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[blanktom]

Not sure if this merits a new thread but here goes!

I recently quit my job and after a couple of weeks unemployed, I've landed myself an interview at a marketing agency right in the centre of the city that I live in, about a 15 minute walk from my house. I'm pretty confident, but I've never worked in a office before, all my jobs have been in retail or catering, but the lady sounded really enthusiastic on the phone, and I'm thinking the fact they called me about an interview less than an hour after I emailed them my CV is probably a good scene.

So basically I'm asking for advice on how to go about this interview. Also, if (fingers crossed) I'm successful, are there any pointers on the whole 'office' experience?

[Lunchbox]

Go you!
I was in much the same situation when I was interviewed for the job I have at the moment - I'd never really worked in an office but wheedled my way into the position by listing my waitressing skills and how relevant they were to office work - work quickly to reach deadlines, communication, delegating, teamwork, blah blah.
Dress up as best you can for the interview. Even if they're a casual work environment they'll appreciate seeing you at your best. This means button-down shirt, slacks, and leather shoes. Tidy your hair as much as possible, even if you think you look dumb.
Also, if they sound eager on the phone, they probably are actually eager.

After the rush of working food or retail, office work can feel a bit boring. But it's okay! Being able to take actual breaks and getting to sit down all day is totally worth it.

As for 'office' tips, every single office is different in their work ethic, work relationships, office etiquette. Just make sure you keep your desk and any common areas you use as tidy as possible (again, after working food and retail, this is second nature).

I'm sorry! That wasn't very useful.

But go for it!
And good luck!

[A Wet Helmet]

My advice is pretty typical and largely already said.

Dress nice.   Not like, "Hey, this looks pretty good compared to how I normally look."  But like, nice-nice. (Of course, I have no idea how you normally look, but I'm projecting my own 'normal' wardrobe of running shorts and a bad brains t-shirt onto what I think everyone hangs out in).    I wear a full blown suit every single day to the office and believe me... Outside of work I'm about the furthest thing in the world from what you'd think a "suit" is. 

Project confidence without arrogance.   Confidence goes a long way.

Know something about the company you're interviewing with.   Be able to speak with a fair degree of intelligence about what they do.   Do research!  Have prepared questions.

Send a hand written thank you note after you're done to the person (or people) who interviewed you.

Take several copies of your resume with you.  Take a notebook and ask if you can write things down.  It shows interest.

Learn from the interview.  If you don't get the job analyze what you think you did well and didn't do well.   Prepare answers for the questions you don't think you did well on.

Smile and make eye contact.   

Once you get the job, try to take cues from your coworkers as to the standard of behavior.  Every place is different.  Every group is different.  My boss and I --my team and I, honestly-- behave much differently around just each other than we do around anyone else in the company.  Shit we say to each other regularly would get us fired in about ten seconds flat outside the group.  You've got to know who you can get away with stuff like that with and who you can't.   

Pick a mentor or two to learn from, but choose carefully.   The phrase "office politics" came into being for a reason.

All this comes from about a decade now of office life at a few different places.   I recently left a company I had been with for several years.  After about a three month search start-to-finish landed a gig with a big, big player in industry.  Honestly, I don't know if there is anyone else in my business I'd rather work for.  Getting there though took a couple rejections, a couple of turned down offers, and a lot of really nasty uncertainty and self doubt.  Things do tend to work out in the long run, and even if you end up working someplace that sucks, you can learn what not to do from it.

[blanktom]

Thanks guys, this is all really good advice. One problem now;

I've got a couple of friends who went for interviews with the same place when they were recruiting and they've told me that the job itself is not exactly what they expected. It would seem my business jargon translator isnt that great. 'P2P Marketing in the field' actually means knocking on peoples doors asking them for money for charity. I dont know if you get much of this in the US, but its really common in the UK. My two friends said after the first interview they were asked to do a voluntary day of work in said 'field' doing the whole knocking and begging thing. Also, there's no basic wage or salary, the whole thing is commission based.

TL;DR Friends tell me job is shitty, I'm not so sure anymore.

[Barmymoo]

Don't do it. Asking for money is soul-destroying, particularly if it is for a good cause, because only about 1/20 people ever give anything (it may be a little different if you are actually on their doorstep but potentially even worse) and if you are working on commission they think it is appalling and may change their mind about giving.

On the other hand if there's a prospect of promotion to a better role with a real salary, it might be best to take it and work up as jobs are hard to come by at the moment. But otherwise you are potentially doing yourself out of a regular salary by committing to something without one.

[Gemmwah]

Job is shitty. I worked doing commission based stuff for a while, and although they offered me a basic wage too,  it was very high pressure to go for that commission. Taking away the wage would have made the job entirely unbearable. For reference, I worked for Zenith Bowater selling double glazing, doors, coving, drainage, garage doors etc. Ugh.

[TheFuriousWombat]

Definitely don't do it. I worked as a street canvaser this summer in New York for Human Rights Campaign and it was brutal work. If people weren't telling my that all gays were going to burn in hell (the campaign this summer was for lgbt workplace equality) they were completely ignoring me almost without exception. You really lose some faith in humanity in those situations. Also you almost definitely don't want the bulk of your pay to come from a commission unless your really convincing. I quit pretty quickly, there's no way I could have endured even a month of it. Maybe you have better constitution than I do but I still say avoid it. There's plenty more out there somewhere. I'd honestly rather wait tables or make coffee than do that again.

[benji]

This is sort of a scam, and it's done here in the states too. The whole point is that they recruit as many people as possible and then send you out. Anyway, I would only take that if you didn't have any other options. However, if you think you might like sales as a career it can be a good way to learn. My wife has said she learned more in 2 weeks of selling coupon books door to door then she learned as a car salesperson or as a sales rep for a publishing company. Working on straight commission can be the kind of sink or swim environment that can really get you going, but if you sink it's going to suck.

