Face to face interviews

[crimdon]

Last week I was approached by an agent about a dba position with an investment bank in London. I expressed some interest and was put forward for it. Today I recieve a phone call saying they want to interview me. All sounds good so far but now here is the stinger..they only want to interview face to face.

Now is this usualy for banks? I'm based in the north east and the only face to face interviews I've had so far have been local contracts. I certainly don't fancy a trip down to London when there is a chance I won't get the contract. I've never worked for a bank before and was supprised they expressed any interest.

[tim123]

It's usual for all UK companies.

I have never ever, in 25 years, been considered for a gig in the UK without a face to face.

And on several occasions when I was not sure about the requirements and asked for a telephone interview first to "ensure compatibility", I met much resistance to do so.

Tim

[crimdon]

Well I asked the agent about a telephone interview and they came back insisting in face to face. In fact they wanted 2 face to face interviews before whoever it is will get the gig. In the end I told them I wasn't interested. I've been messed about too many times by agents and clients to risk spending that much on 2 trips to London.

[TheFaQQer]

I've had two contracting face-to-face interviews - both public sector so need to adopt the same, formal approach for everyone.

Normally I do a phone interview first, and follow up with a face-to-face if absolutely necessary - so far no-one has taken me up on that offer, as they tend to offer off the back of the phone interview.

[Cheshire Cat]

I think f2f is pretty standard. I've never been offered a job based solely on a phone interview either, although I understand why you wouldn't want to travel down to London unless you were a shoe-in for the contract.

[Dow Jones]

What?

Are you for real? F2F is the norm, telephone is the exception in these type of contracts. Do you work for the local council in the NE?

[crimdon]

Unfortunately I do

[TheFaQQer]

Are you for real? F2F is the norm, telephone is the exception in these type of contracts. Do you work for the local council in the NE?

Interestingly, a north-east council was one of the two face to face interviews that I've had to do. The other was central government in London.

All the rest of my contracts have been on the basis of a phone interview only - if the client insists on a face to face and it's inconvenient for me, then I walk away from it. I'll do face to face as a second interview, by which time I know whether I want the role and stand a chance of getting it.

Guess I'm lucky (and am incredibly good at what I do, with in demand skills)

[Dow Jones]

As I thought

To the original poster:

You've led a sheltered life for far too long then. Need to sharpen up a bit and realise how things are in the real world. Another reason that tel/int might not be a good idea is if you've got a heavy local accent which may lose you the contract in some cases.

[crimdon]

Well this is my only every gig for a council. Most of my expereice has been in manufacturing and petrochemical which is why I was supprised a bank would be interested.