The former Hearts skipper has been placed in temporary charge of the Tynecastle team, alongside player development manager Darren Murray, following last week's sacking of John McGlynn.
Both men took control of the Edinburgh side for the first time in Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Motherwell - a result that leaves Hearts second from bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table.
Michael Higdon's opener for Well and a Dylan McGowan own goal both arrived inside the opening nine minutes and the Jambos were left stunned by the visitors' rampant start. John Sutton did pull one back after the break but Hearts suffered a fifth straight SPL defeat.
But neither the miserable run of results, nor the stream of off-field financial problems that have surrounded the club this season, have deterred potential candidates from stepping forward to notify the club of their interest, with reports suggesting as many as 50 possible managers are ready to apply for the post.
For Locke, though, a first taste of management has done nothing to spark any desire to make his current role permanent.
The temporary boss - whose side face St Johnstone on Tuesday night - said: "I've not heard anything but reading between the lines, a lot of people have applied for the job and the club are talking to people at the minute.
"So Darren and I will take the team again and hopefully we will get a different result this time.
"Did I enjoy Saturday? Well, after 10 minutes I was thinking 'oh this isn't for me'.
"But the boys rallied and to their credit, as it would have been easy after everything that has gone on this week to capitulate, they showed a lot of character and the second-half performance had a lot of positives.
"Have my views changed on whether I want the job? Well, the first 10 minutes did. No, myself and Darren are in temporary charge for a couple of games.
"I'm enjoying it, I'd enjoy it a lot more if we were winning. I'm just looking to the St Johnstone game and getting the team prepared. We will see what happens in the coming days."
St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas, meanwhile, has urged his players to focus on themselves rather than the events surrounding Hearts.
While the Jambos players are determined to stake their claim for a starting place in the cup final, Saints are looking to nail down a place in the top six ahead of the league split.
Lomas said: "Gary Locke is a very respected former player and coach. He's a great lad and I'm sure the lads will want to play for him.
"They've got a cup final coming up and maybe some of the more experienced boys have got a point to prove.
"There are various reasons why they'll want to do well but we can only focus on what we can do. We can only focus on our performance, our defending and our attacking.
"It's a great opportunity for us but it's never easy to go to Tynecastle. It's a tough venue and we will have to perform."
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