Interview Presentation

Phat Cat

My wife went for an interview for a receptionist/office assistant job last and got a call back yesterday morning asking if she would be available for a second round interview. She was obviously delighted and instantly agreed so they told her that they would email her on the details.

She forwarded the email that she received onto me and it seems that they want her to do a 10 minute presentation on a choice of topics pitched at senior management. She suffers from social anxiety disorder and the thought of doing this has her absolutely petrified. She was literally shaking when I got home from work yesterday.

I have to admit I think it seems totally excessive for a basic receptionist role, I thought that presentations were usually reserved for senior roles or sales positions, but she now seems very hesitant to go through with it which is a shame.

Is there any advice I could give her?

April O Neill

I used to be terrified of any kind of public speaking, no matter how big or small the ground. Two pieces of advice were absolutely invaluble in helping me cope better with it.

1) Research thoroughly. The reason public speaking causes such anxiety is because people are afraid they are going to be caught out or look stupid. Researching thoroughly puts the person at ease on this score

2) Practice out loud. It makes you feel insane giving a presentation to the wall, but is invaluable because if you know how you are going to word things and then practice well, you are far less likely to get tongue-tied.

I still get nervous, but I can do it now.

road_high

Does seem very OTT for a receptionist type job but the jobs market is gone this way, fiercely competitive.
Would expect it now for more senior or technical roles (and have done one myself).
I assume it's a pretty decent role and company if they are going this far. Best of luck to her.

antodeco

Is she power pointing it or just talking? Let me know which and I'll give you some pointers. Giving presentations is what I've been doing for a living for over 7 years! I used to be terrified, had a very bad stammer but pushed through it!

Phat Cat

According the the email she is allowed to use Power Point and in my opinion that's a massive advantage then just standing their talking.

Thanks, she still seems reluctant to do it so any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

antodeco

10 minutes? No more than 3 or 4 slides. Max 5 points each. The PowerPoint should only give a brief overview of what she's talking about (think of it like a menu).

The time will fly past. Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. Keep an ear out on speech. Not to shout, but equally not too quiet. Happens a huge amount when people are nervous. Volume goes up and down and rushed.

Try and get a little interaction with the interviewers. I don't know who the company are so I can't help in that direction. Make sure she leaves a minute at the end for questions. Good eye contact with everyone. Don't focus on one person. Try not have a marker/pen/something in her hand as she'll pron ably fidget with it.

Avoid coffee directly beforehand. Piece of chocolate a few minutes before will calm the nerves and give better concentration. Just remember that they're there to listen to her. She needs to control the presentation.

tbh

it seems a bit strange that they want someone working in reception to do a presentation pitched at senior management - can you give an example of the type of topics they offer?

I'm wondering if they want her to present because she'll be expected to host visitors etc, in which case her social anxiety problem may be much more of an issue for her - no point getting through the presentation at the interview to find she's to do this kind of thing regularly and hates it.

It might be worth checking with the company to see what the purpose of the presentation is.

Of course, it could also be that she's freaking out about the presentation but once she does it she'll be grand.

Raekwon

It does seem very excessive but a receptionist is the first point of contact at every company so maybe they just need just need to whittle down candidates based on their presentation & communication skills?

Btw is it with an American company by any chance as most of them seem absolutely obsessed with having overelaborate interview processes to find their "perfect" candidate.

I've personally never actually done an interview presentation before but like yourself I thought that they were usually only for sales positions or jobs that require presentation skills as part of the role.

Best of luck to her!

starlit

It does seem a bit much asking to do a presentation but might just a simple task in itself so that she can show them that she create a power point presentation she might have to do that as part of her role?

It is a bit much though to do it for an interview though. Two interviews a bit strange for a reception job unless they want her to fill in for another job?
Suppose a 2nd interview is to make sure.

All she can do is practise he presentation and know her topic inside out she might be asked questions based on her topic.

Most interviews seem to have added in a presentation for most interviews, suppose to make the process of elimination easier. Its a bit tedious having to do one anyway but for a reception role its a bit much.

I've done an interview with a presentation not easy but was easier than the interview. Though when it came to the questions on my topic got a bit tongue tied but the interview was a bit more manageable. The presentation eased me into the interview and calmed the nerves a bit if anything I was probably over confident. Thought I did well in the interview but my feedback was only ok. Didn't get the job. Probably not suited to it.

All she can do is do her best.

Phat Cat

Thank you all for the advice, especially to you antodeco, that was very helpful indeed.

We got some more information about the role and apparently it's more of an office assistant role then a straight forward receptionist role, although answering calls, taking messages, ordering office supplies, greeting clients etc will be the main day to day responsibility of the position.......yeah, I know.

We also discovered that the role will include inducting new employees to a certain extent so I think that's where the presentation skills come in. Personally I think that they are just lumping a couple of roles together here but it's an employer market out there so I guess they can do what they want.

It's actually funny because my wife was talking to her younger brother on Skype yesterday and he was at a couple of interviews just before Christmas. Ironically one of them asked him to do a 10 minute presentation in the second round interview for an entry level IT support role. He did it but didn't get the job, plus he gave her some pointers, but I was really surprised to hear that they went to such lengths for such a basic role.

Then again, like I said earlier, it's an employers market out there.

starlit

Very true most jobs you do a presentation at this stage may not apply to all job interviews.

Ya there are a lot of jobs out there where its a number of jobs rolled into one suppose to reduce costs and downsize?