Wednesday 10 December 2014

Trinity, Tips and (bad) Timing

Leeds. My last interview of 2014!

At Leeds Trinity they combine interview days with open days. But as I had already seen the uni, I just went to the interview, which started half way through the day. Bad idea. You know in films, when the "social reject" character walks in to the school cafeteria and has to sit awkwardly by themselves? Yep, that was me.

To make matters worse everybody there was with a parent, so not only was I resembling a lost (and late) puppy with no friends, but also one with no family. Nice one. After the awkwardness was over -I breathed- and then found a girl who was also on her own, so we stuck together. First we did a writing test -which was based on the same news story as the one I had at Lincoln; oh yessss. Then we had a "group interview". About eight of us sat in a newsroom on swivel chairs (oh, the temptation to spin around in circles), and talked about current stories in the news. It was really relaxed and so interesting; more of a discussion than an interview (just like Lincoln..so take note, there seems to be a common theme here!).

As the interviewer mentioned that she used to work at Sheffield Uni in the Journalism department, I took my chance and asked her why I should choose Leeds over Sheffield since she'd worked at both. Although it did sound like I was interviewing her, it was definitely worth it as she explained that Sheffield was a very academic course in comparison. I then asked about Lincoln, to which she replied "Ooh, I don't actually know anything about their course..so that should probably tell you something..".

Cue my mental breakdown because decisions and opinions and more decisions. 

BUT, overall, I've learnt that in terms of interviews;
-Try not to get too nervous- after all, they do want you to go to their uni!
-Talk about experience as much as possible; you live and breathe work experience. You're basically never at school because you are just SO passionate about this course. Maybe not that extreme, but you get the picture. 
-Ask them questions, and use their knowledge to help you come to a decision.
-Finally; try to enjoy it! (Bet you didn't see that one coming eh...I am the cliche queen.)

Anna x