Interview for a pest control technician on Wednesday

house45

Hi there ,I'm looking some advice , I've a job interview on Wednesday for a roll that I applied for a couple of weeks ago , firstly can I just give a little background of my past job i have been working in the same company for the past 12 years filling and fixing vending machines , monday to friday day in day out follow set route every day all good . This last 2 years I started to get fed up and generally sick of doing this job that I decided to look for something else , so I applied for the pest control technician job, the job said that you don't need any experience as they will train you up and show you the ropes as such ,the problem im having is that I'm absolutely terrified of the taught of an interview and I'm awful with nerves , can someone please suggest what or how I could say if asked why would I like to do this type of work ?? Or what attracted me to apply for this position?? And why would I be a good fit for the job . I'm absolutely wrecked with nerves over the interview .. its being so long since I've had to do one ...

OMM 0000

can someone please suggest what or how I could say if asked why would I like to do this type of work ?? Or what attracted me to apply for this position?? And why would I be a good fit for the job

Difficult one.

The most important thing here is you never say anything negative in an interview. Do not complain about your previous job.

I guess you could give a BS answer like this:

"A lot of vending machines have a pest problem (usually ants) so I've been dealing with this for 12 years! I would just use some [find the name of an ant control product], try to ensure the vending machine is sealed, and keep things really really clean. So I feel I have some experience in this area (non-professional experience of course!) so it doesn't feel unnatural for me to apply for this job.

I was happy fixing vending machines but unfortunately there isn't really any promotion prospects in that role. I'm getting a bit older now so I'm hoping to join a company where there's opportunities to develop a career, learn new skills, and help people. That aspect of that job is important to me - I know a lot of people don't like pests so I'm happy I can help solve that problem for them."

Something like that.

Remember pretty much everyone applying for this job is like you. I don't think anyone grows up dreaming they'll work in pest control.

Just be positive, don't be negative.

house45

OMM 0000 wrote: »

Difficult one.

The most important thing here is you never say anything negative in an interview. Do not complain about your previous job.

I guess you could give a BS answer like this:

"A lot of vending machines have a pest problem (usually ants) so I've been dealing with this for 12 years! I would just use some [find the name of an ant control product], try to ensure the vending machine is sealed, and keep things really really clean. So I feel I have some experience in this area (non-professional experience of course!) so it doesn't feel unnatural for me to apply for this job.

I was happy fixing vending machines but unfortunately there isn't really any promotion prospects in that role. I'm getting a bit older now so I'm hoping to join a company where there's opportunities to develop a career, learn new skills, and help people. That aspect of that job is important to me - I know a lot of people don't like pests so I'm happy I can help solve that problem for them."

Something like that.

Remember pretty much everyone applying for this job is like you. I don't think anyone grows up dreaming they'll work in pest control.

Just be positive, don't be negative.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply im very nervous about the interview ,ill take on board what you said and fingers crossed . Thank you again its really appreciated ..

OMM 0000

Remember everyone is nervous in an interview.

The best thing you can do is be prepared.

Spend the next two days practicing interview questions.

Have some stories in your mind where you did something well and where something went wrong. The key to the "something went wrong" stories is how you learned from them and don't make that mistake anymore.

Always remember to spin everything positively.

Sixtoes

Why would you like to do this type of work?
Enjoy challenging work that involves problem solving.

What attracted you to apply for this position?
Knowing every day will be different.

Why would you be a good fit for the job?
Customer service- experience dealing with the public and business owners. Problem solving skills.

Best of luck.

Congrats on the interview, I hope it goes well for you.

I would say be honest, but avoid being negative. So rather than saying you were fed up with the old job, you can still be honest by saying you did the job for 12 years and there wasn't much variety, so you're keen on doing something new that you can learn about and that will give you some new experience.

You could say you're a good fit because you're already used to the travel, working under your own initiative, and you're good with manual work. You can highlight your problem-solving skills from a machine maintenance perspective, this could apply similarly to providing the correct solution for a customer in the new role. If you have any interest/experience in identifying pests or wildlife you could also bring that up.

I think the bottom line is that they're happy to train you, so don't feel like you need to prove you know your stuff - they're probably far more interested in:
a) are you willing to learn and take instruction, and
b) would you be pleasant to work with.
I'd just do my best to be friendly with them and be open when they ask questions. Even if they ask a question and you don't know the answer, feel free to say you don't know, but that it's very interesting, or if you need a minute to think of an answer, say so.

messrs

Best of luck with your interview. I know how daunting it can be - I was in a role for 10 years when I wanted to move on so not having done any interviews in that time is nerve racking.

As previous posters have said dont say anything negative about your current company - its also no harm to let them know you are nervous - when I started interviewing I did say to them as you can see from my CV I have been in my last role X years so its been a long time since I had a interview so I am a little bit nervous - they are human aswell so will understand

They may possibly ask you to describe a situation where you dealt with an awkward customer and how you worked to deal with it, maybe describe a situation where you dealt with conflict. Maybe how you would prioritise customers - so if two called you wanting you there at the same time what questions would you ask to deem who was the more urgent

Explain that you have progressed as far as you can in your current role and now its time to try something new. You saw the role advertised and that they have listed no experience required so you thought its a great opportunity to learn something new and you have great experience of travelling to sites and are good at a customer facing role and feel like you would be a good fit for the position

OMM 0000

messrs wrote: »

They may possibly ask you to describe a situation where you dealt with an awkward customer and how you worked to deal with it, maybe describe a situation where you dealt with conflict. Maybe how you would prioritise customers - so if two called you wanting you there at the same time what questions would you ask to deem who was the more urgent

Yeah it's likely you'll be asked at least one behavioural question.

Try to think of five things when things went well in your job (you increased sales, you rescued a machine they were going to throw away, your boss rewarded you for something, etc.) and five things which went wrong (and how you solved the problem and learnt from it). Memorise these stories so you can pull one from memory when they ask one of these "tell us about a time..." questions.

house45

Thank you all for taking the time to reply really helpful advice ,its really appreciated and ill let yous know how I get on . Thanks again .