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Interview - is this common?
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So. After 20-odd years of doing the same job (that i went to uni for) and falling out of love with it - I saw another role that is my ‘I’ve always wanted to’ and thought ‘wow, great timing’ I’ve decided to look for a change and here’s the job I wanted.
I appreciate it’s a tough job market out there at the moment and I feel desperately sorry for a lot of people.
The job is for a company that you will all have heard of with thousands of employees but this bit weirded me out.... but it might be common I dunno... so I applied via the company website and had a telephone interview via HR who didn’t seem to know my background, they then set me up an interview with the area manager who was a really lovely woman but they didn’t give her my CV... so I sat down and this woman is like ‘I know nothing about you bar your name... tell me all about you’
I can’t decide wether this was a good or bad thing. There was no reference to point her to about things I had achieved or for her to pick up on.
Is this common?? I was honestly shocked that’s all.
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"Didn't you take a copy of your CV and all relevant documentation? In a folder with copies for them to keep? "
No! To be fair I’ve had about 3 interviews in 20-odd years and it was either the days of handwritten application forms or they’ve always had it printed off.... it’s new to me all of this, I will deffo do that if there’s a next time.... I never realised it was a ‘thing’ that you needed to take your cv when you’ve filled everything in online |
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By *opilotMan
over a year ago
Heathrow |
Thats really bad on their part. I get that people are busy and they may of had hundreds of applicants but the person interviewing you should have asked HR for a copy if your CV, how else would she know that you were interview worthy for the position. Good luck OP |
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It is a bit unprofessional for someone to interview without having a look at the CV. It is a great way to ascertain comms by asking people to introduce themselves and their career. But that’s no excuse to not know anything about the candidate.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Didn't you take a copy of your CV and all relevant documentation? In a folder with copies for them to keep?
No! To be fair I’ve had about 3 interviews in 20-odd years and it was either the days of handwritten application forms or they’ve always had it printed off.... it’s new to me all of this, I will deffo do that if there’s a next time.... I never realised it was a ‘thing’ that you needed to take your cv when you’ve filled everything in online "
At uni we were taught to always take every certificate, piece of documentation, proof etc to any interview in a presentation folder with copies for them to keep (neatly clipped etc) ... then it doesn't matter how professional they do or don't look it means you DO! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"So. After 20-odd years of doing the same job (that i went to uni for) and falling out of love with it - I saw another role that is my ‘I’ve always wanted to’ and thought ‘wow, great timing’ I’ve decided to look for a change and here’s the job I wanted.
I appreciate it’s a tough job market out there at the moment and I feel desperately sorry for a lot of people.
The job is for a company that you will all have heard of with thousands of employees but this bit weirded me out.... but it might be common I dunno... so I applied via the company website and had a telephone interview via HR who didn’t seem to know my background, they then set me up an interview with the area manager who was a really lovely woman but they didn’t give her my CV... so I sat down and this woman is like ‘I know nothing about you bar your name... tell me all about you’
I can’t decide wether this was a good or bad thing. There was no reference to point her to about things I had achieved or for her to pick up on.
Is this common?? I was honestly shocked that’s all.
"
A lot of bigger companies now only use your CV to vet your qualifications for a role. If you've got the right quals and previous experience, you make it to the next stage, usually a phone interview. Each stage after that is more about your personality and cultural fit with the business and team you'd work in.
The old school way of reading through your CV and asking questions is really easy to prepare for and produce a fake result. Just having a conversation, and asking questions about your life and how you deal with situations tends to put people off guard and give more honest answers.
I haven't used someone's CV in an interview in about 5 years and I've recruited some amazing people, and turned down some candidates who looked awesome on paper.
Take it as a big positive that you got to a F2F interview after the telephone stage. They liked what they heard! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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It may be that the CV got you through initial screening, the first interview was to confirm a few details and see if you're taking through the process. After that it's about you...how you would approach problems, how you would fit in the role. Everyone can list their jobs and achievements on a piece of paper but it's how you'll manage in that role in that company they're interested in. How you pitch that abd sell yourself is important to an employer.
Tabitha x |
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The telephone interview would have presumably covered the basics and would have filtered out those that were not suitable. You made stage two which is a fantastic achievement in itself so well done.
How is your CV relevant anyway? It sounds like the job you’ve been doing for the past 20 years isn’t anything like this new role so your past history isn’t particularly relevant.
As an employer I’m interested in your personality and how you will fit in to the team not how many O levels you’ve got.
