First major interview since graduation

[Bryan76]

My graduation was Dec 07 since then I have worked a contract job for 3 months over at 3M, that job interview only involved a simple test and a short interview. I now have one of those all day interviews for a Hardware Tech position. I have never done one of these and was wondering if you guys could share your experiences or give some helpful tips on what to expect or do.

 

[cyprio7]

greet them with a handshake and a smile. first impressions are VERY important.

do NOT be late. if you are, phone ahead and let them know.

be friendly and humble, dont try and act cocky like you know everything even if you do, but demonstrate your knowledge. your manners and the way you come across is very important.

know your basic stuff about the company, dont go in without doing any homework about the place or else u will look silly.

BE YOURSELF. try not to get nervous, they are not above you they are human too and were once in your same position sitting in the interview chair.

talk slowly and dont jump from point to point mumbling your words like some people do, communication is very important. take your time theres no rush.

dont kiss ass. they can tell when you are doing it and they hate it. try to be genuinely friendly, but not over friendly because its fake. if you can make them laugh its good but again dont over do it, just try not to be too serious and come across as a boring old fart, your personality and vibe you give out also sells you. just be friendly an smile but dont over do it an try and come across as genuine (if you arent lol).

go into the interview believeing that it wll be THEIR loss if they dont hire you, and project that vibe onto them into the interview..this doesnt mean be cocky and a smartass, just believe in yourself.

try to steer the conversation onto experiences youv had, eg building a project, something technical you can talk about, this way, hopefully you KNOW what you are talking about, and you can use up the time on this, if you are quiet, they are more likely to ask you more technical questions increasing the chance of you getting one wrong. if they do ask you something you dont know, be honest about it if you dont know, dont try and make something up because it will make you look like afool. not everyone knows everything.

thank them for the interview with a smile and leave


oh, and think of some typical questions they might ask you and practice answering them, but dont try and memorise exact replies because it will come across as fake an scripted, just have bullet points of things you want to say, and just talk about it naturally from the top of your head..as if just talking to one of your friends...this is much better in my experience.

hope this helps

 

[Bryan76]

greet them with a handshake and a smile. first impressions are VERY important.

do NOT be late. if you are, phone ahead and let them know.

be friendly and humble, dont try and act cocky like you know everything even if you do, but demonstrate your knowledge. your manners and the way you come across is very important.

know your basic stuff about the company, dont go in without doing any homework about the place or else u will look silly.

BE YOURSELF. try not to get nervous, they are not above you they are human too and were once in your same position sitting in the interview chair.

talk slowly and dont jump from point to point mumbling your words like some people do, communication is very important. take your time theres no rush.

dont kiss ass. they can tell when you are doing it and they hate it. try to be genuinely friendly, but not over friendly because its fake. if you can make them laugh its good but again dont over do it, just try not to be too serious and come across as a boring old fart, your personality and vibe you give out also sells you. just be friendly an smile but dont over do it an try and come across as genuine (if you arent lol).

go into the interview believeing that it wll be THEIR loss if they dont hire you, and project that vibe onto them into the interview..this doesnt mean be cocky and a smartass, just believe in yourself.

try to steer the conversation onto experiences youv had, eg building a project, something technical you can talk about, this way, hopefully you KNOW what you are talking about, and you can use up the time on this, if you are quiet, they are more likely to ask you more technical questions increasing the chance of you getting one wrong. if they do ask you something you dont know, be honest about it if you dont know, dont try and make something up because it will make you look like afool. not everyone knows everything.

thank them for the interview with a smile and leave


oh, and think of some typical questions they might ask you and practice answering them, but dont try and memorise exact replies because it will come across as fake an scripted, just have bullet points of things you want to say, and just talk about it naturally from the top of your head..as if just talking to one of your friends...this is much better in my experience.

hope this helps

Thanks for that info. Have you done one of these interviews and if so, how did it go? The only thing that I am worried about is how long the process is. They told me to meet them at 8am for breakfast and that I would be there all day! I am worried that I will have to much time to screw it up lol . I guess my biggest problem is trying to prepare for it. The most they told me was that I would haft to talk to several Engineers that specialize in certain areas. Oh and that I would haft to take a test and also do some sort of presentation. It sounds like I will be interviewed by several people which seems like a high pressure deal.

 

[Speakerguy]

Is this at the 2222 and 620 location?

 

[Bryan76]

Is this at the 2222 and 620 location?

No it was at the manf plant not the main building.

 

[Pommie]

My graduation was Dec 07 since then I have worked a contract job for 3 months over at 3M, that job interview only involved a simple test and a short interview. I now have one of those all day interviews for a Hardware Tech position. I have never done one of these and was wondering if you guys could share your experiences or give some helpful tips on what to expect or do.

I wish to complain. How come you got 3 months since Dec 07 and I only got 1. Not fair.

Mike.
P.S. Good luck.

 

[on1aag]

Job interview.

Hi Bryan76,

I have never done one of these and was wondering if you guys could share your experiences or give some helpful tips on what to expect or do.

Don't go naked !

on1aag.

