So I've got a job interview.

redddraggon

softlad wrote:

They may also ask you to name members of the current shadow cabinet, or perhaps questions relating to Greece's national debt problem.

You should also expect to be asked for your views on solving the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or what impact Castro's death would have on political stabiliy in Cuba...

I'm sure William will pass well on the Halfords Drone Selection part of the interview, I'm pretty much certain he'll give them the right answers to those questions

zanes

freehub wrote:

The reason being, the course I am going to do at uni is not what I want to do,

Oh god.

nolf

softlad wrote:

They may also ask you to name members of the current shadow cabinet, or perhaps questions relating to Greece's national debt problem.

You should also expect to be asked for your views on solving the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or what impact Castro's death would have on political stabiliy in Cuba...

?

As an aside I'd love to be asked those questions in a job interview, and was actually asked about my views on (then potential) sovereign debt crises, and their impact on economic growth. Or course it was an interview for a regulatory agency

tomb8555

freehub wrote:

What will they want me to know? That they have a Halfords Bikehut road racing team, they also have some Nationwide Auto centers MOT that are re-branded Halfords, they have shops in Poland and the Czech rebublic as well as ireland and this country?

Just little bits of info like that?

Before running into the interview saying you know lots about Halfords..



I'm pretty sure the whole 'bikehut' thing has been scrapped. Certainly all the shops near me that were bike specific 'bikehuts' have reverted to normal halfords selling cheap stereos.


Also, 'Team Bikehut' no longer exists.

westerburk

just relax be yourself and enjoy it

dont forget to ask for the job.

Let us know when youre starting!

Cleat Eastwood

nolf wrote:

softlad wrote:

They may also ask you to name members of the current shadow cabinet, or perhaps questions relating to Greece's national debt problem.

You should also expect to be asked for your views on solving the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or what impact Castro's death would have on political stabiliy in Cuba...

?

As an aside I'd love to be asked those questions in a job interview, and was actually asked about my views on (then potential) sovereign debt crises, and their impact on economic growth. Or course it was an interview for a regulatory agency

You should follow Father Jacks response off Father ted and answer every question with "That would be an ecumenical matter"

dilemna

Good luck.

Be yourself, enthusiastic and smile. Not like Jack Nicholson or Robin Williams though.

Obviously if you are applying to Halfords you are practical and mechanically minded.

Find out a bit about Halfords the company such as their main business areas and aims, but don't go overboard as the people interviewing you will either think you're 1) a threat to them 2) will leave for a far better job in 2 months time or 3) you're a geek.

Make sure you mention delivering good customer satisfaction in the context of making money for the company so doing things quickly and efficiently ie repairing / setting up a bike or establishing which replacement spare part or accessory a POB needs for their BSO.

If you are stumped by a question don't say the first thing that comes into your head, pause and give the impression you are really considering an answer. They might not necessarily be looking for a specific answer buy how you deal with the question.

For instance, the store is busy, your colleague and boss are on a lunch break, how would you do with an awkward customer who is demanding a full refund on a wheel/tyre/bike he bought 7 months ago which looks a bit knackered?

I suspect they are looking for people who are calm under pressure, able to think on their feet and who can deliver results within their remit. If you don't know, don't be afraid to say so. They are not expecting you to know eveything, but rather than wallow and faff in your awkwardness of not knowing, try instead to give some indication of how you might address the issue or problem or who you might contact ........ think on your feet about how you might show you are thinking about solving/resolving an issue or making a sale.

skyd0g

Best of luck, and as already said above.
Try not to fall asleep during the interview - this may be an acceptable practice in lectures, but is apparently frowned upon during an interview. Remember, there will be plenty of time for that during your time of employment.

Vino2007

First job interview at 21? My oh my

MattC59

If you're not sure about hte dress code, phone them up. If the person interviewing you has anything about them, they'll recognise that you have the intelligence to at least ask.

The key to interviews is confidence in yourself......... and don't confuse that with arrogance. If you don't know the answer to a question don't bull sh*t, they'll know (unless you've got years of experience ).

This of course depends on the question, but they're not expecting you to know everything. eg. if you're asked whether you can lace a wheel, and you can't, tell them you know the principals, but haven't laced a wheel from scratch. Also tell them that you're good bike related things and you pick things easily. You're not lying, just being creative.

At the end of the interview, ask them if they have any reservations about giving you the job, and what you can do to address these reservations. It essentially gives you a chance to pick their brain about any specific concerns.
This puts the ball in their court and they'll remember you.

