Understand the job specification thoroughly, including salary details
Make sure you know where the company is located and who is going to interview you
DO NOT be late – leave yourself enough time to locate the correct office
Decide on an appropriate dress code
Make sure you are 100% familiar with your CV –it is always a good idea to take a copy with you unless otherwise told
Take a pen and paper to make notes
Prepare a list of questions relating to company, job itself, career prospects,training, how long company has been established, whether company has any competitors – the more original the better
What to Expect
The first few minutes of the interview is vital; - smile, eye contact and strong handshake is always the best introduction
Posture – don’t slouch
Don’t forget this is a time to sell yourself – be positive, informative and confident
Be prepared for a formal interview with maybe more than one person – maintain eye contact with all interviewers and remember to look interested, acknowledging all of them
Be prepared – they may ask you what you know about their company and the position for which you are applying for – the better prepared you are – the more impressive
You should be ready to discuss your work history and remember to relate your experience to the position you are applying for
Give full answers – not just yes and no, giving as much relevant information as possible – but don’t waffle
Be prepared to give scenario type examples e.g. most stressful situation and how you dealt with it – remember these are opportunities to sell yourself
Emphasise your key skills and qualities – you may even be asked about weakness but remember to turn that weakness into a positive e.g. a perfectionist may be slower but will always be accurate
A popular question is “Where do you see yourself in X years’ time?” Try not to be overly ambitious when answering this question – any secret desires to be a zookeeper should be kept hidden at this stage!
Always leave on a good note – thank them for their time and let them know how interested and suited you are for the position
and remember - ENTHUSIASM CAN BE THE DECIDING FACTOR!
Before I was granted my work experience placement at Uxbridge Employment Agency, I had to call my supervisor (Lauren) and ask whether or not I would have to have an interview. Luckily Lauren said that I didn’t have to have an interview but instead wanted to discuss everything on the phone, which I was NOT prepared for! We spoke about what hours I would work, what to wear, when my lunch break was and suddenly I was no longer nervous and felt more confident about working here.When told I was going to file and photocopy – honestly, I was not enlivened. But it turned out to be the best two weeks of my life. The work ethics and characteristics of everyone are truly amazing! Laughter fills the office as well as sudden outbursts of singing every 10 seconds – all whilst getting their work completed.Proud of their 50 year heritage – they really know their clients (first and second name!), when a job comes up, “Oh! Joe Bloggs would be perfect for that job!” and are always delighted when a client gets placed. Trying their best to place everyone to their suited salary in their expertise! If you’re looking for a job – Uxbridge Employment Agency is the location to head to!Being treated so well, I am truly appreciative for the experience I had learning how to: arrange interviews, send tests, adding documents to the database, sending references. But I think the two things that will benefit me the most were observing an interview and learning how to write a proper CV. Top notch tip: Use a small font.My initial few days I was doing everyone’s FOJ’s (mostly Joanna’s) adding clients to Bond and learning my way around the computers and the unpredictable printers. As well as recognising everyone who worked there, what they do, how they work and just across the board having a laugh.My second and final week flew by so quickly, making up a total of 140 candidate packs and printing out papers for a job fair. I was also taught how to produce posters for jobs and how to televise a job onto a ...
Is your workload growing out of control? Have you fallen behind project deadlines? Have you just secured an epic order for Christmas and are worrying about having enough people in place to honour it? Is it time to breakdown OR is it time for a temp! So what makes it work?Flexibility, Scalability, Availability (basically the “bilities”) - Looking for someone to start tomorrow? Have an event or project that requires additional resource? Temporary workers allow you to quickly adapt to such situations. BREATHING SPACE!!! This must be the most desirable of options at present! In this crazy fast paced world couldn’t we all do with a bit of this! When considering recruiting for permanent staff, a fill-in temp can buy you breathing space, reducing the pressure of making a snap decision just to get a “quick fit”! Plus, your new permanent hire will also be mightily pleased that they are greeted with a pretty clear desk on arrival, the temp having kept things up to date, so they are ready from the get-go J possible even a handover!Maintaining control of costs - most hiring managers and bosses are very keen on controlling their headcount as it forms a basic control on the commitments in permanent hiring within the business. Anyone responsible for the management of personnel will shiver at the thought of committing to large headcounts without the any guarantee that their workload will be maintained. So why not lessen this load by hiring temporary workers to assist when there are spikes in workload, knowing you have the flexibility of ending bookings should the workload lessen. Try before you buy - hiring decisions are probably one of, if not, the most expensive decisions any company will make so making the right decision is vital. If you have the opportunity why not “try before you buy” and have a period of employment where your prospective team member starts by temping with you to ensure the ...
I have now come to the end of my work experience here at Uxbridge Employment, after coming in inexperienced with zero office experience, I truly feel like I have grown within this company and feel like part of their family and I am so sad to be leaving. I have loved every second of this experience from learning basic admin, using marketing tools to build on the social media, creating Easter themed drop packs to give out to clients and then to finally build up the courage and answer the phone. Seeing how passionate each and every one of the team were when they made a placement and to ring a cute little bell every single placement they make and the team celebrating together, not only genuine happiness for their candidate but how constantly supportive they were of each other.The bubbly atmosphere in this office makes every single second enjoyable; you can probably hear the constant laughter from across the road! Each and everyone bringing something extra to the table to make the days fly by – with the most common statement being said is ‘I can’t believe it’s this time already!’Some advice that I would give to anybody who is looking for work experience or just not sure what path they want to go down:1. Push yourself – I am from up north and moving to a completely new place doing something I have never done before is ever daunting however doing something out of your comfort zone will be so rewarding as you don’t know what to expect and it may be your dream place, you might make friends for a lifetime or actually figure out the direction that you want to go in. Just say yes. 2. Get as much experience as possible – Nowadays it is so difficult to stand out from the crowd, what do you have that puts you above everyone else? By dipping your feet into some hands on experience, you will have something that bit extra to add to your CV and take the experience head on and you might surprise yourself with your abilities!To summarise my 3 weeks here, I ...
As a student the hardest part of my short journey is ‘how to gain experience without experience?’ To rewind to the beginning of my process I will start by mentioning a bit about myself. I’m Ellie, I’m 19 and I’m doing an International Hospitality and Design degree in Switzerland. The second part of my semester is a work placement. As this degree is fairly broad I was most interested in the sales and marketing segment and wanted to explore this further! My friends and I found it incredibly difficult to find work experiences or placements which offered this position with students who did not have relevant experience in this area! I have been interested and had heard of recruitment before and it had sparked up a conversation time to time about how this is an industry which involves working from a lot of different angles! Within a few hours of my first day at Uxbridge Employment I could see this was clearly true as I have been involved with everything from sales support, advertising and PA work. So I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to explore different departments to see which really suited me the best! I was very lucky and had a friend who knew Charles the MD of UEA and was able to get me in contact and was able to have a phone interview, to then be shortly followed by a Skype interview with Lauren who was able to run through everything with me and to be able to put an active plan into place to gain constructive experience which would be most beneficial!I was so nervous and apprehensive to walk into the office and to imprint a good first impression on everyone, as I’ve never worked in an office it made it evermore nerve-wracking! But immediately I was made to feel at home and welcomed into the team. My first impression of the office was that it was very fast paced; a constant sense of excitement and a fabulous close knit team! One thing which I kept telling myself is not to be shy, smile and listen. There are a million and one ...
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