Have a job interview!

[Ble_PE]

Well, 2.5 months after being initially contacted about an engineering position in FL, I've got a face-to-face interview next week! As a lot of you know, things haven't exactly been going great here at my current job, so that led me to start looking for a new job. Out of the blue I was contacted by a recruiter about a job in Florida that seemed like a very good opportunity. After talking it over with Mrs. Ble, I decided to submit my resume for it. This was at the end of May. Other than a few emails back and forth with the recruiter, I didn't hear much of anything and had pretty much forgotten about the job when the recruiter contacted me 3 weeks ago to let me know that the Director of Engineering for the company was going to be calling me for a phone interview. He seemed to like what he heard during that interview and suggested to the operations manager in Florida that he give me a call as well. He called yesterday. That call also went really well and he invited me for an interview next week. He said that it will be a panel interview with behavioral type questions.

Has anyone had a interview like this? I've been reading about them and they are completely different than any interview that I've ever had, so it will definitely be an experience. I'm still in shock I think about the fact that I am in the final stages of a job decision process that would require us to pick up and move 12 hours away if I'm offered the job. I guess that having a choice like this a good problem to have though.

 

[KEG]

I've been in panel interviews before and really hated them. You're already anxious interviewing for a new job and now you're sitting in front of 6 to 8 people asking you random questions.

Now that I think back on it, I think the whole point is to see how you handle the situation and are you able to "think on your feet" so to speak. One person will probably ask you how you would handle a difficult situation with a fellow employee and the next will ask something completely different and probably totally unrelated to work. They want to see how well you transition from answering one question to another. At least thats the impression I got from the panel interviews I was in.

My advice is to try to relax, be yourself and be honest in your answers.

BTW, I didn't get any of the jobs where I had panel interviews, so hopefully someone else can give you some advice.

Good Luck!

 

[Dark Knight]

Well, 2.5 months after being initially contacted about an engineering position in FL, I've got a face-to-face interview next week! As a lot of you know, things haven't exactly been going great here at my current job, so that led me to start looking for a new job. Out of the blue I was contacted by a recruiter about a job in Florida that seemed like a very good opportunity. After talking it over with Mrs. Ble, I decided to submit my resume for it. This was at the end of May. Other than a few emails back and forth with the recruiter, I didn't hear much of anything and had pretty much forgotten about the job when the recruiter contacted me 3 weeks ago to let me know that the Director of Engineering for the company was going to be calling me for a phone interview. He seemed to like what he heard during that interview and suggested to the operations manager in Florida that he give me a call as well. He called yesterday. That call also went really well and he invited me for an interview next week. He said that it will be a panel interview with behavioral type questions.
Has anyone had a interview like this? I've been reading about them and they are completely different than any interview that I've ever had, so it will definitely be an experience. I'm still in shock I think about the fact that I am in the final stages of a job decision process that would require us to pick up and move 12 hours away if I'm offered the job. I guess that having a choice like this a good problem to have though.

Behavioral questions? Yes. These are the type of questions they asked in the company I work for. I was given examples after my last farse...ehr...sorry...interview. PM my an e-mail so I can send it to you.

Good luck Ble

 

[Capt Worley PE]

DK, did they ask you if you were a plant, what kind of plant you'd be?

 

[Dark Knight]

DK, did they ask you if you were a plat, what kind of plant you'd be?

I cannot be a plant, however, if I was a plant the important thing is to be a plant in the safest way possible so I can be a safe plant everyday. That involves doing a 360 before getting in the car, do my stretch routines in the middle of the hallways every morning... and world peace.

An answer like that will move you into upper management here where I work. :true:

 

[Dark Knight]

Ble,

Try downloading that from here.If it does not work I will e-mail it tonight from home.

Good luck!!!!!

Ahhh...Let me know as soon as you get it so I can come back and remove the attachements. Do not want to use too much of EB's space.

 

[Ble_PE]

Thanks for those DK!! Looks like I've got some reading to do.

 

[Dark Knight]

Thanks for those DK!! Looks like I've got some reading to do.

Use your common sense. Some questions there are for people with no experience. I would go over the ones that, when you read them, say "Darn. Good question". There is no need to go over all of them (IMHO).

Anyways, here is a hint. Give examples for every question they ask you. Base your examples in your experience. Keep eye contact and be yourself.

By the way...I am 0-5 in these kind of interviews so I do not know what am I doing giving you advice. :mf_Flush:

 

[Wolverine]

If it's the kind of interview I think it might be, prepare yourself with several (7 to 10?) specific examples of your awesomeness and then work those examples into whatever question they ask, so you're always ready. For panel interviews at my place, there's a point structure that goes something like this:

1 = basically answers the question

2 = answers with examples

3 = answers with specific examples that are relevant to this job

4 = answers with specific examples relevant to the job and how excellent Ble will perform it in the future.

You want all 4's.

Also, some semi-funny advice I got once:

There's an invisible gun on the table. 3 out of 5 candidates will pick it up and use it on themselves. Don't be one of them.

