I made it past the phone interview. Help me get this job!

November 5, 2014 4:08 PM

I recently found out about a website/editorial job at a company where one of my good friends works. I also used to do some freelance writing for them. I submitted my resume, had a phone interview with the very cool editor, and now I have a scary interview with HR and a skills test and I am a little freaked out. Please help me solve three somewhat related anxiety spirals.

1. The skills test: I asked my friend about it and she said it was lame and an attempt to make their hiring process "more corporate." Still, I have no idea what to expect. Any advice?

2. Part of the job involves social media, and in my personal life, I am not very active on social media. I do use instagram somewhat, but the fact that I am a young, hip and tech savvy person isn't reflected by my super lame, locked down twitter and facebook accounts. Please help me not put my foot in my mouth on this one. Please.

3. I'm an actress, and I'm currently taking a two-year Meisner program that meets during the day. I don't have an agent and I don't audition during regular business hours very much, but I would like enough schedule flexibility that I'd be able to stay in class and audition every now and then. I would make up the hours by coming in early, staying late, or taking work home with me. My friend describes this company as flexible and my prospective boss works at home, so I don't think I'm asking for something that will necessarily get shot down, but should I even bring this up in the interview?

I really, really want this job. It's interesting, creative, and right up my alley. I also like the people I'd be working with. I've been working in restaurants since escaping the sixty-hour week hell of tv production, and this sounds like the rare "grown-up job" that might fit in with my life.

Forgive iphone typos. My thumbs are killing me ... Thanks!

posted by ablazingsaddle to Work & Money (9 answers total)

1) It's hard to say what yours will be like, but I've had a lot of "skills tests" for various jobs. They just want to see if you can do something like what they want you to do. If it's something with intermediate steps show your work and know how to explain/walk through what you're doing. For a website/editorial job they may ask you to write or edit something, or something along those lines (something that matches with the job). But don't stress about it, just do your best.

2) Know the lingo and the jargon and be prepared to explain it. If you do use twitter and Facebook in your personal life, be prepared to talk about that and that you lock them down for reasons.

3) Nooooooo do not bring this up in the interview. No no no. Bring this up only after they extend you a job offer and before you accept it. If at that point it doesn't work for you then turn down the offer. But never bring up stuff like that at the interview stage.
posted by brainmouse at 4:28 PM on November 5, 2014

1. Read up on SEO, make sure you're good with Wordpress or any other tools from the job posting (Adobe suite?) and Google Analytics if you have a site you can look at. But ultimately accept that you have the skill set you have. Just do your best. It might be a copy editing test! It depends on the role.

2. You will need a good answer for this one if it comes up. Have you participated in other communities? Otherwise you have to deflect with strategy..."I've not been building my own profile, but how I would build yours is...." If your production experience would help, reference that.

3. You don't bring it up until you have an offer. This wouldn't fly at my company but who knows.

I work in digital media. (And my social media profile sucks, and it is a huge liability but I can at least point to my brand's stats.) From your post I admit I question a bit (depending on the sophistication level if this company/role) whether you understand what a truly web editorial role is, but I encourage you to find out! I think production is a good lateral background to have.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:30 PM on November 5, 2014

.... I don't audition during regular business hours very much, but I would like enough schedule flexibility that I'd be able to stay in class and audition every now and then. I would make up the hours by coming in early, staying late, or taking work home with me. My friend describes this company as flexible and my prospective boss works at home, so I don't think....

I have found ways to ask employers questions for things that I want and at one point in my life, I found ways to ask about flexibility to attend classes for a Masters degree.

Anyway, this is how I usually do it. I do not outright ask something like that. However, think of words/ways to ask that question subtly (and get them to volunteer info about themselves). So one way that I can think to ask this off the top off my head is wait for them to volunteer info about themselves (they want to make themselves sound like great employers at some point). My guess based on what was said about your potential boss is taht you might hear "work life balance" or something like that. If you do hear these words, casually ask:Can you give me some examples of that? Also, don't ask just one person, ask a few people that you interview with to see if the answers are consistent (ie, some people, including the employer, can exaggerate/lie in an interview). But collect the data and sprinkle in other questions, too.

Do not ask about your case - but I do ask questions like that once the job offer has been extended to me. Then you negotiate that too, but verbally.

Good luck - it sounds like a great opportunity.
posted by Wolfster at 4:35 PM on November 5, 2014

Re #3: That's a benefits/compensation question, and inappropriate before there's an offer. By all means, get a sense of the company culture. But you don't ask for dispensations before there's employment.
posted by phearlez at 5:20 PM on November 5, 2014

See if glassdoor.com has any reviews about the company. I was interviewing for a job that had a test and I was able to get a general idea of what the test covered because someone who held the same position title I was applying for had written a review. That helped going into it, even if I had no idea specifically what would be asked or what I'd have to do for the test.
posted by AppleTurnover at 5:44 PM on November 5, 2014

I recently, when looking jobs, was twice given a Wonderlic test. I've had other tests: psychological attitude batteries, distraction tests, etc. Drug tests.

I am a data analyst.
posted by lathrop at 11:52 PM on November 5, 2014

I work in a completely different field (IT), but the last several job interviews I've had involved some "behavioral questions". Some sample questions are like "Explain a situation of where you had a work-related disagreement with a colleague and how you overcame it", and "Can you give us an example of a time when you weren't able to provide what your customer wanted, and how you dealt with that?".

I don't know if you'd be hit with those kinds of questions, but it might be something worth spending a bit of time thinking about before the interview, just in case.
posted by Diag at 4:58 AM on November 6, 2014

I'm in a similar line of work, and I've done skills tests before. I've normally been asked to edit a piece of copy -this could range from a superficial proof-read to a full edit for the web.

I've also been asked to do things including converting text into HTML, writing a couple of tweets based on the copy, and suggesting a couple of ways that it could be marketed online.

Basically, the company's checking to make sure I can actually do the things that I've said I can do to a basic standard. I wouldn't sweat it too much.

When I'm looking for new work I normally lock down my social media stuff - I'm not much of a personal-brand person and I figure my dumb jokes about video games are more of a liability than anything else. I haven't done anything with a particular emphasis on social media in the past, though, so YMMV.

Good luck with it! Feel free to send me a MeMail if you've got any questions.
posted by dudekiller at 7:58 AM on November 6, 2014

2. You present this as an advantage -- you understand how personal accounts are very different than how a business in X category needs to present themselves on social media. If the accounts are locked down, the business can't see them to see if what you post is super lame or not, focus on how you can present companyname on social media.

3. It sounds like this is more something you'd ideally like to do rather than something where you wouldn't take the job unless it's possible. The time to bring this up is after the offer. Figure out how to present this as good for them without using the phrase "I'm an actress". Surely there are things about this program that would be helpful for skills for your job -- public speaking perhaps? When you ask for flexible hours talk about how it would help them -- they probably want someone to keep an eye on what's going on in social media on weekends and after hours, or will if you explain why this would be a good idea.
posted by yohko at 12:33 PM on November 6, 2014