I would not expect anyone other than a school/college leaver to bring their CV/certificates with them to an interview, it’s just not particularly relevant. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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For this stage it will probably have been about you presenting yourself and talking about yourself. It is odd they don’t have your cv to refer to. Still see how it goes. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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My interview (Dec) didn't touch on my CV.. It was all scenario questions (tell us a time that xx and how did you resolve) and behavioural and values questions
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By *edeWoman
over a year ago
the abyss |
I've heard this a lot. I sometimes wonder if its to catch the ones out that maybe over embellish their CVs? Usually by the interview stage they have ascertained you are qualified to do the job but want to know if you will fot into the team and no piece of paper with tell them that. Good luck OP  |
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"My interview (Dec) didn't touch on my CV.. It was all scenario questions (tell us a time that xx and how did you resolve) and behavioural and values questions
"
Yes it was pretty much that.
I’m not saying it’s either a good or bad thing - it just genuinely shocked me, I just think it was all absolutely new to me, this approach, having not had an interview for a long time and the ones I’ve had before being so ‘ah I see you worked at xx place - lovely stuff’ but there’s been some fabulous points made in this thread about how it is a different area of work so to them it won’t mean the same things as it would to a firm that dealt in the same field as the last employer. It’s been a really interesting read so thanks all that took the time to respond
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Yes this is very common.
Interviewer 1
*Candidates ok'd at one level via cv no name
Interviewer 2
*blind interview via phone no cv
Interviewer 3
*face to face no cv
I interview like this its non judgemental and fair, you firstly know a persons competence work wise, second see if you gel as a person impartially and gain a understanding of them as a person, thirdly its a standard final interview face to face.
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"Didn't you take a copy of your CV and all relevant documentation? In a folder with copies for them to keep?
No! To be fair I’ve had about 3 interviews in 20-odd years and it was either the days of handwritten application forms or they’ve always had it printed off.... it’s new to me all of this, I will deffo do that if there’s a next time.... I never realised it was a ‘thing’ that you needed to take your cv when you’ve filled everything in online
At uni we were taught to always take every certificate, piece of documentation, proof etc to any interview in a presentation folder with copies for them to keep (neatly clipped etc) ... then it doesn't matter how professional they do or don't look it means you DO! "
It's worth remembering that many interviews at the moment are on video conferencing platforms and so you can't present a sheaf of paper to the panel, who may be in totally different countries to you!
I was taught the same thing but I think nowadays unless specifically asked to bring quals etc with you, it's an old fashioned thing. We DO expect to see teaching quals and right to work documents at interview but the invite states that. We don't take CVs anymore so we do have the application form on the desk when we interview but by and large, it doesn't form a huge part of the interview, it's mainly a screening tool to get to the interview stage.
I'm not sure how HR are checking quals etc in this era of remote working (not my dept!) |
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By *icketysplitsWoman
over a year ago
Way over Yonder, that's where I'm bound |
"Didn’t get it.
Thanks for all the feedback though xx"
I'm sorry. However, be heartened that you you were seen at all - you did something right to get that far.
There are lots of different way that employers now receive applications, shortlist and interview. Some might use something like Applied where you answer 4 scenario questions and you don't even submit any work history. Your CV or LinkedIn profile is only looked at if you score enough to be interviewed.
It's worth looking at the different methods employers use for different types of roles so you're ready for your next application.
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Can't believe people are defending the company lol.
I'd be OK talking about how brilliant I am but the vast majority of people would not be up for that and there's not many specific job roles that really require amazing presentation skills.
If they want to conduct interviews like that they should just take them down the pub and go from there.
Ridiculous |
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By *icketysplitsWoman
over a year ago
Way over Yonder, that's where I'm bound |
"Can't believe people are defending the company lol.
I'd be OK talking about how brilliant I am but the vast majority of people would not be up for that and there's not many specific job roles that really require amazing presentation skills.
If they want to conduct interviews like that they should just take them down the pub and go from there.
Ridiculous"
Why is it ridiculous? It's not the same as taking someone down the pub, which has been a traditional way of getting jobs in closed networks.
I received an application from someone who had previously worked for me in another organisation. They didn't know it would be me receiving their application. Their CV was almost entirely exaggerated, to the point it they'd made themselves a member of my senior leadership team and deputising for me when the reality was they were a step below that and had a very small team. It would have been a wasted interview slot.
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"So. After 20-odd years of doing the same job (that i went to uni for) and falling out of love with it - I saw another role that is my ‘I’ve always wanted to’ and thought ‘wow, great timing’ I’ve decided to look for a change and here’s the job I wanted.
