Having completed our stay in Kosice, we drive back to Bratislava,
once more marveling at those impressive castles etched out against the blue
sky. As we drive through areas with industrial plant, we see less salubrious
living quarters for the employees there.
At least here the bright colours
make these houses less dismal. Next,
this impressive building in the centre of Bratislava
is newsworthy for currently housing the Council of the European Union, for the
duration of the Slovak Presidency,
July to December 2016.
Before our flight out, we plan a memorable lunch on the banks of the Danube, but the
miasma the river exuded has us staggering into the old city instead. There we
relax, eating and drinking in the central square where everyone is enjoying
the sunshine.
Within the week, The Tartan Epsilon are on the move
again, this time closer to home - in Athens, well much closer for Angeliki! Our
venue was the Independent Studies of
Science and Technology College in Moschato, our host was Dr Paschalis
Chliaras. We had offered a choice of two
topics as a proposal and our charming host requested both! ‘Constructing a CV ‘ may sound rather dry, but our participants seemed
to have fun ordering possible section headings, then matching content to
section on our specially designed magnetic boards - always popular, those!
Similarly, the thought of being
interviewed is not an appealing one and our participants confessed to feeling
anxious when asked to take part in our mini-role-play. Their feedback as
interviewees and interviewers was really interesting.
Sometimes an interviewer can toss
a curve-ball question to test the mettle of the candidate. My curve-ball
experience was in a job interview at
Forrester High School, then the largest comprehensive school in the country,
located near the local prison. The Deputy Headmaster asked me to go and lock
his office door. My ‘Why?’ question met the answer that he had a bottle of whisky
in the drawer. When he asked me why I simply laughed in response, I decided to
counter in similar tenor: that I always had that effect on older men. Slapping
his thigh, he informed me I was the first person not to get up and lock the
door. When I asked him what he understood from that he told me the job was mine.
Despite the challenging professional circumstances
there, I accepted the job there and then. I can truly say that it was there I
really learned the tools of my trade, and enjoyed unswerving support from
management.Back to our presentation: for our participants to wind down after
their exertions, we played them the You-Tube
video, The Candidate, a wonderful compilation of authentic interview
scenarios by Heineken. It’s a must-see, tremendously entertaining example
of how to implement curve-ball strategies!
We round off the week-end - and my trip to Athens- with
Angeliki and her delightful family, having a delicious meal at a Cretan tavern –
memorable!
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