Good luck !!!!!

Mog Uk

freehub wrote:

I know they sell Chris Boardman bikes through Halfords Bike Hut stores and Carrera bikes

As has already been mentioned, not any more they don't

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 103398.ece

Make sure you wear clean underpants, makes the cough and drop test much more pleasant....

Mog Uk

freehub wrote:

I know they sell Chris Boardman bikes through Halfords Bike Hut stores and Carrera bikes

As has already been mentioned, not any more they don't

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 103398.ece

Make sure you wear clean underpants, makes the cough and drop test much more pleasant....

sheffsimon

dilemna wrote:

Good luck.

Be yourself, enthusiastic and smile. Not like Jack Nicholson or Robin Williams though.

Obviously if you are applying to Halfords you are practical and mechanically minded.

Find out a bit about Halfords the company such as their main business areas and aims, but don't go overboard as the people interviewing you will either think you're 1) a threat to them 2) will leave for a far better job in 2 months time or 3) you're a geek.

Make sure you mention delivering good customer satisfaction in the context of making money for the company so doing things quickly and efficiently ie repairing / setting up a bike or establishing which replacement spare part or accessory a POB needs for their BSO.

If you are stumped by a question don't say the first thing that comes into your head, pause and give the impression you are really considering an answer. They might not necessarily be looking for a specific answer buy how you deal with the question.

For instance, the store is busy, your colleague and boss are on a lunch break, how would you do with an awkward customer who is demanding a full refund on a wheel/tyre/bike he bought 7 months ago which looks a bit knackered?

I suspect they are looking for people who are calm under pressure, able to think on their feet and who can deliver results within their remit. If you don't know, don't be afraid to say so. They are not expecting you to know eveything, but rather than wallow and faff in your awkwardness of not knowing, try instead to give some indication of how you might address the issue or problem or who you might contact ........ think on your feet about how you might show you are thinking about solving/resolving an issue or making a sale.

Whoa there, its a job at Halfords, not selection for Sandhurst.

freehub

I notice that CB Bikes website, there is this - "The Boardman range is available exclusively through more than 200 selected Halfords Bikehut stores in the Uk and Eire."

So there is still "Halfords Bikehut" stores, just not "Bikehut" specific stores. They all sell bits of "Bikehut" branded stuff though even though they're not "Bikehut" stores.

I know they scrapped the whole fully re branded Halfords stores of Bike hut, and from what I can tell there is currently no more Halfords team for cycling any more, at least, all that comes up on the internet is old articles about Halfords Bikehut.

softlad

I wouldn't worry too much about it Will, to be honest. If you have even a passing interest in bikes it will put you at an automatic advantage and you will probably be promoted to Halfords' board of directors within a few months anyway....

Bunneh

I worked for Halfords in the late 90s, back then it was black pants, white shirt and a Halfords tie.

I had 2 interviews, one with the 2 main guys in the cycle department and another with the assistant manager and manager. The first interview I turned up in a very neat and tidy, casual, shirt with no tie. I made sure not to draw attention to it and just got on with the interview, everything went well I explained what I knew about bikes and had a good grounding in MTB repair and maintanence.

Second interview I made sure I was poshed up, I knew I was seeing the store manager and wanted to make a damn fine impression. I was told that I made a brilliant impression on the two lads in the prior interview and they would call me at the end of the week. I got the job without a problem.

My first day there was chaos, I seemed to be the only one there who actually knew how to build a bike, or at least build it up with some thought. They'd leave bikes lying around with no indication what was wrong with them, so it was using my own judgement in order to repair them. At one point I needed to retap a thread on a rear mech hanger; I'd never done that before and was explaining to the security guard - 'I used to be an engineer, I'll show you!' he said and actually did it for me!

I had no training at all! I had my money stolen out of my coat, a can of coke stolen out of the fridge in the staff room and got laid with one of the sales assistants - so it wasn't all bad...

Halfords have changed a lot, but I suspect if you have any good knowledge of bikes you will like get a job there and been leaned upon as the expert; oh fun times I hope you get a 'older' guy who has a lot of experience supervising; those types of mechanics will teach you a lot.

Pross

Just remember that Halfords core business is still car parts and accessories so it may not be a good idea to focus solely on the bike side of things as they could be looking for a general assistant (unless you know you are being interviewed for the bike department).

freehub

Tonight I'm just going to look again on the Halfords Wiki page, and Halfords Carrers page, and perhaps find some other info elsewhere.

