Hi folks just thought I’d update you on progress etc.
Applied for three Grade 2 roles in Cumbria back in March, passed all the tests and initial sifts etc, was unsuccessful for two of the three roles (they were both at the same location).
Then two weeks ago I got a phone call inviting me to interview as part of their final six candidates - was interviewed over the internet last Thursday and received my unsuccessful letter a few minutes ago. Oh well. Pleased to have got down to the final few, considering the sheer volume of applicants, so that’s a positive sign.
I do however feel the interview situation was made needlessly difficult by the use of Microsoft Teams, a notoriously buggy software (I’ve used Zoom and Skype this whole lockdown at my current job and both have been very good, Teams not so much) - the manager who sat in the interview with the LOM was in a different location and their connection kept scrambling which was very distracting. So a heads up to anyone doing a remote interview to make sure you let them know if it’s causing you an issue, as it can’t be said 100% that every candidate experiences the same disadvantage, so is currently a flaw in an otherwise extremely thorough and fair application process.
Also, the nature of the interview being conducted like that means you may be more likely to talk too much (I certainly think I did) because you can’t read their body language in the same way to gauge whether to expand, but this will be the same for every candidate.
Anyway for my first experience of such a thorough “off the shelf” interview process I think I did okay! Certainly a useful exercise and the main thing I’ve learned from going through the various stages is this:
Don’t be put off if you haven’t been in the police/fire service/forces etc as even though I have spent 50% of my career in teaching and 50% in manufacturing, only recently with any managerial responsibilities, the examples I gave for my pre-screening questions were obviously good enough to get me to the last few candidates, so if you’re doubting your experience don’t - give it a shot anyway.