldn't get too enthusiastic about windows, the location was perfect. I walked to this interview, it was that close to where I lived. It was a glorious day and the company were well within walking distance - what a change from hours of bus travel. It was a new estate surrounded by established trees, and as I arrived I could hear the birdsong all around me. What a brilliant place to work. I wanted it! I wanted it bad.
The interview went well (the girl I was replacing was all of 21, how difficult could the job be). She had her own office (fantastic!), great views, everything! Then she explained her duties; keeping an eye on the receptionist downstairs (“Have you had experience of monitoring other workers?” she asked. “No,” I replied, “But I have three sons, that’s pretty much the same.”), arranging meetings, greeting clients and tending to the needs of said clients, i.e. making coffee.
“Do you have a car?” she asked me. “No, but I have a full driving licence,” (I didn’t mention my full motorbike licence or the motorbike languishing in the shed at home, it wasn’t that kind of place). “Ah,” she said, “Only sometimes we have emergencies and I have to nip out to Safeways to get sandwiches and things for meetings.” Hmmmm, okay, so not the perfect job after all. And I would have to take a cut in salary. And it really wasn’t the type of work I was looking for (“The boss does all his own typing” – oh how I hate those words). I would have died of boredom within a month. So I turned it down. Which was disappointing, because the location was to die for.
Interview 8:
A legal company in rented offices in a big building. In fact, so big a building and so rented were the offices that there weren’t even any company signs anywhere. Very formal interview (in a room with a view over St Phillips Square, which was gorgeous) with a middle aged solicitor who owned the practice. She didn’t ask me many questions, just explained about her expansion (to St Pauls Square, also gorgeous but much too out of the way for me) and how her secretary mostly dealt with clients (“Because, obviously, its cheaper for the client to do it that way.”) Her two secretaries were leaving to start up their own sandwich business (!).
“How many work here?” I ventured to ask. “Me,” she replied, starting to count on her fingers, “My partner … and two secretaries.” Total: four. Now, I don’t mind small companies, but four is pushing it a bit. Much too claustrophobic, and what if I didn’t get on with anyone, I’d effectively dislike a quarter of the company. I turned it down. Pretending I hadn’t turned it down, they later sent me a letter turning me down.
Interview 9:
Now this is was a commercial property company I’ve always wanted to work for, ever since doing a stint as a temp three years before, which I thoroughly enjoyed (busy, but not frantic) - see Assignment 9. The job description was ‘20% audio, 20% copy, 60% formatting large tender documents’. Perfect! I went along for the interview with a young woman from HR. I did my copy typing test (it was, sods law, my Couldn’t Type For Toffee day, but I did okay), a spelling test (please!), and a formatting test (I could do it with my eyes shut). Then we had an informal chat.
I felt it was going really well, I was comfortable and felt I handled myself to my best advantage (i.e. confident because I was experienced at this type of work). The HR woman seemed really impressed. Towards the end, she said, “Well, we definitely want to see you back for a second interview, what time would suit you best tomorrow?” Now how would you interpret that? Yeah, that you had a second interview the next day. I rang my agency and told them, and went home very excited and very hopeful My dream job, at last! Worth all the waiting.
The following morning, my agency were chasing me down, saying “We haven’t heard anything about a second interview for you, so don’t go until we confirm.". I was surprised to hear this, but grinned confidently to myself … so, the young woman from HR hadn’t told them yet, it would soon be cleared up.
Later that same morning, the agency rang again. “They are second interviewing someone they’re very keen on today,” they told me, “But it’s not yourself.”
Not me! I was utterly deflated, but still believed someone had made a mistake and they would soon realise this once the allotted interview time arrived and I didn’t show up. So I stayed in during my lunch break, waiting for the phone to ring and for someone to say, “We’ve made a terrible mistake, its you they want to see after all.”
The phone didn’t ring. I slipped into a deep depression. “But she said she definitely wanted to see me for a second interview and asked what time was good for me,” I wailed at my agency. “No,” they told me, “She was just checking your availability in case you were called back for a second interview. It wasn't an appointment.” Well, it certainly sounded like an appointment to me!
I slounched around the office for the rest of the day. In fact, it quite ruined my weekend and I felt the whole thing had been handled really badly. You should never mention the words “second interview” and “definitely want to see you for” at an interview if you’ve no intention of seeing that person again. I gave my agency some stick over it and sent them emails. They wouldn’t accept my calls for a couple of days, which increased my misery no end.
Interview 10:
This was on the same day I found out about my 'mistaken' second interview (see above) and I was still pretty upset. It was an interview with the legal company I was temping for, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind for it and it was possibly one of the worst interviews I ever gave. I was quiet, didn't ask any questions, and couldn't for the life of me muster up any enthusiasm. I must have made some kind impression though (pity, perhaps?) because I was called back for a second interview (which actually happened this time!).
