Thing 21

Odd One Out by c.a.muller on Flickr (made
 available under the Creative Commons licence)

Identifying your strengths; capitalising on your interests

Coming from an IT background into librarianship I believe that my computing skills are not only one of my strengths but something in my current job role that I find really interesting and am always keen to develop. 

I really enjoy working with others both colleagues and users and like my friend  Boundtounravel  I also enjoy a bit of detective work and get a lot of personal satisfaction out of helping students to search for information (although sometimes I think that a crystal ball might be useful). I like challenges and being given the opportunity to try something new, but have to confess that I find repetitive tasks boring (I suspect that this is because I find them lacking in challenge).

Outside of work reading is one of my biggest interests (surprise, surprise) and socialising with friends.I also spend a lot of time in theatres, both amateur and professional. Not only as an audience member but also as a Front of House volunteer, which links back to my "working with others"  interest mentioned above.

Applying for a job 

I have to confess that I am really bad at keeping my CV current, probably because I was required to complete an application form for my last three jobs. However I do agree that with the comment made in the post for this "Thing" that "a CV is a living thing" and I really like the idea of using Evernote to keep details of the courses and conferences that  I have attended, even if only to transfer the information into an application form!!

Interview tips 

Having read a number of the other posts for this "Thing" I feel that all the tips that I could offer from the perspective of an interviewee have already stated.

So having recently been "on the other side of the interview table" so to speak I thought that it might be a useful to offer a couple of tips from the perspective of the interviewer:

1. Do your homework. Find out as much as you can about your prospective employer. As well as looking at organisational websites remember to check out local newspapers (most now have an online archive)  for any information that could be useful in the interview. If possible why not even visit the organisation in advance to get a realistic feel for the workplace. Remember that everyone is on their best behaviour during interviews, not just the interviewee!
2. Remember for which job you are being interviewed, especially if you have a number of applications on the go at the same time. This may sound a bit stupid but I recently interviewed a candidate who spent the entire interview taking about how much she wanted to work in an HE institution, which is fine expect that the interview was for a job in an FE college!