The Outcome: Interviews

A couple of blogs ago i mentioned going on my first interview of 2013. Well a couple days after that I had another one. This blog i will talk about the outcome of them and a brief detail of the job role I applied for.


Social Media Assistant- I applied for a part time position at a charity run sports gym based in Manchester. The job description was extensive, so you can imagine my face when i started hyperventilating when I scrolled down and realised there was two pages. I decided to print it out and highlight the key information and tailor my cover letting to the requirement! (Always save a copy you never know you might be able to use it again or the ingenious might come back to quickly).
Within 2 days of applying i received a phone call to be brought in for an interview. Preparation commenced I learned the ins and outs of the company, everything they offered to their customers, how many other clubs they had, what their vision and mission was. Everything i could possibly learn so i would be prepared for the interview. As i was googling whereabouts the gym was it dawned on me this distance it was. This was the OUTSKIRTS of manchester, like motorway. Luckily my friend to offered to take me, i could of got public transport, leave 2 hours before and get two buses. Even in the car it was 30 mins. The interview went well i was really nervous, which usually i am ok in a interview enviroment. When it was my turn to ask questions, the pay was minimum wage, it was only 12 hours a week and the social media aspect of the business was none exist even though the company was over 10 years old and this particular site was open a couple months. When I asked their objectives for the next 12 months for the gym site it wasn't really in-line with their companys mission. To cut the long story short I didn't get the job, on reflection i'm glad financial the money would of just covered my travel to get there.



Digital Trainee Support - The dreaded moment when you realise they don't want your cv, they don't want a cover letter it's an application form!! It's safe to say it took me two days with breaks in between to complete. It was another charity based company and this one was actually based in the city centre. This interview came in three parts. 1. 45 digital test (creating a poster in a program that  I personally never used, never heard of and don't know anyone who uses it)  2. 5/10 minute presentation on a product, project or blog i was involved in. 3. Questions from the interviewers.

They were very impressed on the project i mentioned, they were astonished how much i accomplished, how i got a team together, free publicity and artwork done without costing a thing. After the interview i felt very confident and started spending the monthly wage on getting rid of debts and starting living life again.  Two days later i received the phonecall...... my heart dropped. I didn't get the job. I haven't been upset about not getting a before but her reasons were like a dagger to my heart and a character assaisnation. I took it out on the people closest to me or who came  i into contact with that day. In a nutshell she said ' You were really good, however we feel you're not much of a team player and more of an independent in a good way that probably doesn't make sense. The girl we chose we could just see she would really just fit in perfectly (in a very enthusiastic voice). Don't give up your ambition and drive is great. It was very close you came second though. '
 I pride myself on being a team player and for that not to come across was really upsetting. Telling me I came second and mentioning how great the other candidate was didn't make me feel any better. I kind of got what she was trying to say but how she was put it across wasn't the correct way to do it.


A couple of days after i was in a state of ' cant be bothered to try and get into the field I want to work in, i'm just going to apply for normal jobs' mode. You cant help but imagine yourself in a company you're applied for because of all the background research you've do on a company before you even apply. It takes a lot out of you.  I've got back on the saddle, however with only £70 in my account dream job vs survival job is now kicking in.

Tech Tuesday: Trello

Hello! Yes I know it's not tuesday and i'm a couple days late but its be a hectic week! I'm going to save my excuses and get straight to it.

Today i'm going to talk about a online project management program i found while running Creative Championships. I needed a management software that everyone could see tasks and deadlines. Most of all it had to be free. I almost gave up but my fantastic research skills finally came across Trello! 

Trello is a free web-based (which is fantastic no clogging up space on your operating system!) project management tool made by a fog creek software.  If your a person that loves your lists or find it difficult to do think about more than one thing at a time, this tool will support you. Whether it's your doing a shopping list, planning a wedding, planning a holiday I assure you ever detail will be documented, most of all fill you with ease. 

 Here's what the user interface looks like. Trello is set up as boards. You can name the board i.e Reception Dinner and then underneath the main heading you would add the tasks onto 'mini cards'. i.e Caterers, you then would click onto that name and put more detail. On the mini cards you can create checklist, deadline dates, add pictures, videos, a voting system,word documents and many more. You can drag and drop the mini cards on any board you like.

If this is a group endeavour you can assign people for different tasks. Once any activity has been made on the card that a person is assigned to, they would instantly be sent an email. You can also add comments and have a discussion. You can colour co-ordinate the task will the label option too. You can have as many boards and mini cards as you like and also projects.

You will be pleased to now you can access Trello through your smartphone. There's no restrictions either like some apps where access is only web based.

Things I would like to see implemented:

1. At this moment in time when you add a label to differeniate tasks with colour it only put a slither of colour on the bottom of the mini card. I would like the whole board changed to that particular colour. Being dyslexic I find it easier when colour is used on the background, my mind seems to see structure better.  
2. Also I would like there to be an option where you can print your project as either single boards or all boards together. 
3. Video calling or instant chat option.
4. Reminders to members or yourself that a deadline is approaching.
5. There's an option where u can do a voting approach, maybe once the voting has finished it creates a mini pie chart that either you can present or print out.

I hope you've found this helpful! Happy projecting managing!