I'll have to treat it abit like exam revision and I'm not the best at that.

skyd0g

I assume that you may have had some other job previously? If so, think of what skills or experience may be transferable.

If not, think of things you already do (your studying / your subject) that would put you at an advantage over other candidates and that may be useful in your job at Halfords.

Chip \'oyler

freehub wrote:

Tonight I'm just going to look again on the Halfords Wiki page, and Halfords Carrers page, and perhaps find some other info elsewhere.

I'll have to treat it abit like exam revision and I'm not the best at that.

Making sure you have attention to detail would be a good start

freehub

I hope I'll have an opportunity to talk about my self and that I like to build up bicycles, I take mine apart allot, find it really interesting doing bicycle maintenance I do do things such as long distance, TT's, races, Audaxes, Sportives and killing myself for fun, etc....

redddraggon

freehub wrote:

I hope I'll have an opportunity to talk about my self, cycling, what I do in cycling; long distance, TT's, races, Audaxes, Sportives and killing myself for fun, etc....

They'll more likely want to talk about your work experiences rather than your recreational experiences.

freehub

Probably, that is why I clearly started that sentence with "I hope I'll have an opportunity to talk about my self"

mroli

Will - as a passing note and a nugget of information, Halfords recently supported the Deloitte Ride Across Britain (www.rideacrossbritain.com) where they provided mechanical support at campsites and at pitstops throughout the tour.

Part of this was aimed at addressing the negative image that Halfords have in the bike world and this was pretty effective - certainly the support was welcomed.

We had Halfords and Boardman managment riding with us and they were very much into their bikes and the ride.

Cheers

Ollieda

Don't know if anyone's mentioned it already but if you can say you noticed that halfords sponsor the TdF broadcast on ITV......if anyone who has a hand in general marketing on interest in marketing (i.e. store manager upwards) then they normally like it when people notice their adverts.

freehub

I've noticed the adverts they've got CB bikes on ain't they.

shouldbeinbed

freehub wrote:

Probably, that is why I clearly started that sentence with "I hope I'll have an opportunity to talk about my self"

they'll ask at some stage if theres anything else you want to tell them or 'tell us about yourself' this is the place for this info, but keep it in check, cycling enthusiasm = good, mile by mile breakdown of a 60 mile interval ride = bit obsessive and likely to scare them off.

avoid the medical history


get bit of gen on the head office / financial bits of the company too: top selling items and brands, annual profits, are they up or down on previous year, chief execs name and his aim for the company, any recent acquisitions or mergers, affiliations or concesions in the stores


Also at the end of the interview, thank them and ask them when you'll find out if you've got the job. Don't say that even if you don't get ithe job, the experience has been good - I wince at this one because it shows someone thats not too bothered and isn't going to be too gutted if they don't get it. I'd rather have someone keen to start and lkely to be gutted if I say no than someone that will shrug their shoulders and wander off.

if they have a customer charter or 'leadership expectations' or similar such mallarky, learn it pick out the key words and drop them in (someone mentioned proactive and can do attitude - good ones to use appropriately)

be smart and smile, take a moment when they've asked the question before you speak to get your thoughts together and then answer clearly and keep focussed on the question, don't be afraid to ask them to repeat it or for clarification rather than blundering in, always try to bring in practical examples that support what you are saying - it doesn't have to be work based as long as its relevant. If you're really out of your depth on a question, focus on what you can do thats close and play up your willingness to learn and get training to fill the gap.

good luck and try to enjoy it

freehub

Thanks all.

Well I've learned some facts about the company in case they ask me what I know about the company, they may not be useful facts, but I hope that they should at least show me that I have took the time to research about the company.

I found an area on the site about news on releases, they've just very recently released DAB radios, I gather this are might actually be useful for people working there.

I got some info from the Wiki page, and I've learnt who the HR Director of the company is, as well as when/where the the company was founded, the name of the founder, and where the company actually got it's current name from.

Most of the other questions I could be asked, I think I am able to give a good answer.

skyd0g

Good luck with the interview Will. At the very least it will give you some experience of interviews (which is always useful) - bonus if you get the job (which you should do, unless you get your knob out).

freehub

Lol thanks.

I hope they don't think bad of me thinking I've come scruffy to the interview, see these black trousers I'm wearing seem to expose my quads allot lol, might as well walk in there in lycra shorts, they look like trousers they used to wear in the 70s or something, tight on the thighs, then go flared towards the bottom. Deffo gonna need some new ones.