Two assessments, one day

A question about : Two assessments, one day

Hi there,

I'm in the fortunate position to have been invited to two assessment days. Annoyingly, they are both on the same day, at the same time. As these are assessment days (rather than just straight forward interviews), I'm almost certain that I will not be able to reschedule either of them. So this leaves me with a dilemma about which one to attend. Both of these jobs are within the mental health field, which I have been working in for 3.5 years.

Job 1: they are recruiting 3 people, but it will be working with people aged 12-18, which I have no experience of doing.

Job 2: working with adults, which is where my experience lies, but they are only recruiting 1 person.

My current job is a fixed term contract which ends in a month, so at this stage I will take any job I can get. I would rather have job 1, but as I've never worked with this age group before theres bound to be people with more direct experience than me at the assessment day. On the other hand, I have a lot of relevant experience working with adults, but job 2 are only recruiting 1 person and I don't want the job as much.

Everything else in regards to the jobs are more or less the same:
-Same job title (although I suspect job 1 will be more interesting, which is why I want it).
-Same pay.
-Same environment (inpatient).
-Both in London.
-Commuting isn't a factor I'm going to take into consideration because I need to move by the beginning of March anyway and I'm not that fussy about which area of London I move to.

Does anyone have any opinions about which assessment day I should attend?

Thanks

Best answers:

• Pick out of hat if really not fussed? just my take, sorry it's what I'd do x
• I'd throw a coin into the air and let it decide. In fact I'd throw it three times just to be sure and go with the winner. Then focus on all the positives of that choice and plan accordingly.
  Good luck!
  (Ohhhh, just noticed your username! )
• plus if you throw a coin in the air you may suddenly realise that you *know* which way you want it to land!
  Once you have decided which to attend, contact the other, explain that you have a clash and cannot attend, and ask whether it would be possible to reschedule. As you say, the liklihood is fairly low, but there is no harm in asking.
  Persoanlly, I'd say go to the one for the job you want more. Your greater enthusiasm will probably come over in the assessment, and you are less likely to regret that you didn't try.
• You sound like you want job 1 more, so go for it! Bit easier to convince them if its genuinely the one you're more keen on