Getting out of Southampton :o)
Work Stuff: 2012-01-19: Recruitment Event
I'm actually feeling very comfortable at my current job at the University of Southampton. However, a friend posted on facebook about a graduate job in London and I can't really be turning down graduate level jobs at this point; I'm really stretching out how long it's been since I graduate as it is. It's for a firm called Sogeti doing software testing; not quite what I might have envisioned myself doing but it beats admin.
So I travelled up to London for the day to go to the event. Typical recruitment stuff really; a presentation, a group activity, an exam and a couple of interviews.
The group activity one was pretty standard; you're stuck in x and you need to rank the most important items from this list. I find that stuff quite comfortable and I was quite relaxed (having a job already helps a lot). It's the roleplay stuff that makes me feel a bit more awkward and there was none of that. I think I contributed enough and I got on well with everyone else in the team so that was all good.
Both interviews went well; I thought I had an okay rapport with both interviewers and we did a nice mix of work-related chat and just general small-talk, which was quite good for me. I was asked to explain my philosophy degree dissertation in layman's terms, which is probably one of the most dreaded questions an interviewer can ask a philosophy graduate :oP I think I did a reasonable job of explaining it in ordinary terms but I don't know how much sense it made to the other guy :oP Still, despite being a philosophy graduate, I think I gave the impression of a general understanding of the field and I seemed to spend about ten minutes talking to one interviewer about Southampton (he studied there at university), which I suspect must count in my favour.
It's the written exam that I'm not sure of. It took me a few read throughs to get any idea of what I was supposed to be doing :oP It was all about finding problems and issues in a 'specification outline' (or something like that) for an IT project and I'd never done anything like it before. Mind you, the guys who had studied that area (which was seemingly everyone else because I was the only humanities graduate there) apparently thought it was very hard as well and had to 'wing it', which is basically what I did. If I guessed right then I think I should get the job... if I guessed wrong then probably not :oP
Worst case scenario is that I don't get the job and have to start pushing for a better paid position over at the Highfield campus :o)
I nipped around Camden for a bit afterwards (I was in London and had a travelcard so why not...). Reminds me of why I don't bother going; nowt there that I couldn't get easier online :oP
Update: So it turns out that I didn't get it... In a way that might be for the best given that I would have had to live in some kind of converted closet in order to live in London but is still disappointing. The way things are going at the university, I'm fairly sure I can work my way up to an equivalent wage but I'm increasingly feeling the need to spend more time outside of Southampton; actually living outside of it would have suited that quite nicely.
Apparently I did very well on the written technical exam; one of the better candidates. I think that's rather impressive given that the others had been taught in it and I was just winging it. :oP Unfortunately, they said that some of the latter candidates on other days had better 'consultancy skills' than me. I got the impression that at least some of the problem may have been not giving the right kind of answers to the sorts of structured 'story-telling' type questions that seem so damned popular right now.
Diary: 2012-01-27: Pandominia at Club at The Lounge, Portsmouth
Finally made it to Brian's event; was quite good and will likely be going again.
Upstairs area was nicely decorated and the music was a very good mix; no sitting about waiting for something to dance to. There was quite a bit of Trad Goth mixed in with some EBM/Industrial and a little bit of Industrial rock. All quite good as far as I'm concerned.
Downstairs was a small quiet area next to a spacious Dungeon area, although I didn't spend much time down there so don't have a lot to say about it (I really only turn up to Goth-Fetish clubs for the music) :oP
The atmosphere was nice with a lot of people making a lot of effort. I didn't know many people and most of the people I did know turned up later than I did but by the end of the night I knew a few more people; ended up at an afterparty local to the club, which was nice. Should know a fair few more people for next time :o)
Diary: 2012-02-04: Slimelight
So, heard that a few friends were down Slimelight so took the opportunity to head up.
It's actually looking considerably nicer than last time was there; there's a little less seating space but the areas are generally looking a bit better decorated, which is nice. More importantly, I met a bunch of new people, which was really nice. The trip back home from London wasn't so bad this time either because I'd gotten myself a new railcard and took the train, which is always a bit nicer than getting a coach back :oP
I think I'll be taking a few more trips down Slimelight across the next few months. Should be good :o)
link: Burqas and Bikinis: Introducing the Concepts Macroproblematic and Microproblematic
Valentine's Day: Valentinr
Get your own valentinr
I'm actually feeling very comfortable at my current job at the University of Southampton. However, a friend posted on facebook about a graduate job in London and I can't really be turning down graduate level jobs at this point; I'm really stretching out how long it's been since I graduate as it is. It's for a firm called Sogeti doing software testing; not quite what I might have envisioned myself doing but it beats admin.
