Yesterday whilst I was having lunch with Olga in a noisy restaurant in the city centre, my phone rang. Over the sound of the coffee machine and banter around me, I understood that it was DHL (international shipping company) and assumed that Mum had sent me a parcel. Normally to receive a parcel, I have had to proceed with a series of identification questions and procedures and given the amount of noise around me, I casually asked if she could call me back in an hour. An hour later she called - I didn't hear my phone. Half an hour later she called again - but still I didn't hear my phone. An hour an a half later she called 'again', just as I was about to jump into the shower. But this time I answered.
As I sat on my bed with a pen in hand to take down what I thought was DHL's details, I heard her explain that she was ringing on behalf of H&M (a international retail company) in response to a job application I had submitted and to notify me that I had been selected for an interview. I nearly fell off the bed.
When I walked into Hotel Rivoli today to attend the interview, my eyes immediately focused on a fresco in the reception area. I stood and stared at the image in bewilderment, because this fresco has been etched in my mind for 15 years. That is ever since Mum, Dad and I stayed at Hotel Rivoli in 1994. In all my visits to Firenze, I have never found that Hotel - until this afternoon.
The interview process was intense and interesting. Five potential candidates and myself had to complete two exercises. The first was a practical exercise, whereby they stimulated what a day in the life of H&M would be like. As we went through the process of establishing the merchandise for the days trading, we had to pretend to serve customers, demonstrate that we could work cohesively and effective together and answer a series of questions & instructions - all in Italian and all at the same time.
After a brief interval the second activity required us to sit around a table and together discuss and resolve 20 hypothetical dilemmas. After the discussions, they asked each one of us to explain the response of a) the group and b) our professional view. Then we were interrogated to explain these responses - again all in Italian.
At one stage I sat there and thought "What am I doing...? I'm a skilled critical care nurse.. how can I hold my own in this environment, especially when this is a) not my profession b) in a foreign language..?" Then I remembered what so many of you said to me before I left. "Jules your it. Just be you and give it all you've got." And I believe it worked because today they called me to tell me that I was successful and I have been asked to attend stage two of the interview process. Yeah!
When I walked into Hotel Rivoli today to attend the interview, my eyes immediately focused on a fresco in the reception area. I stood and stared at the image in bewilderment, because this fresco has been etched in my mind for 15 years. That is ever since Mum, Dad and I stayed at Hotel Rivoli in 1994. In all my visits to Firenze, I have never found that Hotel - until this afternoon.
The interview process was intense and interesting. Five potential candidates and myself had to complete two exercises. The first was a practical exercise, whereby they stimulated what a day in the life of H&M would be like. As we went through the process of establishing the merchandise for the days trading, we had to pretend to serve customers, demonstrate that we could work cohesively and effective together and answer a series of questions & instructions - all in Italian and all at the same time.
After a brief interval the second activity required us to sit around a table and together discuss and resolve 20 hypothetical dilemmas. After the discussions, they asked each one of us to explain the response of a) the group and b) our professional view. Then we were interrogated to explain these responses - again all in Italian.
At one stage I sat there and thought "What am I doing...? I'm a skilled critical care nurse.. how can I hold my own in this environment, especially when this is a) not my profession b) in a foreign language..?" Then I remembered what so many of you said to me before I left. "Jules your it. Just be you and give it all you've got." And I believe it worked because today they called me to tell me that I was successful and I have been asked to attend stage two of the interview process. Yeah!
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