I got my pen license ten years ago (can you please jot that down?)

Since graduating from University last year, I have worked in a couple of roles that haven’t coincided with my career pathway goals. Frustrated with my lack of job satisfaction, I decided to get real and stop chasing the dollar signs and start chasing the experience.

I am not sure if it’s because I’ve started applying for graduate/entry-level positions that I am increasingly asked questions relating to my high school days: What high school did you go to? When did you finish? What was your ENTER score? What subjects did you study?

Directionless, young, wild and free me (ten years ago)

These questions take me back, both literally and metaphorically. I finished high school ten years ago and my peers and I were always under the impression (because we were explicitly told) that after a couple of years, high school and your final scores are no longer relevant. They never told me that my 18 year-old-ghost-self-from-the-past would come back to haunt me ten years later though.

Britney Spears post mental-breakdown
(aka 18 yr old Leah)

Back in the day, my high school self was far from studious. I was directionless, lacked career motives, spent my disposable money on fashion, alcohol and taxi rides home from the city and barely saved my money. I hadn’t been overseas but was constantly dreaming about it and giving in to the “what-ifs”. I partied hard and drank harder. I just knew I wanted to enjoy being young while I was, have fun, live recklessly and responsibility-free.

Flash-forward to my 28^th year, I am still consuming alcohol but far less than I used to and hardly ever going to clubs. I have moved out of home, pay my own bills, save my money and am on my way to becoming a responsible adult. I have travelled to thirteen different, lived in Mexico for seven months, enjoy language barriers and never give in to “what ifs”. I have also since returned to studies, completed a degree, have clear direction and ambition of the career path I want to take and determination to get there.

"…Baby One More Time"-Britney (aka current Leah)

So when interviewees question my high school self and ENTER score, I feel like responding:

“You’re wanting me to compare the young, ambitious ‘…Baby One More Time’-Britney Spears dedicated to making a career for herself; to post-mental-breakdown, directionless ‘Gimme More’-Britney Spears?! My 18-year-old self was ‘Gimme More’-Britney. I am the ‘…Baby One More Time’- Britney (without the naivety)! Same person, but that's like comparing apples to oranges. Especially when they haven’t ripened. Although I appreciate your questions of interest, no one cares anymore that Guy Sebastian won ‘Australian Idol’ or participated in ‘World Idol’ ten years ago and lost, because it has no relevancy anymore! He has done so much more with his life and career in the past ten years, as have I. So can we please concentrate and focus on the relevancy of that?” 

Guy Sebastian, circa ten years ago: Whatta dork!

... Instead I just usually respond, “that was ten years ago and I actually think I got my pen license about then too. (Can you please write that down/quote me on that?) Also are you sure what I did a decade ago really has any relevancy now?”

>>> So tell me, what interview question(s) gets you riled up?

x Leah Tortilla

#BeyoncéWouldBeProud

#SpeakYourMind

Personal Favourite Interview Tips (Part Deux)

On Monday I published Part One of my Personal Favourite Interview Tips. Sharing advice such as 'know the job you are going for', 'wear something memorable' and 'ask lots of questions'. In Part Deux, I share the following: 

# Smiling = positive attitude

By nature I am quite a smiley person. I have a positive attitude towards life and feel it resonates through my smile.

My former manager once told me “you can teach the right person skills and knowledge, however you cannot teach a person the right attitude”.

Having a positive attitude is a highly sort after trait in most companies. Even if you are not generally a positive person, fake it with a smile. Practice in the mirror … Go on, I dare you!

"I want to be you whenever I see you smiling" as the lyrics go in Gnarls Barkley song 'Smiley Faces'

^ People are attracted to people with positive attitudes as they tend to be vibrant and happy

# Do not be afraid of your accomplishments

There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance. If you are proud of your achievements, then be confident in the interview to let your future employer know how you’d be a great asset to their company by putting it into context. However don’t be forceful or assertive about it. Simply remain your modest, confident self, but be proud of your achievements!

"What are you asking me!?"

# Be prepared for stupid questions

I was once asked in an interview ‘what animal I would be and why?’ In the same interview I was also asked why I haven’t been able to keep a steady job for more than a year. I was 18/19 years old at the time, with less than a year out of High School, studying Beauty Therapy full time. The questions seemed strange, irrelevant and the last one, condescending. I was applying to be a Retail Assistant at a shoe store. A role I had previous experience with, which I felt was being overlooked. So my advice is to be wary that some employers like to throw you off with irrelevant questions to test you. If their questions make you feel uncomfortable, or feel more like a rhetoric attack than question, it is okay to ask the relevancy of their question to the job interview.

*Remember if you think the interview is steering off-topic, it’s okay to control and steer it back to relevancy.

# Ask when you will hear back if you are successful

This is the most important question in an interview! If they say ‘by next Friday’, make note in your diary to call them if you do not hear back from them. Sometimes employers get busy or forget and they may need a little reminder. Also by calling them to find out your success shows persistence, dedication and interest in the position.

L'Oréal's knows you're worth it!

# Know your worth

If you’ve spent years dedicating long hours and working hard towards your Bachelors, Masters, Honours or PHD for this role, then know your worth! Don’t work for free. Research how much you should be getting paid for the position and go to the interview with that figure in mind. Since your education wasn’t for free and you spent however many years working towards it, it is okay to negotiate salary if you think you are worth it. Don’t take anything less unless you think the position itself is worth it.

***I think it’s okay to discuss pay during the interview, though my mother thinks it is something to be negotiated after you’ve been offered the role. What do you think?

Have you got any Interview Tips and Tricks you would like to share?

Please share them in the Comment Space below. Or alternatively you can email them.

#BeyoncéWouldBeProud x