Now, if you're like me and get really nervous about interviews - I promise you, this is nothing like any interview you've ever had! It's more of a relaxed, casual chat than anything:)
So, I travelled by train from Norwich to Elstree and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire for my 12pm interview. I arrived at the offices and was extremely nervous! I chat to the lady at reception and she soon told me where to go. Hesitantly, I knocked on the door and entered, quite surprised to see a small office with only 4 ladies in there - one of them being my interviewer Brenda! Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, which soon eased my nerves!!
They sat me down, we had some basic small talk "how are you?" "how was the journey?" etc, and then we soon got down to business. Firstly, she checked through my references and the information I had given on my childcare experience to make sure they matched up - I had to change one of the dates on mine, I got the months mixed up haha! Also with us in the interview was another lady - I can't remember her name :( - who although was from Germany had a brilliant American accent, it wasn't until Brenda had pointed out the fact she wasn't American that I knew, she had spent 2 years as an Au Pair in the States, so having her there was really helpful to answer any questions about the actual experience. So, the questions that were asked were all very similar, "what do you think makes a good au pair?" "why do you think you would be a good au pair?" "what are your strengths?" questions like that - about the job and what you think makes a good applicant. Also, a lot of questions were about my personality, so my hobbies and what I liked doing, and also about some of the experiences I had with children, so what activities I liked doing with the kids I worked with and so forth.. as I said it really didn't feel like an interview! The only thing is that it was weird having to say really positive things about myself and my strengths, I didn't want to seem too big headed or cocky haha! But generally, the interview was good and pretty much as expected for an au pair interview :)
Also what I had to do was a personality test - to make sure I wasn't crazy or anything. That comprised of me sitting on a computer, which had scenario questions and personal questions that you had to say whether or not you thought they related to you - or 'don't know' if they were somewhere in between. An example of one of the questions is "you cope with situations calmy and efficiently" and then you either said if it applied to you or not - or 'don't know' if somewhere in-between :) Thankfully, I passed the test so I'm not a complete loon, which then went onto the application! Don't worry - there are no right or wrong answers, it's just the host families need to know what you're like in different situations and your general personality.. you'll be fine!
By the way, if anyone ever wants to contact me or anything to ask questions or whatever, you can either email me at: jodie_armstrong95@hotmail.co.uk or tweet me - @jodiesuzanne_
Thanks again for reading - will update soon!
Much love,
Jodie xo
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