Anyway, this is what I see every time..
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| My Games Maker Status Page |
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
It's going to be a long wait..
I know they said that I may not hear anything until the end of April, but I can't help myself. Every couple of days I have to log in to the Games Maker portal to see if there is any news. Maybe they offered me a role earlier than expected, maybe I didn't receive the email for some inexplicable reason, maybe....
Anyway, this is what I see every time..
One of these days, probably when I'm least expecting it, the status will change - hopefully to something positive. In the meantime, however, I will continue the ritual every couple of days. The end of April seems a very long way off!
Anyway, this is what I see every time..
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Games Maker Selection Event - Part 2
Click here to read the first part of this blog entry
As I went inside, I was greeted by a friendly security guard and asked to wait in the seating area until my 11:00 timeslot. A short time later, I was asked to sign in and was given a name tag and pink bracelet to wear.
I was then given a brochure and asked to proceed to a desk where they photocopied my identity and took a photo of me with a webcam. If I'm lucky enough to be selected, this will be the photo that they use on my security pass. They didn't show me what it looked like, but I imagine that I have a weird expression on my face, as I always seem to do in ID photos!
Next stop was an area with various displays about the Games and some pink and blue seats. I was greeted by a friendly guy called Mark, who invited me to add a message to a message board, saying why I wanted to take part in the Games.
As I went inside, I was greeted by a friendly security guard and asked to wait in the seating area until my 11:00 timeslot. A short time later, I was asked to sign in and was given a name tag and pink bracelet to wear.
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| London 2012 Olympic mascots |
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| My Name Sticker and Interview Group Bracelet |
I was then given a brochure and asked to proceed to a desk where they photocopied my identity and took a photo of me with a webcam. If I'm lucky enough to be selected, this will be the photo that they use on my security pass. They didn't show me what it looked like, but I imagine that I have a weird expression on my face, as I always seem to do in ID photos!
Next stop was an area with various displays about the Games and some pink and blue seats. I was greeted by a friendly guy called Mark, who invited me to add a message to a message board, saying why I wanted to take part in the Games.
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| Information Stands In The Waiting Area |
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| Waiting For Our Interviews |
Once all of the pink group had arrived, we were asked to take a seat and listen as Mark (and another friendly Mark!) explained that we were being considered for the Event Services team and described the five different roles available. The two Marks were obviously also there to warm us up, relax us and get us in the mood!
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| The Seating Area |
We were then invited in to a small cinema where we watched a short film, featuring people such as Sebastien Coe and Eddie Izzard. Eddie Izzard was very funny and gave us tips for the next step - the interview itself.
The interview area was divided into lots of different "pods" and each member of the pink group went to the pod number written on their name sticker, where an interviewer was waiting for them. In pod number 6, a nice lady called Linda started the interview off by asking me some general questions, before telling me that she was going to put me down for a Team Leader role.
The questions were a lot more formal than I was expecting and were all in the style of "from your personal or professional life, can you give an example where..". As I answered, Linda scribbled everything down furiously on my form and before I knew it, roughly twenty minutes had gone by and it was all over.
Linda escorted me to the exit, where there was a small gift shop, and then it was back out in to the cold February air.
I think I did okay. Like all interviews, there were some things that I wish I had included in my answers and some things that I wish I had said differently but, in general, it seemed to go well. I now have to wait until the end of April, at the latest, to find out if I got the job. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
The Games Maker Selection Event - Part 1
Friday was the big day - time for my selection event!
It had been a restless night. When I had gone to bed the night before it had started to snow quite heavily. As I was counting on the train, underground and DLR to get me to the Excel Centre, what were the travel conditions going to be like?
I normally love waking to the sight of the snow, but as I drew back the curtains, I groaned when I saw that the damned stuff was everywhere! If you live in the UK, you know that it doesn't take much in the way of adverse weather to cause public transport problems, and I immediately started to imagine cancelled trains, frozen points and signal failures.
A quick look at the Chiltern Railways website did little to reassure me. There was already one cancelled train and warnings that several trains would be shorter than usual. Should I drive and risk getting stuck on a snowy M25, or take a gamble on the train? I decided that the motorway was probably a greater risk and headed off to Aylesbury station instead.