I appreciate it’s a tough job market out there at the moment and I feel desperately sorry for a lot of people.
The job is for a company that you will all have heard of with thousands of employees but this bit weirded me out.... but it might be common I dunno... so I applied via the company website and had a telephone interview via HR who didn’t seem to know my background, they then set me up an interview with the area manager who was a really lovely woman but they didn’t give her my CV... so I sat down and this woman is like ‘I know nothing about you bar your name... tell me all about you’
I can’t decide wether this was a good or bad thing. There was no reference to point her to about things I had achieved or for her to pick up on.
Is this common?? I was honestly shocked that’s all.
"
Yes! They want to know about you,the person, not what you can bring. They’ve seen that on your cv and presuming they’ve seen it in the interview too. |
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"Can't believe people are defending the company lol.
I'd be OK talking about how brilliant I am but the vast majority of people would not be up for that and there's not many specific job roles that really require amazing presentation skills.
If they want to conduct interviews like that they should just take them down the pub and go from there.
Ridiculous
Why is it ridiculous? It's not the same as taking someone down the pub, which has been a traditional way of getting jobs in closed networks.
I received an application from someone who had previously worked for me in another organisation. They didn't know it would be me receiving their application. Their CV was almost entirely exaggerated, to the point it they'd made themselves a member of my senior leadership team and deputising for me when the reality was they were a step below that and had a very small team. It would have been a wasted interview slot.
"
But the interviewer in this case hadn't even read his CV.
I didn't expend my brainpower for many years getting professional qualifications for them to be ignored on my CV. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"So. After 20-odd years of doing the same job (that i went to uni for) and falling out of love with it - I saw another role that is my ‘I’ve always wanted to’ and thought ‘wow, great timing’ I’ve decided to look for a change and here’s the job I wanted.
I appreciate it’s a tough job market out there at the moment and I feel desperately sorry for a lot of people.
The job is for a company that you will all have heard of with thousands of employees but this bit weirded me out.... but it might be common I dunno... so I applied via the company website and had a telephone interview via HR who didn’t seem to know my background, they then set me up an interview with the area manager who was a really lovely woman but they didn’t give her my CV... so I sat down and this woman is like ‘I know nothing about you bar your name... tell me all about you’
I can’t decide wether this was a good or bad thing. There was no reference to point her to about things I had achieved or for her to pick up on.
Is this common?? I was honestly shocked that’s all.
A lot of bigger companies now only use your CV to vet your qualifications for a role. If you've got the right quals and previous experience, you make it to the next stage, usually a phone interview. Each stage after that is more about your personality and cultural fit with the business and team you'd work in.
The old school way of reading through your CV and asking questions is really easy to prepare for and produce a fake result. Just having a conversation, and asking questions about your life and how you deal with situations tends to put people off guard and give more honest answers.
I haven't used someone's CV in an interview in about 5 years and I've recruited some amazing people, and turned down some candidates who looked awesome on paper.
Take it as a big positive that you got to a F2F interview after the telephone stage. They liked what they heard!"
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"So. After 20-odd years of doing the same job (that i went to uni for) and falling out of love with it - I saw another role that is my ‘I’ve always wanted to’ and thought ‘wow, great timing’ I’ve decided to look for a change and here’s the job I wanted.
I appreciate it’s a tough job market out there at the moment and I feel desperately sorry for a lot of people.
The job is for a company that you will all have heard of with thousands of employees but this bit weirded me out.... but it might be common I dunno... so I applied via the company website and had a telephone interview via HR who didn’t seem to know my background, they then set me up an interview with the area manager who was a really lovely woman but they didn’t give her my CV... so I sat down and this woman is like ‘I know nothing about you bar your name... tell me all about you’
I can’t decide wether this was a good or bad thing. There was no reference to point her to about things I had achieved or for her to pick up on.
Is this common?? I was honestly shocked that’s all.
"
.. In my experience its very unusual. Any time I have interviewed I have always been prepared. Dont forget the company want to attract good talent so its as much you interviewing them also. An interviewer that knows nothing about you and hasn't bothered to read your CV (which is the window to your experience) is not a good sign in my opinion and very unprofessional. Some "modern day" interviewers try to trick candidates and catch them off guard... Which is a load of crap too.. Highly talented and sought after candidates will get pissed off at that kind of practice. Imagine come your annual review if they hadn't bothered reviewing all the hard work you did during the year!!  |
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By *AM2214Man
over a year ago
Manchester Area |
"I think public service sector jobs may do that.
