illini
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In keeping with the trend of completely off-topic threads that require you to divulge potentially embarrassing information about yourself...tell us your funny, embarrassing, or just plain interesting stories about you or someone you know interviewing or starting a new job.
I'll start with a few:
A couple years ago I was interviewing a shiny new Ph.D. at the DoD research lab I worked at then. The guy was a bit geeky, but he pretty much lost the job when I was grilling him and he interrupted me to complain about my screen saver. STRIKE ONE! Then I was talking to him about the types of problems I'm trying to solve and he asked me what the objective was. Knowing that I didn't want this guy working here, I used my standard line guaranteed to scare off just about any shiny new Ph.D.: "Why, to find new and better ways to kill the enemies of the United States, of course." He turned white. Interview over.
Waaaay back in '91 I was a shiny new Ph.D. looking for my first job. A solid rocket manufacturer out west had heard about some work I had done in grad school and asked me to interview with them. A major part of the interview was that they wanted me to give a 1 hour seminar on my thesis research. No sweat. I did my seminar feeling like I was hitting a grand slam although the attendees were a little quiet. At the end of my talk I asked if there were any questions. Stone silence. Everyone's looking a bit uncomfortable. I'm about to soil my slightly shiny new suit. Finally one guy asked, "What did you do for your master's research?" I gave him a five minute answer and he practically shouts, "That's it!!!" Everyone started breathing again and everyone was smiling. Turns out the five minute answer was all they cared about. Got the job.
A friend of mine was looking for a new job about a year ago, so I recommended him to my employer. Now interviewing at my company is about as relaxed as you're going to find it. My interview, for example, was over lunch at the Silver Diner. My friend shows up and sits on one side of the table, my employers are on the other side, I'm kind of in the middle as both employee and his advocate. Employer starts asking questions. No response. He rewords his questions in case he didn't understand. No response. I try to soften things up by giving a partial answer on his behalf, expecting him to take over. No response. Thirty minutes of silence from my friend. I'm sweating, having put my reputation on the line to get this guy the interview. He leaves and my employers and I agree that this was the worst interview we'd ever seen in our lives. Later I asked my friend what happened. He said he didn't appreciate being asked questions. He felt his resume was sufficient to speak for him!! Folks, #1 interviewing tip: answer the stinkin' questions!!!!
I'll start with a few:
A couple years ago I was interviewing a shiny new Ph.D. at the DoD research lab I worked at then. The guy was a bit geeky, but he pretty much lost the job when I was grilling him and he interrupted me to complain about my screen saver. STRIKE ONE! Then I was talking to him about the types of problems I'm trying to solve and he asked me what the objective was. Knowing that I didn't want this guy working here, I used my standard line guaranteed to scare off just about any shiny new Ph.D.: "Why, to find new and better ways to kill the enemies of the United States, of course." He turned white. Interview over.
Waaaay back in '91 I was a shiny new Ph.D. looking for my first job. A solid rocket manufacturer out west had heard about some work I had done in grad school and asked me to interview with them. A major part of the interview was that they wanted me to give a 1 hour seminar on my thesis research. No sweat. I did my seminar feeling like I was hitting a grand slam although the attendees were a little quiet. At the end of my talk I asked if there were any questions. Stone silence. Everyone's looking a bit uncomfortable. I'm about to soil my slightly shiny new suit. Finally one guy asked, "What did you do for your master's research?" I gave him a five minute answer and he practically shouts, "That's it!!!" Everyone started breathing again and everyone was smiling. Turns out the five minute answer was all they cared about. Got the job.
A friend of mine was looking for a new job about a year ago, so I recommended him to my employer. Now interviewing at my company is about as relaxed as you're going to find it. My interview, for example, was over lunch at the Silver Diner. My friend shows up and sits on one side of the table, my employers are on the other side, I'm kind of in the middle as both employee and his advocate. Employer starts asking questions. No response. He rewords his questions in case he didn't understand. No response. I try to soften things up by giving a partial answer on his behalf, expecting him to take over. No response. Thirty minutes of silence from my friend. I'm sweating, having put my reputation on the line to get this guy the interview. He leaves and my employers and I agree that this was the worst interview we'd ever seen in our lives. Later I asked my friend what happened. He said he didn't appreciate being asked questions. He felt his resume was sufficient to speak for him!! Folks, #1 interviewing tip: answer the stinkin' questions!!!!