[Sandy]

Not for me but hubby, he is currently in work for an agency and is doing very very well BUT, as will all agency posts they can end suddenly, we both have years of experience with agency and i still work for one so do not need interview skills anymore, trouble is, so many people are being interviewed for so few jobs, my husband has an added problem that's labelled Dyslexia, I say that as it can effect different people in different ways but its basically his translation techniques, he spells much better than me but finds it hard to understand questions etc and will often take the wrong meaning....I keep saying he should explain his dyslexia at the start of an interview but also worry it will put people off, its fine saying equal rights but just how equal are they? 

SO, any any help would be great, I think he should have a short explanation of how he is effected and how he copes and compensates for his disability...I worry so much as he hates going to interviews as he looses his days wage and puts so much effort into them!!!!!

[Bionic]

Until I took early retirement last Sept I was a manager in an Investment bank (sorry peeps) and used to do quite a lot of interviewing.
I do believe that your husband should be honest but I wouldn't blurt it out at the begining of the interview.  Let them warm to him and see his merits first.
What I would be interested in is his ability to do the job and what he knows about the company he is applying for i.e. has he done his 'homework'
Previously I asked people what our company did and I have had someone say banking. Well erm.... yes
I worked in Foreign Exchange and its surprising how many coming for an interview didn't have a clue what it was. If they have done some homework then to me it shows they are keen.

I hope this helps
Sally

[Smalltime]

Honesty is definately the best policy. I would be ready with evidence to demonstrate how I had overcome any difficulties that I had encountered over my career that were due to my dyslexia. In fact, my advice is just be ready with examples for everything, the world has gone evidence-based and tick-box mad when it comes to interviews. It may as well be a machine interviewing you, not a person, but thats life now. Good luck! 

[Norfolk Newby]

I can't claim to be particularly good at interviews but have had a lot!

Investigate all companies using the internet before going for an interview. If the job looks really attractive, do it before writing as you might want to adopt a particular writing style and content depending on what you find. Look for news on recent changes or expansion plans (or closures!) so that you have a picture of the business, places where it is based etc. All this is to understand the business and have something to talk about to show awareness when asked.

This may also cause you to have queries regarding the business and your role in it. A list of questions again shows preparation. It also avoids finding out later that the job has drawbacks like only being allowed to take a holiday when it suits them rather than you. In my opinion the more questions the better. You just have to be judicious when deciding which to ask. Some may seem trivial at the time.

Thirdly, practice before the real thing. Get a friend or partner to take the part of the interviewer. Discuss how the interview goes afterwards to see what changes you might adopt on the day.

It also helps to know in advance what to wear. Wearing a suit may be as inappropriate as wearing jeans and a T-shirt. If in doubt just phone in advance and ask. This avoids embarrassment on both sides.

Always arrive at least half an hour early so that you can relax with a cup of tea/coffee before the interview. Turning up late or out of breath is a bad start. If delayed, phone ahead and apologise. Never just arrive late without phoning even if this increases the delay. Obviously, this means having a contact number handy when you leave home.

If the job depends on papers like exam certificates, examples of reports etc. or letters of recommendation, make a folder with some clear pocket document holders. You can get these from somewhere like Staples or one of the on-line office supply places. This keeps these important papers tidy and together.

Don't be upset if the first interview fails. Consider it a dry run for the next (which is going to succeed!!).

[Sandy]

Thanks,  I obviously do not go to my hubby's interviews but I remember one asking if he had much experience with teenagers, it was for a role in Barnado's, he only mentioned one job with NCH and when he came out,  I said  "but you were a youth worker for years and blah blah blah " as well he lived with me and looking after foster children who were teenagers...he never mentioned any of that but worse was when out on a walk some one mention CVS and my hubby said he did that and when the other person mentioned an award scheme, my hubby said he got that for working with young teenage homeless in London, now that was the first I had heard and I have been with him for 19 years!! that's what I mean...he only answers stuff he has learnt from the job details and does his research but ignores or forgets stuff from the past or his skills etc, that's his major problem, ask him about holidays, Christmas's etc etc and he says he cannot remember.....he can research stuff and ask questions but when it comes to memories he has great difficulties, I used to have memories at the front of my head ready, maybe that's what I shall do with him tonight, practice, some interviews are very different so who knows!!!! I do feel for him!!

[smallholder in the city]

Practice and prepare you can never do too much of either. we get anxious because we worry that we're not prepared/going to mess up if you've prepared/ practised you can challenge any negative anxious thoughts by reminding yourself how much preparation you've done. If you can get hold of a video camera tape yourself answering questions so you can see what your body language is like.

Work out what yourUSP (unique selling point) is for the job in question, what have you got that's different and then make sure you mention it/highlight it

It doesn't work for everyone but pretending that you are the person who already has the job can help.Don't think how would I answer that think how would the person who has been given the job answer it. 

And smile when you go into the interview ( nerves stop people from smiling and making eye contact which makes you look unfriendly)

[Sandy]

Well, we had the chat and neither of us are nervouse at interviews, he reads loads about a job and always has questions ready, I asked  him to have some "examples" but he got mad and said, I cannot remember anything else, thats the difference, I take a lot to read and remember the facts but he can read the facts and remember if its not too far in advance but I have tons of examples of my work and past sucsesses and know my weakness and strenghs, however, he finds that hard!! Fingers crossed, there are soooo many after jobs and he hates to tell people he has dyslexia, he worked with a chap years ago who used to tell him off for asking questions (I do that too) thats all part of his dyslexia, once he gets what he has to do he is great!!!!!! as I said,,,fingers crossed and big THANKS!!

