Worried about interview

LegacyUser

I have an interview coming up later this week that I am really stressed about. I am in a job but need to move because my current salary only covers my expenses and there is nothing left to save (I desperately want to buy a house).
The thing is I went for an interview with this company two years ago for a similar position and they gave me a technical exam first; part of it was verbal reasoning; e.g. a person leaves a will and leaves x amount to his daughter, x amount to his sister but she gets half of this other amount etc.
I couldn't do it, I had to just get up and leave. I am simply no good at these types of tests, I just can't do them. Some people say that you can't practice for these type of tests, you are either good at them or you're not, others disagree, I don't know.
The job is for software dev. so I can see why something like that is part of the interview. There are other parts to it where they ask me specific technical questions;I have prepared for these as best I can, I am less worried about that part as I have worked in this specific area of IT for three years and solved some difficult problems in my present company that others working there were unable to fix (another part of the reason I want to leave).
It's just so frustrating because I know I can do things;if I got in front of them and was asked "how would you approach this problem etc." I would do OK. If I was asked specific questions related to the job I would do OK, I know I would. I have passed interviews before and not taken the jobs so I am capable of doing a successful interview, it's just this one part of it is my nemesis. I suppose there's a chance they might not have a verbal reasoning part in it this time but I won't be so lucky.
I am going to find every one of these types of tests I can find online but I will draw a blank on it on the day, I just know it. It's become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy at this stage, I tell myself I won't be able to do it so that's what happens.

Rocky Marciano

chris_77 wrote: »

I have an interview coming up later this week that I am really stressed about. I am in a job but need to move because my current salary only covers my expenses and there is nothing left to save (I desperately want to buy a house).
The thing is I went for an interview with this company two years ago for a similar position and they gave me a technical exam first; part of it was verbal reasoning; e.g. a person leaves a will and leaves x amount to his daughter, x amount to his sister but she gets half of this other amount etc.
I couldn't do it, I had to just get up and leave. I am simply no good at these types of tests, I just can't do them. Some people say that you can't practice for these type of tests, you are either good at them or you're not, others disagree, I don't know.
The job is for software dev. so I can see why something like that is part of the interview. There are other parts to it where they ask me specific technical questions;I have prepared for these as best I can, I am less worried about that part as I have worked in this specific area of IT for three years and solved some difficult problems in my present company that others working there were unable to fix (another part of the reason I want to leave).
It's just so frustrating because I know I can do things;if I got in front of them and was asked "how would you approach this problem etc." I would do OK. If I was asked specific questions related to the job I would do OK, I know I would. I have passed interviews before and not taken the jobs so I am capable of doing a successful interview, it's just this one part of it is my nemesis. I suppose there's a chance they might not have a verbal reasoning part in it this time but I won't be so lucky.
I am going to find every one of these types of tests I can find online but I will draw a blank on it on the day, I just know it. It's become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy at this stage, I tell myself I won't be able to do it so that's what happens.

Well done on getting called for interview. If the employers weren't impressed with your application you wouldn't have made it this far. So, no more of this not good enough business, deal?

This week don't stress too much on what you don't know. Focus on you. Get a good night's sleep every night to stay fresh, lots of water to keep hydrated and some fresh air and walking to get oxygen to the brain. Go into that interview with the batteries fully charged, as fresh as possible.

Walk into the room good and tall, make good eye contact and give a good firm handshake. If asked something, pause for a moment. Never panic and rush yourself.

Likewise with the technical exam. There's no pressure. Worse case scenario you walk out the same way you walked in. Best case scenario - you surpass all expectations and do really well.

Overall, I wish you the very best of luck. I hope you get it

Lorna123

Can you just say if you are asked something like this verbal reasoning that you find trying to come up with an answer to this when under the pressure of an interview is very daunting to you but that you know that if you had time to think about it and write it down you could come up with the solution. At least say this before you walk out. They probably expect you to come up with an answer while under pressure but at least you would be coming up with something. Best of Luck.

LegacyUser

Rocky Marciano wrote: »

Worse case scenario you walk out the same way you walked in.

That's one way of looking at it I suppose. But I will be disappointed if I don't get it. It's the thought of that test that worries me.

woodchuck

I'm sure there must be similar questions online that you could practice with beforehand. Some people are naturally better at these types of questions, but you can improve with practice. It definitely can't hurt to try!

matrim

Do some practice questions online. Some smaller companies will just google for them and you can get the exact same questions that come up online.

Even if you don't find the same question, you can come up with a formula for solving them and then you can apply it to them all. E.g. don't think of them as people names. I always give them variables like x, y. This makes it look more like the equations we did in school so makes it easier for me

Plus a few companies use the same back end software to run the tests, so it's always a good idea to try remember the questions and look up the one's you didn't get. A couple of months ago when I was looking I did the exact same online test for 3 different companies. About 3 of the 30 questions were different between tests.

LegacyUser

matrim wrote: »

Do some practice questions online. Some smaller companies will just google for them and you can get the exact same questions that come up online.