As it turned out, I needn't have worried; the journey was completely without incident. I tried to do some work on the train but couldn't really concentrate, as my worries about the journey were replaced with apprehension about the day ahead. I desperately wanted to make a good impression.
By the time I changed on to the DLR at Canning Town, I realised that I was going to arrive at least half an hour early, so I relaxed my shoulders and tried to anticipate some of the questions that I might be asked. Unlike a job interview, I didn't know the specific role that I was being considered for, so I hadn't been able to do much preparation. As I walked across the Excel plaza, I thought about all of the points I wanted to get across about myself, then I took a deep breath and headed inside...
Click here to read the second part of this blog entry
It had been a restless night. When I had gone to bed the night before it had started to snow quite heavily. As I was counting on the train, underground and DLR to get me to the Excel Centre, what were the travel conditions going to be like?
I normally love waking to the sight of the snow, but as I drew back the curtains, I groaned when I saw that the damned stuff was everywhere! If you live in the UK, you know that it doesn't take much in the way of adverse weather to cause public transport problems, and I immediately started to imagine cancelled trains, frozen points and signal failures.
A quick look at the Chiltern Railways website did little to reassure me. There was already one cancelled train and warnings that several trains would be shorter than usual. Should I drive and risk getting stuck on a snowy M25, or take a gamble on the train? I decided that the motorway was probably a greater risk and headed off to Aylesbury station instead.
As it turned out, I needn't have worried; the journey was completely without incident. I tried to do some work on the train but couldn't really concentrate, as my worries about the journey were replaced with apprehension about the day ahead. I desperately wanted to make a good impression.
By the time I changed on to the DLR at Canning Town, I realised that I was going to arrive at least half an hour early, so I relaxed my shoulders and tried to anticipate some of the questions that I might be asked. Unlike a job interview, I didn't know the specific role that I was being considered for, so I hadn't been able to do much preparation. As I walked across the Excel plaza, I thought about all of the points I wanted to get across about myself, then I took a deep breath and headed inside...
Click here to read the second part of this blog entry
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| London Excel |
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| London Excel Plaza |
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| View of The Thames |
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| This Way To The Games Maker Interviews! |
The Journey So Far..
Hello, my name is Tim and I've applied to be a volunteer at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The purpose of this blog is to share the excitement of applying to be, and hopefully becoming a "Games Maker" in the world's greatest sporting event.
Back in September, 2010, I was one of the 250,000 people who applied to be one of the 70,000 volunteers who will play an important role in making the Games a success. There then followed a year-long wait until people were gradually informed that they had either been unsuccesful, or invited for a selection interview. Applicants were promised that they would know either way by the end of December, 2011.
By December, I have to admit that I was starting to feel disheartened. Two colleagues, who had also applied for a role, had already been invited for their interviews and I still hadn't heard anything. Surely this must mean that I hadn't made the short list! By the end of the month, I was resigned to the fact that it was only a matter of days until I received my "Thanks, but not thanks" email. On 28th December, my heart sank when I opened my email and saw that I had a message from noreply@gamesmaker.london2012.com - this would be the end of the adventure. With dread, my eyes moved down to the Subject line. I blinked and had to read it twice before it sank in..."Games Maker Mail: Well done! You have an interview".
Back in September, 2010, I was one of the 250,000 people who applied to be one of the 70,000 volunteers who will play an important role in making the Games a success. There then followed a year-long wait until people were gradually informed that they had either been unsuccesful, or invited for a selection interview. Applicants were promised that they would know either way by the end of December, 2011.
By December, I have to admit that I was starting to feel disheartened. Two colleagues, who had also applied for a role, had already been invited for their interviews and I still hadn't heard anything. Surely this must mean that I hadn't made the short list! By the end of the month, I was resigned to the fact that it was only a matter of days until I received my "Thanks, but not thanks" email. On 28th December, my heart sank when I opened my email and saw that I had a message from noreply@gamesmaker.london2012.com - this would be the end of the adventure. With dread, my eyes moved down to the Subject line. I blinked and had to read it twice before it sank in..."Games Maker Mail: Well done! You have an interview".
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