 

[bryan1]

I wish to complain. How come you got 3 months since Dec 07 and I only got 1. Not fair.

Mike.
P.S. Good luck.

Sheesh Pommie back in '80 when I finished school I had a full 9 days before I started my apprenticeship. and worst of all I worked for 4 years before I got a holiday.

 

[3v0]

At out school we interview on and off during our last year. Most people had jobs prior to graduation.

You will be there all day because you will talk to several people who then have to talk about you. There will be dead time and I would expect lunch with an employee.

They will want to know if you can think on your feet. Expect questions on subjects that you have not studied. Answer without protest and do not pretend you know what you do not. When pushed for answers you do not have state that you do not know then proceed to give the best answer you can. Perhaps tell how you would find the answer or solve the problem.

Get a list of the common non tech question and have answers ready. Question like where do you see yourself in 3 years.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I can only offer the type of things I ask people, if they are looking for a job as a service engineer I expect them to know about electronics - from the posts lots of people in their last year at Uni make on here, I doubt any of them would pass a few simple electronics questions?.

One test I always do is to throw them a resistor or two, and see how fast they are at reading the colour code on it!.

 

[rjvh]

bryan76 be your self , as it is important what you know and they want to know that, they also wan't to know what you don't know
don't be afraid if you have to answer that you don't know something
if you do lie about it they will find it out later when you work there and at that time you lose your credebility (not good)
that your big interview takes a day is not to find out about your technical knoledge only they can do that within 2 hours
you will get in contact with more than 1 person as you said and they will look to your other interpersonal skills
like how do you comunicate (can you bring somthing over or not handy if you have to talk to customers), maby they give you a stress time but they want to see how you react on that (deadlines, angry customers)
now these days companies want to bring an image with their products and you are part of representing that
the last part is you have to work in a team and they dont want to have an unbalanced team
the social aspect of hiring people is the most difficult one
sucses with your interview
,

 

[Thunderchild]

Hi Bryan76,



Don't go naked !

on1aag.

never know person interviewing will be female and be impressed.....
no don't try it

 

[UTMonkey]

The best advice I was given which I think puts you in the correct frame of mind is that you should not just look at it as a one way interview. you should at the same time be judging if this is a company you would want to work for, LISTEN, UNDERSTAND, COMMUNICATE.

Don't worry too much about questions where you don't have a clue, be honest and use it to your advantage.

"Sorry I am not familiar with that, but if appointed I would make sure that it is something I look into as a priority" - nice and positive!

Good Luck

Mark

 

[UTMonkey]

Meeting for brekkie?

Sounds like they are interested in the person AS WELL as the tecchie, that sounds promising and says a lot about the organisations commitment its employees.

But that also means you shouldnt come across as too much as an egg head, no one likes a smart arse! and besides there will tests to allow you to flex those muscles.

As well as finding a person who matches the job specification, they are "unknowingly" deciding if this is someone who complements the Culture of the organisation, use your powers of discernment to identify those types of markers i.e. Breakfast interview, Interviews which last a day.

Difficult to do I know, but don't be too nervous about the interview itself, just focus on your own previous experience and skill set, and things that you think you did were important and WHY.

If the interviewer are any good they will be focussing on putting you at your ease, how can they expect to know the real you if they put up an icy persona?

Mark

 

[jrz126]

I had a group interview with Lincoln Electric a year ago. We had dinner the night before and met with some of the engineers. Everyone else in my group was talking about stupid stuff like football. I was able to get the conversation steered to electronics and I was able to talk about some projects I did. I even brought some pictures of my Tesla Coil. They were very impressed and they made me an offer immediatly after the interviews.

So it couldn't hurt to show off some projects that you've done. Maybe even bring a picture or two. It definitly helped for me.

 

[Pommie]

One test I always do is to throw them a resistor or two, and see how fast they are at reading the colour code on it!.

I'm sorry to say that I'd fail that test. If you tell me the colours I'll tell you the value, I just can't see the colours anymore. Maybe I'll improve next week when I get my new glasses.

Mike.

 

[Bryan76]

I wish to complain. How come you got 3 months since Dec 07 and I only got 1. Not fair.

Mike.
P.S. Good luck.

I started working at 3M before my Grad date.

 

[Bryan76]

Thanks for all the great advice! I think my biggest problem as of now is that I am trying to hard to prepare myself. I have been studying and testing myself for the last week and I am burning myself out lol. I think I am just going to quit all this prep studying and just go as is. I just am terrified of looking stupid if they happen to ask me a series of questions that I have no knowledge of

Any of you have anymore suggestions on how to handle questions that you are clueless about or at least cant remember the answer?

 

[Bryan76]

Well I just finished the interview today! Mother of god it was long and grueling. I was interviewed 4 times 5 counting the out going interview. Each interview had between 2-3 guys. It started at 8am and ended at 3:45. The good thing is that these people where awesome! Some of the smartest and friendliest people I have had the pleasure meeting. I should know if I got the job early next week, wish me luck. Oh and thanks for the advice guys some of it was very helpful.