What should I have said?

[rocky]

Job interview yesterday...

"You're clearly a talented orienteer. Are there any skills you've developed in orienteering which you apply to your life in general?"

Had me stumped! Any suggestions?

[mharky]

Decision making, ability to cope with the unexpected, self motivating myself to give 100%, adaptability to different situations, commitment to a cause, the ability to review different options based purely on merit.... blaa blaa blaa

[DesignatedDriver]

i have been down the team work route in interviews before.

Relay events - British Schools events etc.

plus the organisation skills from putting on events.

although i didn't get the job, so not sure if it was a good idea.

[Bilson]

Strain

Much as I love you, you are a daft b*stard.

[eddie]

brilliant text message received last night mate

how did it go?

[FatBoy]

Likely to come in to work tired, limping etc...

[HOCOLITE]

Tjhat your talent would require you to have days off for big events, squad training etc, and that they really ought to invest in it my not only employing you but sponsoring you to

[mharky]

Sponsoring him to what?

[Kitch]

ability to motivate and inspire others.
coping with disappointment, learning from mistakes,
planning, organisation, putting up with thorns in the side...

[El]

I used orienteering as the main talking point in pretty much all of my interviews (and I got a job offer out of every one I went to so must have done something right).

Decision making - and taking responsibility for the consequences of those decisions.

Independence and an ability to self-motivate.

Team work and motivating others (relays, BUSA etc)

Sheer determination to see a task through whether things are going well or badly.

Quick thinking and logical thinking.

Sticking power (good for career motivation - you're not going to decide next week that something else is more for you) - demonstrated by committment to a regular training program etc.

Leadership - from committee involvement/coaching.

International outlook (this was important to the firms I was applying to).

I'm sure there are others - my personal opinion is o'ing's a pretty fantastic thing to have on your CV.

[pyrat]

In an interview situation I would say orienteering has made me :-

self-important, overly competitive in nature, not a big drinker so not really up for pints after work, concentrate too much on the fine details and not the bigger picture, destroyed my knowledge of uk culture (tv) and made me really really dull.

This would save me from that dream job in McDonalds.

[ian]

nah, I worked at McDonalds last summer, they didn't interview me. Just said "When can you start?"

[chepls]

team player and time management...they like that

[LostAgain]

As one of those that generally does the interviewing you'll probably already have or have lost the job by the time we get to discussing interests!!

All of the above is great but if you cannot demonstrate a skill set directly relevant to the job through experience then you will struggle to get it with orienteering. Unless of course you face me as I'm interested in orienteering and could sit there for the 1 hour discussing it with you.

The only exception to this is you work virgins, in which case anything might assist you in getting penetration

[PorkyFatBoy]

Orienteering tests your ability to absorb unfamiliar information quickly and take swift decisions based on that information, whilst pushing your body close to its limit.

Also determination to succeed etc, much as El has said already. Teamwork is reall about sharing info and knowledge, perhaps best illustrated by coaching. Organising events is also a useful skill (I assume you've done it once or twice).

Don't forget things like Nopesport.com and PT (or is that just Brooner's baby?)

As Lost Again said, it's either in the bag or you've lost it before you get to "interests", but it should reinforce any feelings that the interviewer has about you (either way ). Always have interests, otherwise we juxt assume that you spend all your time in the partying.

BTW - what kind of job are you after?