I already knew my two bosses (who were lovely) and the job (which I found interesting). After the interview, I walked with them back to the job I was already doing (very odd). Then I waited to hear if they wanted me or not. In the meantime, I discovered that another secretary in the firm had applied for the same position, and they were bringing in another applicant 'from the outside' to interview too, so I didn't hold out much hope. My agency suggested I "didn't put all my eggs in one basket" and began organising other interviews for me. One was in the same area where I lived ... in fact, it was 5 minutes walk from my house. I agreed to 'check it out' on Thursday of that week.
On Wednesday, I was off work sick (a real pain as 'temps' don't get paid for being ill). The legal company rang me at home and, after almost four weeks of waiting, told me I had the job. They liked me! They wanted me! "Oh that's great!" I said, pleased, but also restrained because I wanted to check out the other job. I told them I would let them know as soon as possible. They were surprised. I had been nagging them about the job and, now that they'd offered it to me, they couldn't understand why I didn't snap it up. I felt very bad.
The next day, I checked out the 'local vacancy'.
Interview 11:
I was pretty excited about this because it was so incredibly close (no more bus journeys, I kept thinking). It was only a small place dealing with council tenants, and they needed a senior secretary. I had to wait in the main office before the interview, and I felt good vibes about the place - the secretaries all chatted happily, and one of them even smiled at me. The only odd thing I noticed was there were no filing cabinets, all files were stacked up on the floor around desks and along walls.
The interview itself went very well, I felt relaxed and comfortable in front of the 'boss' I would be working for, who was a Geordie with a pretty strong accent. I bragged about my experience and my skills, and they smiled a lot. One of the questions they asked (which I'd never been asked before) was "Do you have a good sense of humour?" I replied, "I've raised three sons and worked for building surveyors ... you have to have a sense of humour to do both." Then we chatted about how close they were to my house; "I'd have no problem getting here in winter," I told them, "Even in heavy snow. I could jet ski here, or use huskies!" The Geordie boss laughed, "Yes, I think we've established that you have a sense of humour." They said they would let me know the same day, which was perfect - I could let the legal company know one way or the other.
I went home (5 whole minutes walk!) really excited. I wanted it. It was just what I was looking for, the job of my dreams - no more bus journies! Late that afternoon I rang the agency for feedback.
"They were supposed to interview three candidates today," the agency told me. "The first one wasn't suitable, but they're really keen on you. They just have one more to interview. She couldn't make it today, so they're interviewing her on Monday and, hopefully, we'll be able to let you know by Tuesday."
TUESDAY! That made everything very complicated - the legal company were waiting for my answer!
There followed a very tense few days. I went back to work at the legal company on the Friday and the atmosphere between the HR department, the head secretary and myself was almost palpable. I felt awful, but was determined to wait to hear from the other job and then make a decision. I was really torn ... big, well established company where I knew and liked the job, or a smaller place closer to home.
I drove myself mad trying to make a decision over the weekend, but couldn't.
Monday was terrible. Everyone at the legal company assumed I'd accepted the position and was now a permanent member of staff - they wanted to sort out my IT training, my induction, my telephone! I had to put them all off. My two bosses were really nice to me, obviously not having heard that nothing was 'official' yet. I rang the agency, hoping they'd have news to put me out of my misery (maybe the 'local vacancy' didn't want me after all - it would have made things so much easier). The agency hadn't heard, they would let me know tomorrow.
On Monday night, I'd had enough. I'd hardly slept for days and couldn't concentrate on anything except which job to accept. I thrashed it out with my partner, advantages and disadvantages; would I miss not working in the city close to every amenity imaginable, would I feel claustrophobic working so close to home, would I like the new job and the new people?
Finally, after hours of discussion, I decided. I felt the legal company was best for me. I knew the job and liked my bosses, and the girls I worked for were great. More benefits, more people, more everything. It was definitely the way to go.
On Tuesday morning, with huge relief, I let the legal company know. It was a bit of an anti-climax, but I was happy with my decision, I informed my agency. On Thursday, I received an email from them which read, "The feedback from [local vacancy] was very good, they felt that you had very relevant background and skills and that you would have fitted in v.well. They have now offered the vacancy to a lady interviewed on Monday with a mixture of public and private sector background but asked me to pass on their congratulations and thanks to you." So they would have offered it to me after all! But I was convinced I'd made the right decision.
Finally, I was settled. I was no longer a 'temp'. I was a Permanent Member of Staff, a Secretary for a Large Legal Company in the City.
I was happy.
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