So I travelled up to London for the day to go to the event. Typical recruitment stuff really; a presentation, a group activity, an exam and a couple of interviews.
The group activity one was pretty standard; you're stuck in x and you need to rank the most important items from this list. I find that stuff quite comfortable and I was quite relaxed (having a job already helps a lot). It's the roleplay stuff that makes me feel a bit more awkward and there was none of that. I think I contributed enough and I got on well with everyone else in the team so that was all good.
Both interviews went well; I thought I had an okay rapport with both interviewers and we did a nice mix of work-related chat and just general small-talk, which was quite good for me. I was asked to explain my philosophy degree dissertation in layman's terms, which is probably one of the most dreaded questions an interviewer can ask a philosophy graduate :oP I think I did a reasonable job of explaining it in ordinary terms but I don't know how much sense it made to the other guy :oP Still, despite being a philosophy graduate, I think I gave the impression of a general understanding of the field and I seemed to spend about ten minutes talking to one interviewer about Southampton (he studied there at university), which I suspect must count in my favour.
It's the written exam that I'm not sure of. It took me a few read throughs to get any idea of what I was supposed to be doing :oP It was all about finding problems and issues in a 'specification outline' (or something like that) for an IT project and I'd never done anything like it before. Mind you, the guys who had studied that area (which was seemingly everyone else because I was the only humanities graduate there) apparently thought it was very hard as well and had to 'wing it', which is basically what I did. If I guessed right then I think I should get the job... if I guessed wrong then probably not :oP
Worst case scenario is that I don't get the job and have to start pushing for a better paid position over at the Highfield campus :o)
I nipped around Camden for a bit afterwards (I was in London and had a travelcard so why not...). Reminds me of why I don't bother going; nowt there that I couldn't get easier online :oP
Update: So it turns out that I didn't get it... In a way that might be for the best given that I would have had to live in some kind of converted closet in order to live in London but is still disappointing. The way things are going at the university, I'm fairly sure I can work my way up to an equivalent wage but I'm increasingly feeling the need to spend more time outside of Southampton; actually living outside of it would have suited that quite nicely.
Apparently I did very well on the written technical exam; one of the better candidates. I think that's rather impressive given that the others had been taught in it and I was just winging it. :oP Unfortunately, they said that some of the latter candidates on other days had better 'consultancy skills' than me. I got the impression that at least some of the problem may have been not giving the right kind of answers to the sorts of structured 'story-telling' type questions that seem so damned popular right now.
Diary: 2012-01-27: Pandominia at Club at The Lounge, Portsmouth
Finally made it to Brian's event; was quite good and will likely be going again.
Upstairs area was nicely decorated and the music was a very good mix; no sitting about waiting for something to dance to. There was quite a bit of Trad Goth mixed in with some EBM/Industrial and a little bit of Industrial rock. All quite good as far as I'm concerned.
Downstairs was a small quiet area next to a spacious Dungeon area, although I didn't spend much time down there so don't have a lot to say about it (I really only turn up to Goth-Fetish clubs for the music) :oP
The atmosphere was nice with a lot of people making a lot of effort. I didn't know many people and most of the people I did know turned up later than I did but by the end of the night I knew a few more people; ended up at an afterparty local to the club, which was nice. Should know a fair few more people for next time :o)
Diary: 2012-02-04: Slimelight
So, heard that a few friends were down Slimelight so took the opportunity to head up.
It's actually looking considerably nicer than last time was there; there's a little less seating space but the areas are generally looking a bit better decorated, which is nice. More importantly, I met a bunch of new people, which was really nice. The trip back home from London wasn't so bad this time either because I'd gotten myself a new railcard and took the train, which is always a bit nicer than getting a coach back :oP
I think I'll be taking a few more trips down Slimelight across the next few months. Should be good :o)
link: Burqas and Bikinis: Introducing the Concepts Macroproblematic and Microproblematic
Valentine's Day: Valentinr
Get your own valentinr