I had to cover for my supervisor recently while he took a week of vacation. I've had quieter weeks, to be sure, but that's not the focus of this entry. Through a series of events that is not likely to happen again for some time, I ended up conducting my first job interview.I felt badly for the young man before I even met him. The guys I sit with at work all went emphatically on the record as being quite relieved that I did not interview them before they hired in. I obliged them by making up a few sample questions like "Why do you think you're good enough to work for me... I DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD ANSWER YET!" and proposing mind games like shaking my head "no" while he answered or saying "is that all?" at the end of each of his answers. Good fun, that, but it did bring to light that I am about as scary as somebody who stands 5'10" with glasses and no tattoos can be.
I did realize that the young man seeking a job deserves a little better than that, so, lacking any support from my employer on the matter, I hit the world wide interweb (now on computers!) for a few tips on conducting interviews. That was a Godsend. I got my act together, reviewed his resume and I was ready to rock the following morning.
Then I saw his transcript. The Hindenburg was less of a wreck. Heed my words, college and pre-college students; it is folly to claim that certain areas of your studies were your favorite and that you really have a knack for them when your grades in the relevant classes were in the C to D range. It's not in your wheelhouse, it's in your five-hole.
- Another tip: If your GPA is below 2.5, don't take 5 months off and THEN start looking for a job. Unless you spent your year off with the Peace Corps or on a foreign mission, you just look desperate.
- Additional free advice: If an interviewer notifies you in advance that the following question is a no-bull, honest query, don't throw up a smokescreen answer using a lot of key words like "leadership", "diverse", "core skills", and the like. It will get sniffed out.
- Kicking a dead horse: If the interviewer says "Not everybody can be a leader in their first few years of team projects in a field as specialized as maritime defense engineering, so what other roles do you feel you play as a member of a team?", do not present an answer that even sounds remotely like "I am the leader". Bad move.
Hopefully, the next interview I am required to conduct will go more smoothly, especially for the prospective employee. And it will ideally occur far, far in the future.
3 comments:
I apparently never told you I actually took a class in school about interviewing, both being interviewed and conducting said interview.
Also, my favorite course in college (heat transfer) was one I got a C+ in. Granted, I got quite a few of those in school, but I felt I earned that one, the course was hard. Wicked fun though, and I am actually kind of proud of that C+.
Besides, everybody knows that the most successful employees of EB are those who can most successfully divorce thought from what they are doing 80% of the time. Just look at some of the former workers from your group, darn good group of folks, if I do say so myself...
I have to say, I am glad I didn't interview with you. I was a terrible student in college (I was one of those "The most important things I learned in college weren't in class" types) and would've done terribly in an interview.
Fortunately, R. Paul McEntarfer hired me based on my actual work for him as a summer intern and the rest is history.
I guess my point is that, beyond a certain point, education is irrelevant. What's important is work ethic, drive, and intelligence (which can be different than education, I was a bad student, but am a good engineer).
Couldn't agree with you more, Matt. Grades aren't everything. But you did line up engineering internships to let you prove yourself. This fellow had no engineering related work experience. There's nothing wrong with entry level or service industry jobs, but this guy didn't convey his past work as having any relevance toward an engineering career. And I asked him just that question to let him sell himself! In the 1/2 hour or so I alot myself weekly to work on the blog, I could never give a blow-by-blow rundown of an interview that took a full hour, so I'm sure that lacking some of these details makes it difficult to picture how poorly the interview went.
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