[Aurjay]

Sounds like a horrible job. Sales is hard anyway but doing it door to door and then only on commission just seems cruel. I would also suspect a very high turnover being the reason they called you back so quickly. Also the whole work a day voluntarily just seems odd to me. If you work somewhere even if its just training you should get paid.

[Barmymoo]

Whilst they're probably doing that voluntary day to save money, there can be a sensible reason behind it - when I was working on a telephone fundraising campaign we all did an evening without pay so that we could say we'd donated three hours' wages to the campaign. We weren't on commission, though, so it was less exploitative.

[Aurjay]

Another thing you need to think about is when you work somewhere even part time it makes trying to find another job even harder. You will have obligations to your current job and might not be able to go on interviews to find something else.

[blanktom]

Well, I went for the interview and it went really well, I asked about my concerns and got some pretty honest answers. There is the promise of a basic wage as well as comission, and its still more than I was earning at my last job. Also, its not technically door to door sales, but going to the homes of people already using x product (Sky, Talk Talk phones etc) and offering them the upgrade packages. Now THAT, I can do. I just hate the idea of cold calling, and the chap promised me they don't do that.

So yeah. I DO have to go and do 8 hours tomorrow, but I'm not actually doing any of the leg work, I'm there to observe and see what the job involves, ask any questions etc, so I'm going for it! I will let you know if its actually as shitty as my friends told, or if it turns out to be a decent job.

[Zingoleb]

Oh my god, I almost got involved in a company like that. Be so careful, I don't know about your company, but Vector Marketing was scum.

[calenlass]

Oh man, Vector recruits at my uni, but all they do is post fliers that say "NEED MONEY? STUDENT AND PART TIME JOBS AVAILABLE!". I went to see what they were offering once a long time ago (it was selling those crazy knives and those shears that can cut a penny in half) and left after twenty minutes because it was such bullshit.

[jhocking]

I did a job like this once in grad school (door to door, commission) doing political fundraising. Since I was working for a cause I believed in I enjoyed it, and now I'm certainly much better at just walking up to random people and talking to them, but almost as soon as the summer was over I realized "y'know, that was actually a pretty crappy job, I see why so many other people burned out fast." I mean, I only did it for one summer, I'm not sure I would have lasted longer.

Also, I had to pay parking tickets for parking exactly where my boss told me to (ie. they were usually in the passenger seat pointing out the spot.) That's not directly relevant to the other issues, but is symptomatic of the general need to be careful taking them at their word with these sort of jobs.

[Neskah]

I'm being strongly suggested by my partner and friends to quit my job, since my last review. And I'm feeling very let down by my employer.

I've busted my arse over the past two years, on less then industry standard salary, because whilst I have a brain and use it willingly, i don't have certificates to prove I can do the things I do, being self taught. I accepted the salary on the basis that once they can see what i'm capable of the pay goes up.

It's been two years. I'm doing much more complicated work and many hours unpaid overtime. They know i'm reliable, dependable, i don't take holidays, and I've literally covered three ppls duties across two branches when the situations needed it. Whenever something exceptional pops up I get shafted it because they know i'll get it done and done right. Mostly because I'm a little possessive and would feel embarrassed to do work below my personal standard.

But other wise I'm disrespected and repeatedly mocked. The more work I do, the more that's demanded. The office politcs don't work and don't look to change. My request for a pay rise is being considered but i'm not hopeful that what they come back with will reflect what I've put in.

And I'm frustrated. I know I've been a bit of a door mat, but I honestly gave everything thinking loyalty and hardwork would get rewarded. I feel like I've wasted the past two years.

So now I'm looking for a new job with little hope. There's not a lot going in my area, which was why i took my current role at lower pay. I was relieved to get a role simply where i could get my foot in the door with hopes of moving up through the ranks. Now I feel I'm back to square one.

My Partner wants me to hand in my resignation tomorrow. I'm hesitant about doing so until I've lined up something else. However lining up something else could take time, and I run the risk of becoming complacent in my position again in the meantime. If i leave, and don't find a new role quickly, my partner has said he'd support me... but I can't stand the thought of not earning my way, not to mention the stress being financially dependant/responsible for another could put on our relationship.

So... resign now and focus full time on finding another job with no guarentee of immediate success. Could be the mental vacation i need and my doctors insisting i need.

Stay in an unhealthy work environment whilst looking for another job, where i have very little time or freedom to improve my situation. I'm earning some money at least and it gets me out of the house.

*Head desk*

I'm not actually looking for advice really. Writting this is simply helping me line my thoughts up, as so far all i want to do is shy away from the feelings of betrayal that come when i think of work.

[Elizzybeth]

Oh man, Vector recruits at my uni, but all they do is post fliers that say "NEED MONEY? STUDENT AND PART TIME JOBS AVAILABLE!". I went to see what they were offering once a long time ago (it was selling those crazy knives and those shears that can cut a penny in half) and left after twenty minutes because it was such bullshit.

Their knives are genuinely a superior product.  My parents gifted my boyfriend and I with a bread knife, a steak knife, and those shears as a housewarming gift; I probably use each one more than the rest of my cutting utensils combined.

That said, 2 of the 3 people I know who sell/sold Cutco were also dealing drugs to make ends meet.  As far as I could tell, the two jobs were about equally desirable.

[calenlass]

Exactly. I am a student. How many people do I know that have real jobs and money to blow on knives and don't have to struggle to do things like pay rent and buy food with their loan money?

[öde]

Hey, drugs require an initial investment too.