[Lesley Silvester]

I wish him luck.

[doganjo]

Good luck, Steve - it's always hard to do interviews.  I was lucky and rarely had to do many - seemed to be taken from one job to another (head hunted), but I remember one interview where Managing director asked me something about employment law, and my reply was " I don't know every word in the dictionary, but I know where the dictionary is kept"  he guffawed and I got the job on the spot event hough3 more folk were waiting outside!
Keep calm, he'll be fine.

[Lesley Silvester]

Love this story, Annie.  A friend of mine recently had an interview where she had to give a 10 minute presentation on some aspect of commercial law (she's a solicitor).  She got the job and was told that she was the only person who stuck to the 10 minute guideline and didn't try to cram too much info in.

[Sandy]

We both used to go into jobs without much effort in Leices, but since we have been here and the current climate its been harder.....there are soo many people after the jobs so you have to be perfect!

[Ina]

I can't claim to be particularly good at interviews but have had a lot!

Ditto!

What you can't prepare for are the prejudices your interviewers come armed with. I am sure that part of why I've not been able to get any decent jobs over the past 5 years is the fact that I am too fat and in my 50s. Of course, nobody would admit that, if you asked them - it's against the law -  which is why I don't ask for feedback after an interview, either; feedback from one set of interviewers doesn't help you get it right with the next set, as they might have entirely different prejudices. I have excellent references, answer all the questions in a way that shows I know what I'm on about, but younger and fitter looking (not necessarily fitter!) people get the jobs.

My pet hate are requests like "give us an example where you worked in a team". They've all been to the training courses on interview techniques and have been told that is what they must ask... I tend to say nowadays - I have worked in teams for the past 50 years, starting with my family, and if you want to know whether I am a good team worker, you'd be better off asking my former colleagues. Anybody "who's done their homework" expects this question, and has a suitable answer ready; I have worked with a lot of people who thought they were excellent team workers, but who's idea of team work was - they told the others what to do, and the others did it... (Not my idea of team work, needless to say!) And then I give a "proper" answer, just to show that I've done my homework. Something not necessarily of my real experience, but something that shows I understand what they are looking for.

Oh, and questions about your communication skills are standard these days, too. Same problem. Lots of people, especially managers, supervisors etc think their communication skills are great if they stick to the "need to know" rule: they decide what we need to know, and then they might tell us. Question usually goes like "where in the past did you use your communication skills to good effect" - and I'm always tempted to say - "well, I'm communicating with you just now, aren't I". I find it really difficult to answer this in a way that interviewers might find "right". Does anybody here have an idea?

Oh, and btw, the more I prepare for an interview the worse I feel about it. I am regularly sick with it (which also doesn't help if you always look at interview as if you'd made a night of it!). The only job I did get was one that I didn't really care about - only a Saturday job, badly paid and not my line of work; so I was relaxed at the interview, and that obviously showed. I also have a full time job now, and I kind of slid into that - it was casual at first, without a proper interview. As soon as people see me working, they tend to want to hang on to me (although this is also not a job I really want to do). Anyway, the job is still temporary, so I have to keep looking. Not much hope now at my age...

[Lesley Silvester]

You try being sixty and looking for work.  And I know they are not allowed to ask your age on forms any more but I left school in 1968.  It's pretty obvious I'm not in my thirties.

[Sandy]

Its funny as I am 60 soon and still get offered a lot of jobs but I cannot do them due to all sorts of reasons. 

I am so cynical now, I know a lot of managers who know what to say but are crap   poor at their job, they have a lot of confidence and can remember policies and procedures and know the correct terms, I had a very bad boss once, told this story soooooo many times, the funny thing is I was in an agency post at the time and loved the agency role but it was coming to the end so my boss told me to apply for a similar role with a project for disabled children, my team leader who was wonderful and clever also was asked to apply for the manager role, she did but her husband actually forgot to post the application, I got the job and the manager was some one who was in another job and for some reason they re deployed her, I can now understand why!!!  She was a nightmare and thought the only way to be a manager was to tell people off all the time.....I held my own while all the others in the team were cracking up, we all 4 of us were after other jobs, only one who was sweet stuck the job, I walked out t eventually due to her and my 2 colleges both left, one took her to a tribunal, she had a mini breakdown and was previously a policewomen and now high up in the job she got after leaving said job. The punch line of this is, I could not take my leaving any further as the man who ran the project was very clever and high up in Social Services so my work record would have been tainted, so, when asked in an interview how would you deal with colleges like that you would have to say go down the correct procedure but I know that's total rubbish in big organisations, you just get a bad name...buy the way the manager eventually got the sack but in these times its very hard to sack anyone, i had a long list of evidence I gave to the project leader and he did nothing, that particular women was dangerous...... 
Ironicaly I went back into the job I had previousely as an agency worker until another job I had was ready for me to start.  We used to be able to ring teams in Leics and walk from one job to another, admittidly agency although they often led to full time per posts, one was a lovley job but I had to refuse it due to the very low pay!!

Well, basiclay people who say the write words and look the part get the job!!!!  If anyone is looking into finding jobs a good idea is to stalk the workers on the job and see who and what they do all day...... ::)maybe not!!

[YorkshireLass]

Good luck, I hate interviews!

Another little practical tip is to go to the loo beforehand! You can also wash sweaty palms or warm up cold fingers ready for the crucial first handshake

Can he take a bullet-pointed "CV" in with him with his awards etc, to refer to? This could then be an example of working around his difficulties...?