Josephine F.

I signed up and eagerly read all emails, however did not complete any activities - inlcuding the main online questionaire. I was dissatisfied with various aspects of my role, but the time wasn't right for me to begin job hunting.

However reading all the emails ensured I was aware of the strategies that work in job hunting, even though I wasn't applying them.

Fast forward 10 months or so, and my employer announced the business had been sold, half the positions would be made redundant (mine was one of them), and I had four weeks of employment with them prior to receiving my package.

Naturally this prompted me to complete all online activites, revamp my resume and become active on LinkedIn! All the tips from the emails were part of my Knowlege Bank already, I just needed to complete the practical exercises - which I did.

I applied for one job and had the interview while still employed (I work part time so attended the interview on one of my non-work days).
The day before the interview I was solidly preparing my responses to the interview questions with this specific role in mind.
Interestingly, most of my day was spent reading, drafting, editing - it was very late in the evening when I read over the final versions and decided I needed to get a good night sleep if I was to be at my best for the interview. On the train commute in the morring I was reading over my prepared research. I remember thinking - I'll never rember all of this!

But guess what? I didn't need to 'remember' it, as success is not about rote responses. As advocated by Alan, and experienced firsthand by me, the most important thing was the preparation - actually doing the research on the company, job role, and how my experience fit what they were likely after. I was able to answer their questions concisely because I'd put in the effort.

Also - their first question threw me as they didn't follow the usual flow of questions to expect. However it didn't matter because I was familiar with how my experience fit what they were asking for, I had practiced formulating my responses in Situation - Action - Result format and had analysed how my strengths and development areas related to the role. This meant that my responses had a natural element that rote responses lack. Leaving the interview, I remember being satisfied, knowing my performance reflected my capability acurately.

I got the job! There was a two week gap between the last day of my outgoing role and the first day of my new role; this pleased my husband although I would have preferred 4 weeks between roles but never mind!

That was an 'initial 3 month contract' three days per week - it was not only exactly what I was after, 14 months later I'm still there, and am likely to be there another 10 months at least, and I'm using Salesforce on this project which is going to increase my employability once the project finishes up. It's truly been an 'interview success' for me.

I still read all the emails, and know that eventually I'll need to revisit the activities when this role ends.

I highly recommend the program, resources, online tools, and emails - they were and continue to be invaluable to me and have more than paid for the initial investment of time and money.

Josephine