I was contacted last week by a company who I had submitted my CV to the previous week, about going in for an interview: The only issue is I had applied for a BIM Coordinator role, but the person I spoke to thought I would be more suited to the role of BIM Manager, which is what they what to interview me for. Personally, I don’t think I have the experience to be a BIM Manager, at this stage.

My question is: At an interview, is it acceptable to say, something like, “If I am unsuccessful in my application for this role, I would be interested in being considered for another role”. I know they are recruiting at all levels, because the HR person I spoke to told me so.

I have no idea what BIM is, but yes, of course you can. It’s an interview, not the Spanish Inquisition. Maybe dress it up with how much you like the company and want to be involved in what it is doing.

Don’t sell yourself short though, don’t want to end up in the old ‘BIM Manager on BIM Coordinator money’ switcheroo.

If you’re being interviewed for a specific job and you turn up and say I’m not qualified for this but I’d like to do something else instead it’s probably not the best start.
As an interviewer I’d be annoyed.
Why not directly contact the firm and say you’d like to be considered for the other job that you want to do.

Go for the manager role.

Every BIM manager I’ve met doesn’t know what they’re doing so you probably actual are over qualified.

They have seen your CV. They want to talk to you. Just be honest and see what happens.

There are too many places with various levels for the same type of job. Administrator, Coordinator, Advisor, Manager, Head, Director etc etc and you can add in Senior at each level to increase even more. Rarely these match up accross different companies/industries so what you think of as Coordinator and Manager may be totally different to what they think.

Make sure you fully understand the scope and job description for both roles before you rule youself out of one of them. You may be surprised.

KM79 +1

There is a large disparity between rolls in different companies some directors I’ve met should only be responsible for paper clips, whilst I’ve met some coordinators who are superb

Thanks for the input. My concern does primarily stem from the fact they haven’t sent me the job description of the manager role, yet, so I’ll wait and see what that says.

If you’re being interviewed for a specific job and you turn up and say I’m not qualified for this but I’d like to do something else instead it’s probably not the best start.

Of course, it’s not something I would start with, but that’s the reason I asked the question.

I wouldn’t, personally. If they interview you and like you but feel like you’re not ready for the higher position, a company worth their salt should go “but he’d be perfect for that other role we have” and bump you across.

Whereas even mentioning that you’d be interested in a lower role could weaken your hand, it could be interpreted as you saying you don’t feel ready or aren’t confident, or that you don’t particularly want the job. And who wants a manager with no confidence?

“Should I not get the role…” – your attitude should be “when I get the role.”

Thanks Cougar: Those are pretty much the thoughts I had in the back of my mind.

I should add, that’s purely IMHO.

I’ve been involved in both sides of recruitment off and on, and no two processes are alike. Different interviewers look for different things in their candidates (hence why there’s so much conflicting advice over “correct” CVs).

I’ve been interviewing recently for new apprentices, and one of the criteria at the top of our list is enthusiasm. Not bouncing up and down like a puppy enthusiasm but rather, do they really want this, are they excited about the scheme and the position, or have they just fallen into it because they’ve nothing better to do?

At the level I’ve recruited at in the past, no-one worth their salt knows everything about the role otherwise there wouldn’t be any challenge, they’d be bored in six months and leaving. Now, some folk don’t want a challenge and that’s absolutely fine, some folk are happy being comfortable, but they’re not the sort of people I’d personally be looking at employing.

Don’t say that. IME, every time that has happened, I didn’t get either job. Go for the manager’s job. You have nothing to lose.

Earlier this year I saw an advert for a Principal Engineer but didn’t think that I had sufficient management experience but applied for it anyway. They also had Engineers roles so I stuck in an app for that as well.

I got an interview for the PE and turned up and was honest, straight down the the line. They offered me the job and I accepted it.

I’m definitely light in the management experience but I’m really glad I took the job. I have the engineering experience to get me through and my team are a good bunch with a fair amount of enthusiasm.

I wonder at times whether I was the best they could get and I got the job despite the deficiencies or whether my honesty and stated aims/objectives aligned with the bosses.

In summary, take the interview, be honest, but don’t sell yourself short. You might just be surprised…

ETA: I did a fair bit of prep for my interview (more than I’ve ever done previously) so if you haven’t already bone up on PAS 1192 and the attendant BS’s (they are mostly free I think) and the various Implementation Plans. Some knowledge of the interviewing company wouldn’t go amiss neither… 😆

Also, if your cv already submitted is accurate then maybe they think you’re up for the job (or maybe one of the best out of the responses received). You never know…

The only difference between BIM Managers and co-ordinators in my place is that the managers manage the co-ordinators. There’s little difference in their knowledge.

What’s your background?

Oh if you do need any of the PAS docs then drop me a line.

The prime objective at an interview is to get the job offer.
Once you have that you can discuss the options and decide if you want it or not.

Do you want to do management?

Not particularly

If they are recruiting at all levels then there is a good chance you can find the specs with a search of the job sites.
The differences between manager and co-ordinator might not be that big so worth looking.
From a recruiters point of view they will get a cut of starting salary potentially so worth them getting you in for the better job.

Some searching interview questions about the 2 roles would be good to guage what the differences actually are and how far apart they are in terms of responsibility.

Whats the industry?

Yeah don’t get hung up on job titles – nearly everyone at IBM is at least a manager of this or ‘VP’ of something else, without necessarily having the seniority and expertise that many people might expect of those positions, IME, YYMV.

Whats the industry?

They are a building and infrastructure surveyors.

BIM/IBM, what’s the difference

I know what BIM is. If you’re comfortable in the coordinator role then a ‘manager’ is good opportunity to ‘come off the tools’ and lead a team – if that’s what you want. I work as a director in construction and I can tell you for sure that, with a few honorable exceptions, management are just better at hiding their insecurities that most!

If you want to join the rear-echelon go for it & ask for some management training; if you want to remain project focused then stick with the co-ord role.

They are a building and infrastructure surveyors.

I’d be interested to know which ones!

It’s OK, the interview is off. I initially thought the job was based in London, but they’ve just confirmed it will be based in Hertfordshire, which is too far for me to travel each day.