They don't look at CVS etc."
wanna bet.. They have a system in many areas that is Blind CVS long list by HR then shortlisting by hiring manager... Seen a fair few CVS put to one side just for a location or simple spelling mistake... There again seen people. Become total stars after a 'career' flipping burgers whilst a person with a Masters was totally useless in all ways.. Work, personality, teamwork, communication, ethics and empathy.. |
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By *a LunaWoman
over a year ago
South |
Is it one of these new age companies that get a “feel” for you? You’re more than the information on a piece of paper vibe etc.
Are you on LinkedIn? Could they have browsed you on that?
If they wanted your CV they could have asked. Don’t worry about it too much.
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"Is it one of these new age companies that get a “feel” for you? You’re more than the information on a piece of paper vibe etc.
Are you on LinkedIn? Could they have browsed you on that?
If they wanted your CV they could have asked. Don’t worry about it too much.
"
No it’s a very old company. Maybe I’m just a bit ‘old fashioned’ myself having not had an interview for years and years and just expecting them to be as they always were back when I had them before.
Least I will be a little more prepared for the next one |
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By *AM2214Man
over a year ago
Manchester Area |
"Some of the biggest companies miss out on so much talent by not knowing how to interview people properly fact "
true... I wnet for an interview session or selection day with global drinks Company so everything was pure Americana... They had an exercise based on Logic or so the brief said... It was clear from info given that the syndicate could not complete the task... So I said as much stood up and left for lunch saying... We need the extra information life is too short to sit here going around in circles... The rest but one followed... When we got back the remainder had miracously uncovered some information.. Plan sorted a d delivered just in time.. At the end of the day they revealed the person was a plant ND former employee who they brought back in.... Role play exercise did my head in.. A situation was set out that quite frankly had never occired wherever I have worked Forces or Civvy life probably because I learnt very early to invest in my team... I left wondering if I wanted to work forthem and decided no... On the way home I had. A all offering me the next level up 70k a fortune to me when the Army was only paying 32,002! Still didn't feel right so went with another offer that was a lot less but had two fantastic years made great friends.. Fit is everything..
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By *AM2214Man
over a year ago
Manchester Area |
"Is it one of these new age companies that get a “feel” for you? You’re more than the information on a piece of paper vibe etc.
Are you on LinkedIn? Could they have browsed you on that?
If they wanted your CV they could have asked. Don’t worry about it too much.
No it’s a very old company. Maybe I’m just a bit ‘old fashioned’ myself having not had an interview for years and years and just expecting them to be as they always were back when I had them before.
Least I will be a little more prepared for the next one "
sounds pretty normal. Nowadays... I know my CV inside out because it's mine not copy and pasted... I've actually had someone apply for a role with an almost exact copy of my CV following me se. Ding it to a friend who had a really bad Forces Resttlement one... It was funny asking him about two roles he claimed to have filled as one was me at that time the other my best friend... Even better when he dropped a Chaps name in thinking it was an ace move... Pity I'd only just spoken. With that person so pressed redial.. Never met the interviewee ??????
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"My interview (Dec) didn't touch on my CV.. It was all scenario questions (tell us a time that xx and how did you resolve) and behavioural and values questions
"
This has mainly been my experience of interviews too. |
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A lot of companies don't even ask for CVs anymore, including the one I work for. We have an application form plus space for a "supporting statement". We made the change from CV/cover letter because the vast majority of CV/letter applications were not very good, often obviously lacking adaptation to our setting (for example, going on about Ofsted when we're an independent organisation) and in several cases, still had the name of other organisations within the text.
Since moving to an application form which asks about the sorts of things we're specifically interested in, the quality of applications is better and the people we recruited most recently well suited.
Our interviews are competency based, so the contents of the CV are only relevant if the interviewee draws upon it in a response. We don't want or need people to be able to parrot their life history back at us, as has happened before when people can't offer an answer to a question. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Didn’t get it.
Thanks for all the feedback though xx"
Ahhh hugs, but don't let it defeat you, it's a huge step and you have learnt a lot
Hopefully you have confidence to look for the next opportunity.
Definitely ask for feedback from the company / agency
Also have you heard of star method before ? Google, there is lots of info on the net, to help you prep and think about how to communicate your skills.. It stands for: Situation, Task, Action, Result
Be kind to yourself, dust yourself down and then pick yourself up and tell yourself that you can do this xxx |
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