Attending
interviews are almost a stress elevating activity that one wonders how to scale
that hurdle in a market where the employer has choices.
As it transpired, from the interviews slots on offer, the first was selected and the round of questions began with as vague as possible enquiries about experience that answering questions were difficult.
Much as interviewers are already in the system, the need to school them in proper interview technique might be missed and in the process what might appear as an excellent performance on telephone might not be a demonstration of the wealth of experience.
Whilst the CV is quite clear on the particular skills on sale, the questions seem to ignore that context though it has been reviewed before a shortlist elects to engage you in discussion.
Breaching the gate
The sometimes insurmountable are questions that derive from everyday practical experience of the interviewer, which may never have been encountered by the interviewee. Some solutions are never needed until one is met with a problem demanding that solution amongst many.
Nothing can
simulate enough the demands of some of these questions and the lack of use
depreciates in the memory, to fleeting, unsure and seemingly badly delivered
answers belying a sense of lacking in confidence.
One cannot afford to be fearful, at the same time one just needs the chance beyond the gate to prove that one is much beyond the conversation had before.
The question is,
how do you breach that to allow a greater conviction of who and what you are?
If I am to access
customer services anywhere, I take the time to find out what is expected of me
to easily obtain the assistance or service I need.
There is nothing
like having too much information at hand to help determine what you really want
and in the same vein; it prevents the situation where they could persuade you
into going for something else that does not suit your purposes.
When I went
shopping for my high specification laptop that came with 4GB of RAM but had a
capacity for 16GB, I had obtained the information for the 16GB option, bought
the default configuration and upgraded the laptop at home; saving me, about
£200 if I went for a laptop fully configured to me desired specification.
I visited the shop with 16 pages of information, and each sales pitch fell flat as I flipped page after page of my research stressing why I had made my decision and emphatically making it clear that I would not be swayed.
Showing the letter to fight
Today, I walked
into the 3Three mobile telephony shop to remove the adult content filter on my
phone. This is not to entertain bawdry activity but to take of restrictions
where somewhat overzealous censors might have blocked innocuous websites.
Besides, I should
not be embarrassed to visit websites of an adult nature, and I do not want the
establishment to determine what I can or cannot view even if I do not end up
viewing sites the sententious might presume will corrupt my morals.
3Three provides one
of the following three
ways of removing the adult filter.
A refundable credit
card charge.
By visiting a
3Store with identification to verify age.
Over the phone by
calling customer services and still having a credit card.
I chose to visit
the store because that meant I could have questions answered along with all the
assistance I require if there are issues.
I approached the
counter and asked to enable Adult Content and the customer service agent said I
should call Customer Services because the adult filter cannot be lifted
in-store.
Giving the letter to sight
Patiently, I attempted to access a possible adult site and the filter warning came up with the instructions, the letter of which was clear, it can be done in-store and so I expect it to be done in-store until such a time when the advice on the 3Three website is removed.
Seeing that I had won the argument, the agent himself called Customer Services and went through the process that involved reading disjointed numbers off my SIM card, reciting my phone number like a mantra and though I am a good many years over 18, I still had to prove I was over 18.
Having things done
to the letter can be pernickety but I will not be fobbed off by recalcitrance
in the face of compelling information.
Seeing the letter of blight
As I left the store and got to the City of London, not too far from a church, a little inhabitant scurried into a cranny defying to the letter the metaphor of being as poor as church mouse, this mouse was probably too well fed to be swift on its feet.
Perish the thought
that besides the vermin of banksters
that roam the skyscraper sewers of the City of London gambling away our futures
for bonuses today, we have the compounded infestation of vermin in subterranean
sewers too.
In no way, have I found to love these scenarios to the letter without a fight for the right in the sight of blight.
The first time I got one of those telephone scratch cards to make International calls to Nigeria, I was completely clueless about what to do, then I once walked into one of those international telephony shops in Antwerp, the system did not work for me and the support was dire.
A number of those telephony shops on the Antwerp main street in front of the Central Station now have Police Notices, one can only wonder why - the suspicion is that they might have been havens for all sorts of nefarious activities from Advanced Fee Fraud to Money Laundering.
Anyway, I have had the comfort of my landline to call anywhere I want in the world without worrying about the bill. There have been times that I have made those calls on my mobile phone if situation requires that I do.
The loss of the international telephony service from my landline is definitely not good, most of my contacts are in the UK and then I have friends all around the world including Papua New Guinea (PNG), you say Papua What? Well, he went there and I would only visit to rendezvous at Darwin in Australia - the whole thought of natives picking their teeth with my bones is not in the least endearing.
That is what happens if your knowledge of faraway lands is based on fable, folklore, generalisations and rumour.
Skype, it is
So, I have got me Skype - Internet Telephony, the whole works - ability to call landlines - €0.017 per minute - over most of the globe, call forwarding to my mobile, private phone number in the UK such that with Skype Pro all national calls are free and a Sitecom Skype-compatible USB handset.
Since, I always travel with my laptop and I always try to get online anyhow, Skype is an added capability that means, I do not have to pay exorbitant hotel phone bills or outrageously rip-off mobile roaming charges.
I think I have adopted this technology at the right time; for those who really do need to have completely free calls, get on Skype and get your friends on Skype too, that way, you create networks of free communication for as long as you want.
