I woke up at a very reasonable 9:45 and settled down at my desk to do some more prep work. I received some wonderful interview advice from K which I will post below for anyone to use. It was incredibly helpful! I finished my prep work around 1pm and spent two hours watching doing yoga, watching shows and reading. At 2:50 I went down into the living room to set up my office. My interview consisted of me calling the NGO from my skype account. I had jotted down some useful notes for myself in case of certain questions.
At 2:53 I called my mommy for a much needed motherly pep-talk. It worked.
At 3:02 I dialed the number for the NGO.
Riiiing. Riiiiiiiing. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing.
Other side answers. I introduce myself and ask to speak to the director.
She answers. We introduce ourselves. She tells me a little about the organization, their goals, their mandate. Then the qualifying questions.
Am I under 30?
Yes.
Am I a Canadian citizen and/or landed immigrant?
Yes.
Ok, then the harder questions... Though, to be perfectly honest, I was surprised by how simple and straightforward the interview was. I definitely offered more information than what was requested. The only "off the books" question was "What are you doing in Oxford?". JACKPOT. I was hoping they would ask me that. Answer prepared. "I'm currently working with an organization called GIFTS (Global Initiatives For Traditional Systems) of Health, researching Traditional Medicines." BAM. A few other questions that I answered easily.
And then it happened.
The epic fail.
She asked me to answer a question in Spanish.
My brain froze.
I mean, completely froze.
I stumbled over words, I mispronounced obvious words, I couldn't get a complete sentence together...
Serious epic fail. I apologized profusely, explained that I've been immersed in English for the past while...
I could see the internship flying away from me! Bye bye wonderful internship, it was nice almost meeting you!
I explained that I've traveled quite extensively in Latin America and once I am immersed in the language, it flows out very easily. She allowed me to redeem myself by asking me to answer an easier question in Spanish. BARELY redeemed myself. Awful. Embarrassingly awful.
We continued talking, I asked some good questions...
The entire interview lasted 30 minutes. Only 30 minutes. I figured that she cut it short because of my brain malfunction. I had that sinking feeling in my stomach after from the epic fail of the language centre of my brain.
"Oh well", I thought, "the interview was a good experience."
I had time to have lunch, chat with Angie, do a little GIFTS research and when I checked my email,
I had a job offer waiting for me!
My instant reaction...?
Pure terror.
Mixed with the absolute certainty that there must be a mistake.
There was no way that they were offering me a job less than three hours after interviewing.
Am I the only person who feels completely underqualified for any type of real life work?
So now, after a few hours of freaking out/shock/being on the fence... I think I've realized that my only reason for not accepting right away is that I'm scared. Terrified really. It's pretty much perfect.
OY.
Anyway, here is the advice from K. Use as needed. Rinse and Repeat.
Skills required:
With the job description, make 2 columns.
In one column you will write what you have as experience or education that is related to what they are looking for.
In the other column, if you do not have direct experience, write down why this interests you, how you would approach this task, where you would go for help, coaching, education.
Aptitudes;
- are transferrable. And relate to the personal culture of the person. At your age, very important in an interview because they want to know that you are adaptable, like learning and will not crumple at the first crisis
So if interview is a behavioural interview there will be questions regarding real experiences you have had and what skills you developed. These are not necessarily related to paying work -- your travels are quite pertinent.
As such, make another table, this time with you resume. Beside each job or education or experience (good and bad) write what aptitudes you used-developed (negotiation, active listening, team work, conflict resolution, dealing with difficult people, dealing with different cultures etc.)
Passion, energy, affinity etc
You will be a better performer if you know what motivates you.... and how to fill your life with it.
Recherche de la biochemie de la bonheur = performance with passion (in other words, a job that will be fun, no matter how difficult it is, you will do well). Just had a conferenc on all this stuff last Thursday. Emotional Intellgience. See www.isabelle fontaine.ca
SO, when they ask questions such as:
- what skills do you have related to....
- what do you like most, least...
- have you ever handled such-an-such a situation (if they do a behavioural interview)...
- what attracts you to this position
...you will be prepared.
Have a least two questions for them (NOT related to remuneration), such as
- what is the long term strategic or growth plan
- what is the work style (autonomous, micro managed....don`t say that, but you know what I mean)
- what has been the turnover, or challenges.... in the past 3 years
Actually what you want to know is:
- WHAT exactly is the mandate
- WHY (speaks to values, governance, is this regulatory, or political or what) Why would you like it...
- HOW (Do they provide the resources necessary to do the job (!)
- MONITORING tools: for example if the WHAT (objective) is not met, what happens. Are resources re-adjusted, or the objectives re-adjusted?
- etc
With the job description, make 2 columns.
In one column you will write what you have as experience or education that is related to what they are looking for.
In the other column, if you do not have direct experience, write down why this interests you, how you would approach this task, where you would go for help, coaching, education.
Aptitudes;
- are transferrable. And relate to the personal culture of the person. At your age, very important in an interview because they want to know that you are adaptable, like learning and will not crumple at the first crisis
So if interview is a behavioural interview there will be questions regarding real experiences you have had and what skills you developed. These are not necessarily related to paying work -- your travels are quite pertinent.
As such, make another table, this time with you resume. Beside each job or education or experience (good and bad) write what aptitudes you used-developed (negotiation, active listening, team work, conflict resolution, dealing with difficult people, dealing with different cultures etc.)
Passion, energy, affinity etc
You will be a better performer if you know what motivates you.... and how to fill your life with it.
Recherche de la biochemie de la bonheur = performance with passion (in other words, a job that will be fun, no matter how difficult it is, you will do well). Just had a conferenc on all this stuff last Thursday. Emotional Intellgience. See www.isabelle fontaine.ca
SO, when they ask questions such as:
- what skills do you have related to....
- what do you like most, least...
- have you ever handled such-an-such a situation (if they do a behavioural interview)...
- what attracts you to this position
...you will be prepared.
Have a least two questions for them (NOT related to remuneration), such as
- what is the long term strategic or growth plan
- what is the work style (autonomous, micro managed....don`t say that, but you know what I mean)
- what has been the turnover, or challenges.... in the past 3 years
Actually what you want to know is:
- WHAT exactly is the mandate
- WHY (speaks to values, governance, is this regulatory, or political or what) Why would you like it...
- HOW (Do they provide the resources necessary to do the job (!)
- MONITORING tools: for example if the WHAT (objective) is not met, what happens. Are resources re-adjusted, or the objectives re-adjusted?
- etc
As for the internship and organization, check out this site:
http://www.fallsbrookcentre.ca/internships
Peaaaace!
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