Bradford and Leeds week - Transform (the interview)

Arriving at Leeds station Thursday lunchtime I was picked up and taken to Fred Shed, where a variety of Christian organisations are based. After a little wait I had my interview for the Transform programme. The programme consists of training on Monday (including theology, team time and practical training too), a 15-hour placement, a 5-hour place, a part-time job and a mentor.

It’s been quite a while since I had an interview, in fact I’ve only had four in my life. My first was a Marks and Spencer telephone interview, which I failed (how am I supposed to know what you do if someone comes in with a faulty item and has no receipt – surely that’s what training is for?!?). Then there was my Wilkinson interview which basically consisted of “do you want the job?” and checking I didn’t have a criminal record. So the only two proper interviews I’ve had were for Bank of England and HM Treasury, which both went well, but I was still a bit apprehensive as it’d been a while, but figured I’d just be honest and hope I didn’t put my foot in it. The first question was something along the lines of “how do you feel you have developed over last year”, and after about 5 minutes (at least) of chatting I decided I’d better stop...

The whole interview was generally pretty relaxed, as they’re ‘on your side’ as it were. Their aim is to assess whether it is the right thing for you, and if that’s the case then it’s probably the right thing for them, as it means you’ll make the best use of their funding. This made it fairly easy just to be open and honest and it was really encouraging just to chat through ideas and expectations, and to be able to ask them a few questions too.

One question that was very thought-provoking was when I was asked whether I found it easier to relate to people on the margins than the middle classes. Thinking about it I guess I do. I suppose I find a lot of people, including Christians, are very closed and ask very questions about the things around them, let alone of themselves and what they believe. People you might describe as 'marginalised' seem altogether more raw, open, honest, and have a vulnerability about them once you get to know them beyond their sometimes strong front. There is a depth, a story, which I think I can appreciate more, a sense in which I can see a way out for this person, that even if they don't know exactly what they're doing wrong, they know something needs to change. Contrast this with the middle-class independence and individualism which always says "I am right", "there's nothing wrong with me", "as long as I keep myself to myself that's all that matters", an attitude that really just wants me to bang my head against the wall. I think that's a question that I'm going to keep exploring for some time yet.

On Friday night I got an answer phone message to say that I’d been accepted, so it’s now just up for me to decide for certain whether to do it, which looks likely, and then to sort out the location and placements. It's all looking pretty exciting.