May 20, 2016
Like anyone finishing university it is always hard finding your first job and many, including myself, jump at the first job that comes their way.
As a result, a lot of creative, intelligent people end up in the wrong job – in my case it was recruitment. No matter how much I tried to perform my role as per my manager’s instructions, I would always experiment and bend the rules. I even took on the extra role of managing my old company’s social media platforms. Why did I do this? Because at heart, I didn’t want to be a recruitment consultant.
It took me a year to figure it out and finally make the plunge and apply for a role that was right for me. I wouldn’t like to count the hours I spent applying for roles, making sure each one was as personal as the next and rarely getting a callback. But if I calculate the engagement rate, in this instance CVs sent divided by callbacks, it would be lower than 1%.
It’s disheartening and sometimes you ask yourself “What’s the point?” but luckily for me that 1% just happened to be my current employer Immediate Future.
So I get my job interview for my dream role at an agency I knew very little about, with no industry experience. What did I do? I researched and researched until I knew enough to hold myself in an interview with @ColinJacobs, someone who knows their way around social and digital.
The day before the interview I was determined to impress, so went out and spent £300 on a new suit for the interview, something I would later regret and to this day still regret. I thought of everything I had done professionally and personally, roleplaying in my head what I thought they would say and what would be my comeback.
Then it’s interview day and I’m nervous as hell, but I’m looking good (or so I think). I have a last look at my notes and head to Kingston, still roleplaying my answers in my head. Following the guidance of google maps, I walk to the building I think is the correct office; to find out I am completely wrong. After having a minor meltdown I pluck up the courage to call the office and admit I was lost, immediately putting me on the back foot entering the interview.
By this point, I was already late and as you will learn in agency life, time is a rare commodity. The wait in the guest room was probably the longest 10 minutes of my life and I will never forget looking into the board room at @Katyhowell and @ColinJacobs discussing business, thinking I have really screwed this up.
By the time I entered the boardroom all my preparation evaporated as I stressed about being late. I gunned through the interview answering all the questions as best I could, with one goal in mind, to find as much as I could about the interviewer and the company, so I could make a data-driven decision.
When choosing a role it’s important to remember that you are an investment for them and they’re an investment for you. You should ask as many questions about the role, employees, and company as possible; to make sure you are making the right choice.
I left the interview feeling excited and nervous, knowing that Immediate Future was the place I wanted to be.
What did I learn from this experience?
- Never stay in a role that isn’t right for you, it’s soul destroying
- Be confident in what you know and never be scared to be wrong or walk into the unknown
- If you’re passionate about something it will always show, but make sure you have examples
- Always know the exact location of your job interview
- Don’t wear a turquoise suit to a job interview at a digital agency (it’s still brought up today)
To be continued…