First Interview Tips: Advice for Karen

[karen03grae]

Hi, I have my first interview this Friday with an energy/ tech company. I was wondering if any of you had any tips.

Thanks,
Karen

 

[quantumdude]

Scooting this over from Mech Eng (in case anyone was wondering what kind of job this is for).

 

[Kieron]

Karen

Right let's start off with the good news, the company likes you! You have made it to the shortlist; this means they think you can do the job.

If it’s a panel interview and many are these days don’t worry, they are not there to trip you up by firing questions in a random fashion at you; each will have their own question(s), but will take notes on the answers you make to the others.

Simple things
Smile, human beings like people who smile, we can’t help it.
Make eye contact with all the members of the panel
Treat all the members of the panel equally; don’t make assumptions about status, etc
Dress smart
Listen to the question, and answer the question asked, nothing ticks off an interviewer more then someone going off on a wild goose chase
Do research on the company/unit and drop-in these goodies in your answers, it shows you have done the research and know how to apply the knowledge
If you get asked a technical question and you don’t know the answer, it’s much better to say you don’t but then explain how you would go about getting the answer. We get worried by people who guess. But of course you can’t say this for every answer otherwise the interviewers will start to wonder if you know anything

Have a few questions ready, if in your research you found the company is about to start a new project ask about it in general terms using positive words.

And the most important part of the interview experience is to enjoy it. Remember they want to employ some one as much as you want to employed

Kieron

 

[karen03grae]

Thanks for the advice. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

 

[cronxeh]

If you have any leadership skills - mention that too. You should be outspoken, eloquent, yet accessable within the spacetime of the company. People hiring you are hiring a coworker, so they'll want to get along with you and connect on some unconscious level.

 

[karen03grae]

So I had my first interview ever. The interview had its good moments and "could be improved moments". The good parts came from the fact that I prepared answers to many behavioral questions. Some parts that I needed to work on was eye contact and brevity in my answers. But overall it was good for my first interview. Although, as soon as I walked in they told me that I had an extremely low chance of getting the job because I lacked tech. experience. LOL.

 

[ktpr2]

Well in a way they were helping you out by putting you in a rea life interviewing situation. As for technical experience, next time you go to a job fair try interviewing with the companies that receive less attention. From there you can get your feet up the ladder and beyond.

 

[karen03grae]

Yeah, I may opt for Co-op instead of interning. I am going to take some welding/ metal lathe classes this summer so I can be a bit more well-rounded in the design factor of M.E.