In last week’s newsletter we featured Kamini who was looking forward to an interview later that week as an Exam Invigilator for Harrow and Uxbridge Council. This week we are delighted to be able to tell you that she got the job!
Kamini said: ‘The interview actually had to be postponed three times as I could not connect to Zoom on my phone. I was really concerned that after the trouble with me trying to access the interview that they wouldn’t be interested in me but it didn’t work out that way fortunately! After the three attempts I ended up going to a friend’s house and using her computer which was a huge relief for me as it worked perfectly. I apologised profusely for the problems with my phone and luckily for me they were very understanding.
I am glad I went on Sonia’s Interview Workshop prior to having the interview as it really put me at ease. I spent some time practicing in front of the mirror in the days before so that I could make sure I was coming across well. So many of the questions that came up during the interview were similar to those that I had run through with Sonia and so I felt prepared to answer them in a confident way. I didn’t have to think too much about the answers because I already knew what I wanted to say. The only thing I had to keep telling myself was to keep calm and slow down.
There were two interviewers and they gave me a lot of details about the job, explaining where I would work and taking me through health and safety measures that I would need to be aware of. I have previous experience of working as an Exam Invigilator but it was around 10 years ago. I have a NVQ Level 3 and chose Invigilating as a topic and so this was a bonus for me at the interview as they did ask about my qualifications.
Before the interview I was so scared that they might ask me something I didn’t know the answer to but that wasn’t actually a problem, I felt I answered everything fully, I just needed to keep myself from being too overexcited and let the interview flow.
At the end of the interview they told me that they would let me know of the results the following week but they actually contacted me the next day to tell me I had the job. It was a massive boost to my self esteem and I now feel really motivated to see what else I can do job-wise. The Invigilator job will not start until September and so I am now going to look for another job that I can do in the meantime or even combine two jobs as the Invigilator post is flexible hours. I have seen a part-time Learning Support Assistant job in a school which I’m looking at applying for.
What I’ve learned from this experience is that everything is possible if you are determined. It’s never too late to achieve what you want, just be positive and take the chance.