Hello, my fellow bloggers!
NOTE: All names have been replaced with women’s names from Once Upon a Time.
Here we are again. Round seven of hiring a new PA. Unfortunately, Ruby has resigned favouring travel for the next few months and so, I have been on the hunt for a new PA to join my team to work alongside Jasmine.
Black Fairy
At first look, the Black Fairy seemed nice and capable of the job having a lot of transferable skills for the role. Her experience seemed mostly care based so we weren’t sure what to do as we couldn’t gauge much about her but we offered her an interview.
She has an undergraduate degree and now does live-in care. She enjoys doing different things with family and friends.
The applicant is active and has a big family so enjoys spending time with them – quite family orientated which I can relate to. She was also happy to be creative in order to brainstorm with my writing and assignments which is definitely needed.
Overall, she seemed like a nice person and said all of the right things to support me in my care needs, she had a good heart, giving the right answers to questions and scenarios but everything seemed care focused which I didn’t like as much.
The candidate has worked with the majority of older people and this was clear, a lot of the discussion was directed to the Ask Jules representative rather than me. Unfortunately, I decided that this candidate wasn’t right for this role.
Guinevere
Guinevere was similar to the first applicant in which we gauge much about her from the details we were sent but it seemed she had mostly care based experience. We offered her an interview to meet her and see what we could find out. In the interview, I found out that she too has a MA from Coventry University which is where I am currently studying.
She enjoys going out and keeping in touch with friends and being active. Out of staying in or going out, she prefers to stay in which I like to do as well but I also like the chance to go out. She likes Harry Potter which is an upside.
Guinevere was drawn to the job because of the things I like to do including blogging and watching films. She was also happy to help with my deadlines etc. There were times that the interview leaned towards the care side more than the personal side which we had to be cautious of.
However, the conversation didn’t really flow without us asking pointed questions, there was a lot of grey areas where we had to read between the lines and there were times when she didn’t speak to me directly. She always was worried that she could not talk to me if there was a problem, rather my Dad or the Ask Jules representative which didn’t make me feel too good about myself.
Overall, she was a good applicant but we didn’t feel that we could offer her the position.
Lilith
As an employer, my Dad has always told me to make my CV stand out amongst others and this is what the third candidate did. Her creative side was weaved through her details and this was a great first impression of what the role was and there was her skillset and that snippet of personality we needed before we offered her the interview.
In the interview, Lilith expressed how creative she was and it gave a great impression and was ideal for the job. The connection seemed immediate. We gave her practice scenarios that we face out in public like people not speaking directly to me and she seemed to have the right attitude towards people’s ignorance. By a few questions, we saw how open she can be.
The interview was very chatty and it was more relaxed and this is what I like to feel in an interview. There was no real silence and there was a bit of banter. Her speciality meal is homemade pizza so this was good. Nothing can beat pizza, especially when it is homemade. She is also good at following recipes. She enjoys going to theatre and events rather than clubbing. Also loves journaling and Netflix which I also like to do.
I think we had such a strong vibe off her from the start and the creative spark in her was evident. She was happy to be a notetaker and a sounding board for my coursework and beyond which is brilliant.
Everything considered, we decided to offer Lilith the role and we are delighted to say she has accepted.
The Life of Sophie 