Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

[bitter]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

A funny thing happened at one of the interviews I attended

A consultant calls me up and schedules an interview with an organisation for the post of Project Manager.

I reach the venue and HR person verifies some facts and leads me to a interview room.

The panel comprised 4 people and they started asking me general questions...Once I was through with my introduction they started asking specific questions

FIrst question they asked 'What elements go into a technical architecture'

Answered that - a generic industry question

Second Question - 'How would you go about doing performance enhancement of an application?'
Eyebrows raised a little but still answered as I used to do that when I was a developer

Third Question - What are different types of architectural models?
Now I was thinking should I be knowing this? I struggled to answer and managed a very weak response

Fourth Question - They presented a scenario and asked me which Design Pattern is applicable to the problem

I snapped 'These I am not supposed to know.'

They say - But as an architect dont you think you should have hands on experience in object modelling and design patterns?

I said - but my profile does not demand Architecting...
and then...ah...it struck me...I asked them 'whats the profile you are expecting'

They said we are here to interview Technical Architects...

I said actually I applied for a role of Project Manager...i think there is a goof up..

They exchanged glances and broke into a laugh...THey called the HR Person and asked me to be taken to PM interview Panel

HR person had confused me with my namesake from the same consultant for a architect position and did not bother to check with me for the position.

I was led into the PM Panel room and completed my interview there...

[zobia]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

^ interesting situation

ps. umer uncle you should change the thread title to “kaam-chor HR”

[Faisal]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

You guys ended up with all kinds of situations. I don't have any such juicy stuff.

While interviewing candidates, I usually limit my technical questions to the education and experience of the candidate as stated in their own resume. One candidate wrote in his resume that he did a whole project (wrote a report) on the Enron collapse and pasted a brief synopsis about his report. I asked him what were his conclusion about the Enron issue. He gave a broad and mildly interesting answer. Considering the dude had come in to apply for a public accounting position, I asked him what did he thought about the role Andersen played in the Enron scandal, his response was "whats Andersen?". I clarified saying "Arthur Andersen" and he said "whats Arthur Andersen". Now those who know what I am talking about can empathize with me when I gave him a look that said "you must be kiddin' me!!". Asked him a few more questions about the connection, and he had no clue. Later in the day (presumably after spending some quality time with Google), he sent me an email apologizing for the gaffe and saying next time he will better prepare for an interview. I replied back that the least he can do is be prepared to answer questions on stuff that he has put in his own (bloody) resume. Needless to say, we didn't make an offer.

Any students out there who are or will apply for a job in the future. Please note. Only put stuff on your resume if you can talk about them. :)

[zobia]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

^ you wont necessarily gonna agree with me but i have seen this “poking not in others matters” kinda attitude made westerners (people living in west and adapt western culture) lakeer kay fakeer (well i am talking about the masses).

ps. thanks for the useful piece of practical advice

[TofiBaba]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

Lol @ Anderson. haha

On the same note, Faisal, I used to have this Bengali roommate who'd had taken a few Oracle classes and then had me run him thru a Windows NT4 install. Ofcourse, on his resume he was an experienced windows engineer and an Oracle DBA. He actually got a job paying almost $70 grand, and actually stayed with the company for almost 6 mths before finding another job. So that's the flip side to your advise. :)

[Faisal]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

Tofibaba, are you seriously advising these poor, innocent, dove-like kids to BS on their resume? tsk tsk....

[zobia]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

@Faisal

Tofibaba, are you seriously advising these poor, innocent, dove-like kids to BS on their resume? tsk tsk…

uncle, kai app aisay thay

[Lucid_Chaotic]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

Faisal,
That’s gotta be a new high in ineptness – I mean even if you’re making up something, how easy is it to google or use wikipedia. That’s the least anyone can do.

This is not to say that I condone lies in a résumé, but exaggerated work experiences and inflated profiles are fairly common – esp. in entry-level job seekers.

As Tofi suggested, in technology jobs it’s almost always the case and as an interviewer, I’ve had to supplement the interview with some type of a technical simulation or skill test to form a more realistic picture of a candidate’skillset.

[Fayz]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

Interviews are funny in a sense that sometimes your best suit gets you a job and sometimes an exact match to the job description will leave you with a rejection letter. It really depends who is the bigger idiot in the room...interviewer or interviewee.

The funniest one I've had was the one during university years. There were a bunch of companies on campus interviewing for co-op positions. I decided to apply for a few and surprisingly I got an interview call. I had nothing on my resume other than the security job I was doing at the girls dorm. The position was for a programmer/analyst but I had no prior programming experience. I was counting on the fact that I was enrolled in computer engineering and my security job should do the rest.

Lo and behold the interview day arrives and I had a half pager resume with an objective line and bunch of incidents happened in the dormitories. To top all of that I didn't even have a tie to go with my suit. I show up for the interview 15 minutes prior to the actual time..a little nervous and looking desperately for a tie. It turns out the guy who was interviewing before me was a friend of mine and his tie matched my suit.I asked him to do me a favour and give me the tie as soon as he gets done with his interview. He agreed and as soon as he got out of the room he took his tie off..to our utter embarrassment the desi guy who was taking the interview also came out for a break...so I wore the tie infront of him and went in for the interview. Both of us had a smirk on our faces through out the interview ..to make things worse I answered all his questions from my security job perspective. It worked for situational and behavioral type questions but I really bombed on the technical ones.

Ten years later, I still remember that interview...one my best performances.

[TofiBaba]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

Faisal and Umar, I'm in no way condoning fabrication in resumes but when people are looking for entry level work its not the easiest of times, every little bit of leverage helps. Ofcourse it goes without saying that if one is to put in some enrichments in their presentation to actually do some homework on it and know what the heck it all means. Not like Faisal's poor accountant candidate.

[Lucid_Chaotic]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

^ Tofi,

Like I said, I understand that sometimes exaggerations work but if someone is exaggerating, then they at least ought to back it up with sound knowledge of the basics at the very least.

That being said, I think this topic Re: wholesale exaggeration vs. smart packaging of a résumé warrants its own thread. It’s a rather interesting area for discussion.

I’ve offered advice and help to many entry-level job seekers – both officially as part of my work as well as unofficially as a friend. The thing with entry level job seekers is that they often tend to downplay their skills and accomplishments and until they sit with somebody and talk out loud about the things they did at work, they wouldn’t be able to describe their skillset effectively. It’s this right balance between the unintentional modesty and over-the-top exaggeration that’s hard to find.

[TofiBaba]

Re: Interview Debacles (Fiascos, Problems & Mind Games)

I, also, get into similar situations with friends, family and colleagues. There have been a few who gave my reference saying they worked for me and it worked out for them. As for down-playing themselves, they get over-whelmed with other resumes out there and start under-estimating their own skills. Personal mentors do help, but professional help might be a good idea too. There are a few companies out there, including Lee Hecht Harrison, that mentor those people with getting their resumes together and help them get a marketing plan together for themselves. It is a pretty good investment to get their service for a month or so and get things in order.

We recently found out that my company is downsizing in NY and a lot of depts. were eliminated. In addition to severance packages they are also offering the LHH service for 3 months for the people effected.