Even if you don't find the same question, you can come up with a formula for solving them and then you can apply it to them all. E.g. don't think of them as people names. I always give them variables like x, y. This makes it look more like the equations we did in school so makes it easier for me

Plus a few companies use the same back end software to run the tests, so it's always a good idea to try remember the questions and look up the one's you didn't get. A couple of months ago when I was looking I did the exact same online test for 3 different companies. About 3 of the 30 questions were different between tests.

I spent a while googling last night. The only ones I remember they asked from two years ago was the one with the water jugs (a 3 litre jug and a 5 litre jug where you have to get 4 litres in the 5 litre jug). They also asked the one about a will that I referred to in my original post. I looked for a solution to that but couldn't find it.
I'm shooting in the dark really looking for examples that might come up. Chances are they could ask completely different ones. The time I blew it two years ago was very upsetting for me; I don't want to go through that again. I have to face my fear but it isn't easy.

Katgurl

Its perfectly acceptable to enquire about the interview format so you know in advance if you're going to have to do one of these tests - ask recruiter or HR person. You may be worrying about nothing. then if it is going ahead, ask if they can provide any additional information so you can prepare.

LegacyUser

Katgurl wrote: »

Its perfectly acceptable to enquire about the interview format so you know in advance if you're going to have to do one of these tests - ask recruiter or HR person. You may be worrying about nothing. then if it is going ahead, ask if they can provide any additional information so you can prepare.

Thanks for the reply. I don't really want to do that as it makes it look like I don't know anything or am not confident (the second part is true though).
It doesn't create a good impression and I don't want that. I don't expect to get the job without putting in any effort, I just don't want to be a failure (again).

Katgurl

chris_77 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I don't really want to do that as it makes it look like I don't know anything or am not confident (the second part is true though).
It doesn't create a good impression and I don't want that. I don't expect to get the job without putting in any effort, I just don't want to be a failure (again).

It doesn't make it look like that, it makes you look thorough. I've ten years recruitment / HR experience.

Enquiring about the interview format is perfectly acceptable, you see more senior candidates doing it all the time. You could just send an email "Hi, I would like to confirm my attendance at X, and thank you for the opportunity. Could you please let me know who I will be meeting with & what format the interview will take - competency based questions / technical test / aptitude tests? Also, is there anything I can prepare in advance."

LegacyUser

Katgurl wrote: »

It doesn't make it look like that, it makes you look thorough. I've ten years recruitment / HR experience.

Enquiring about the interview format is perfectly acceptable, you see more senior candidates doing it all the time. You could just send an email "Hi, I would like to confirm my attendance at X, and thank you for the opportunity. Could you please let me know who I will be meeting with & what format the interview will take - competency based questions / technical test / aptitude tests? Also, is there anything I can prepare in advance."

I suppose I could have done that. The interview was yesterday, I thought it went OK. The technical test was the exact same as the one two years ago. I just did what I could. Of the verbal reasoning tests I did two out of how many were there. The very second I got the test and saw it was the same as two years ago I was kicking myself for not taking a photograph of it with my phone back then before I walked out. I am still mulling over that a bit. If I had the prescence of mind to do that then I would probably have got all the questions right.
I answered all of the programmimg ones that were related to the language I work in. This is also the language used in the project I would be working on so I hope I got them all right.
The HR guy said that it wasn't "the be all and end all" but I don't know if he was saying this to put me at ease.
It was fairly stressful, I had worked a half day before it so by the end of the day I had a terrible headache. I think that was more because of the pressure I put myself under by constantly thinking of it (I was so nervous beforehand I must have gone to the toilet about five times).
After the test I was interviewed by two more guys, then by the guy who did the telephone interview and then by the HR guy. The HR guy was talking to me about salary and benefits etc. I don't want to get my hopes up but I thought because they spent so long talking to me that it was positive. I've invested so much emotion and effort into preparing for this interview that if I am not successful then I'll be gutted. It's a graduate position but I am not a graduate (I finished college five years ago) and I have three years experience of the area the work involves. The salary is low but would be above what I am on at the moment.
I have wanted to work for this particular company since I finished college so to get in there would be like winning the World Cup.
I have to go for one more interview (I can't believe that) and the HR guy said that he would be in touch with the recruitment agency who got me the interview to arrange that.
I just want to know if I got it. It's going to be a torturous weekend for me dwelling on it.
I really want it, it would feel like I had really achieved something in my life (for once).
One thing that is worrying me is that he asked me what I got in my degree. For a split second I was going to lie and say "2:1" but I thought better of it and told the truth (I got a 2:2). I have a feeling this will cost me the job as they are a prestigious company and will have a good few with 1:1's that have interviewed for it. Just to "protect" myself I am going to tell myself I didn't get it as then the inevitable disappointment won't be such a disappointment. Sorry for droning on btw.

Big Bag of Chips

chris_77, because you have now been for the interview I will lock this thread to stop it becoming a blog type thread, or turning into a general discussion on interviews and what you should or shouldn't have done.

No advice can change how the interview went for you at this stage.

I sincerely wish you all the best,

Big Bag of Chips