Job interview. The dreaded two words. What will I wear to look professional? But not too professional, I still want to show I’m a cool trendy person. What if they ask that stereotypical tell me about yourself question? What is relevant to tell an employer? Can I call going to gigs a hobby? After attending 38 last year I’d say that’s definitely hobby status. However, does my future employer really want to know this about me?
Job interviews are hard and I’m a chatty person who doesn’t mind speaking in front of others. However, once you add the pressure of the professionalism and a job being on the line, even I get nervous and worry I’ll choke on my words.
In February, my classmates and I took part in simulated interviews to help us prepare for the not so distant future of graduating university and searching for a job. (Scary!) In this post I’m going to be reflecting on my experience during the stimulated interviews using Bound et al’s Model of Reflection. This model looks at the experience, reflecting on the situation and consequently the learning outcomes.
Experience
The experience element of Bound et al’s Reflective model relates to behaviour, ideas and feelings.
To prepare for the interview day we had been asked to research a job we would like to apply for. This part really excited me! I knew straight away I wanted to look at radio roles as through my involvement in Queens Radio I have gained a real passion for radio presenting and producing content for social media platforms. As Head of Music at the station I’ve gained vital experience in on-air broadcasting along with interviewing local artists. The image bellow is a behind the scenes shot of me interviewing local musician Lauren Ann as part of a series of TikToks and reels highlighting the talent in Belfast. I love working with smaller musicians and helping give them a platform to find new fans so making this a career would be very rewarding for me.
I found what could possibly be a dream job for me! A social media and video content producer for Global in Glasgow, Scotland. Not only would this job fulfil my love of music and social media but also my love for Scotland. Yes, you did read that right! Ever since I went to a Gerry Cinnamon gig at Hampden Park in Glasgow in 2022, I have been obsessed with the country. This job certainly triggered an excitement in me, all of my interests blending into the one role.
“Preparation is everything, whether you are applying for a job or work experience. Know your local radio and TV station and study their websites in detail. Be familiar with the output and the style. Know about the area – its industry, people, politics and stories.” (Alexander and Stewart, 12-13).
Of course, not living in Scotland I felt it was crucial I was able to provide in depth knowledge of the Glasgow music scene and culture at any relevant opportunity in my interview. I researched what kind of content Global’s stations in Glasgow were already posting on their socials and searching for a gap in their current content.
Having previous experience in job interviews for retail jobs I have become very comfortable using the STAR technique. STAR stands for situation, task, action and results and through using the STAR techniques you can ensure your answers are coherent and structured. I find this method helps me gather my thoughts in my head before I attempt to communicate them.
Reflection
“People are often far more employable than they first realise. It is quite difficult to assess how employable you really are unless you spend a bit of time thinking about your past experiences. Most of us just don’t do this, unless we have to”. (Gregory, 40)
Reflecting on the simulated interviews I feel I could have talked more of my experiences relevant to the role. My only piece of negative feedback was I described more of my interests than experience and I think this was as Gregory suggests I didn’t consider how employable and relevant my experiences are. I could have brought up an interview I did with Tom Walker who is a Scottish singer songwriter who has millions of monthly listeners. This would have been relevant to the Global job as Tom is Scottish, so a local talent and it shows my ability to work with well-known personalities.
However, I was pleased that the interviewing panel commented on my knowledge of the role and company.
“Strong knowledge of job and company – good research and strong projection of what job consists of.”
In my answers I included things like TRNSMT festival and how important it is for creating content both with bands and artists performing but also with the crowd. I talked about videos like finish the lyric challenges and an idea I had about showing audiences how to buy sustainable festival outfits. DF Concerts the promotor for TRNSMT last year had a partnership with Zero Waste Scotland at the festival to inform concert goers of how they can help to reduce their impact on the planet. I discussed how it would be beneficial for Global to collaborate with the important meaning of shopping second hand but also how popular it currently is on social media sites like TikTok.
“Connect your answers back to your skills and accomplishments. With any question you answer, it is important that you connect your background to that job by supplying examples of solutions and results you’ve achieved. Use every chance to deal with the requirements listed in the job description.” (Foresight)
I used Foresight’s advice effectively in my interview as in the preparation stages of the stimulated interview I ensured I was familiar with what it was exactly that the employers were looking for in the ideal candidate. Something I’ve always been scared of when looking at job specifications is the experience segment. I’ve always thought how I could possibly have relevant experience as a student when I could be going up for a job against someone who’s been in the industry for years. However, through the simulated interview process I was forced to reflect on the work I’ve done in the past and found I actually do have relevant experience as simple as my own TikTok page.
When the interviewing panel opened with the question, “Tell us about your TikTok account, the content you create and how you’ve grown your platform?” I’ll admit I was quite startled. I never really consider my account anything other than an account on the app like the millions of other users. However, after a depth breathe and a scroll down my page in my head, I was able to navigate this question with confidence (fake it to you make it, right?). I told the panel of a recent successful video I created to Noah Kahan’s song ‘Homesick’ featuring Sam Fender. Sam Fender’s verse is all about where he grew up in Newcastle and at the time when the song was released a trend on TikTok was to ‘define you had to be there to experience it’. I had a lightbulb moment with this, I created a video to the song showing my ‘you had to be there to experience moment’ as Sam Fender’s hometown gig in St. James Park. The video reached 107.5k views, created a trend of people showing their photos and videos of the night to that sound and Sam Fender himself commented. I explained to the interviewers how important it would be for Global to get “easy views” on TikTok through tailoring trending content which gets very high engagement levels.
Outcomes
The simulated interviews were a vital experience in allowing me to identify what my strengths and weaknesses are in the interview process. I must admit I actually enjoyed my interview; I was talking about a lot of things I enjoy and ultimately, I felt confident doing so. Before taking part in the simulated interviews I would have said I didn’t have enough experience to apply for a “real” job, but this process allowed me to see what relevant examples I have. I definitely feel a lot more prepared and even excited about future job interviews. This process taught me that interviews don’t have to be scary and when you find a job you’re genuinely excited by it becomes easy to be passionate and talk confidently about the area it is in.
Works Cited (MLA)
D. Boud, R. Keogh, D. Walker (Eds.), Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning, Kogan Page, London (1985)
Foresight, Derek, Job Interview: The Ultimate Guide to Prepare, Impress, Do Research, and Answer Every Question Right. Italy, Efalon Acies, 2020.
Gregory, Georgina, et al. Careers in Media and Film : The Essential Guide, SAGE Publications, Limited, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qub/detail.action?docID=420885.
Ray Alexander, Peter Stewart.Broadcast Journalism: Techniques of Radio and Television News
Images
[1] https://images.app.goo.gl/vF2aEe8SBUjgN5Lq7
[2] https://images.app.goo.gl/WRgkefLHysL7sgrm8