Also, prepare a 1-2 minute intro and outro (90 seconds is perfect), memorize it, practice it, repeat it to wife/kids/dog/mailman until it's so fluid that it sounds natural. That self sales pitch, plus 7-10 good work examples, plus awareness of the invisogun will put you top two at least (IMHO) (unless you're competing against people who know the rules equally well).

 

[Supe]

If it's the kind of interview I think it might be, prepare yourself with several (7 to 10?) specific examples of your awesomeness and then work those examples into whatever question they ask, so you're always ready. For panel interviews at my place, there's a point structure that goes something like this:1 = basically answers the question

2 = answers with examples

3 = answers with specific examples that are relevant to this job

4 = answers with specific examples relevant to the job and how excellent Ble will perform it in the future.

You want all 4's.

Also, some semi-funny advice I got once:

There's an invisible gun on the table. 3 out of 5 candidates will pick it up and use it on themselves. Don't be one of them.

Also, prepare a 1-2 minute intro and outro (90 seconds is perfect), memorize it, practice it, repeat it to wife/kids/dog/mailman until it's so fluid that it sounds natural. That self sales pitch, plus 7-10 good work examples, plus awareness of the invisogun will put you top two at least (IMHO) (unless you're competing against people who know the rules equally well).

During my phone interview last week, the hiring managers specifically asked for responses to questions posed as #4's, so that's damn good advice.

 

[snickerd3]

good luck Ble. Can't help much more than moral support as I've never had the type of interview.

you can do it!

 

[Slugger926]

Well, 2.5 months after being initially contacted about an engineering position in FL, I've got a face-to-face interview next week! As a lot of you know, things haven't exactly been going great here at my current job, so that led me to start looking for a new job. Out of the blue I was contacted by a recruiter about a job in Florida that seemed like a very good opportunity. After talking it over with Mrs. Ble, I decided to submit my resume for it. This was at the end of May. Other than a few emails back and forth with the recruiter, I didn't hear much of anything and had pretty much forgotten about the job when the recruiter contacted me 3 weeks ago to let me know that the Director of Engineering for the company was going to be calling me for a phone interview. He seemed to like what he heard during that interview and suggested to the operations manager in Florida that he give me a call as well. He called yesterday. That call also went really well and he invited me for an interview next week. He said that it will be a panel interview with behavioral type questions.
Has anyone had a interview like this? I've been reading about them and they are completely different than any interview that I've ever had, so it will definitely be an experience. I'm still in shock I think about the fact that I am in the final stages of a job decision process that would require us to pick up and move 12 hours away if I'm offered the job. I guess that having a choice like this a good problem to have though.

Yes, I have been trained to interview people with this type of interview. I haven't done a panel interview, but one-on-one. The only panel interview I have done was with another company.

Anyways, the behavioral questions may be like, have you ever experienced a problem on a project where stuff wasn't progressing? Next question will be, tell me about the problem? Then followed by, how did you solve the problem? How did you interact/manage the other people involved in the problem?

These types of interviews are based on how you acted in the past will tell how you will handle problems, people and so forth in the future.

If you have 4 hours to kill or can listen to mp3 at work, listening to "Crucial Confrontations" from audible.com may be a big help in answering some of these questions. You will want to sell yourself via what you did in the past and how well you handled those problems, and possibly how you can handle them better in the future. The Crucial Confrontations book will help with the "I am improving myself and will handle these things much better in the future."

 

[csb]

Have you got any pageant experience? Because that's kinda what panel interviews are like.

No?

Okay, then, it'll still be fine. My last two interviews have been panel interviews that ask the same questions Slugger posted. It's the new thinking that they can train you in anything technical, but they can't train you to be a good person. They are really trying to figure out if your personality is a good fit. Think of your best worst days...those days where you weren't getting something done, or a co-worker was driving you nuts or a supervisor and you went head to head. If you're able to show that you handled those days with professional poise and came out for the better, it's good to go.

 

[Ble_PE]

Thanks for all the help ya'll! Looks like I need to spend this weekend doing some brainstorming about past experiences so that I can have stuff to pull from in the interview that doesn't come out of my ass . I've always done well during interviews, but this is going to be completely different.

 

[Master slacker]

While in grad school I listed and answered about 20 of these types of questions well before any interviews were scheduled. I had some very good answers to these questions. Guess what... nearly every single question I had in my list was asked of me in my interviews. I interviewed with about 10 companies. All but one offered me a job.

Write down sample questions.

Write down well thought-out answers.

Review thoroughly.

Succeed.

 

[Road Guy]

good luck!

When you answer questions, make sure you use the SAR method (Situation, Action YOU took, and the Result)

Thats what I was tought for the FBI interview I had, and I have used it on others and think it works well.

Again Good Luck, and this day and age I would spend more time than usual preparing...

 

[Ble_PE]

Well, the interview was yesterday. It was a very interesting process to say the least. My head hurt the rest of the night after the 2 sessions. I met with 4 managers for the company including the one who I would report directly to and then his boss. I was very encouraged with their feedback and it seemed that the President of the region really liked what I had to say, so that's a good sign. I'm supposed to hear something by Friday on what the next step will be. Looks like the wife and I might have to drive down to FL to look around a little...

Thanks again for all the help, I don't think I would have been properly prepared if I had not asked ya'll for some help.

 

[MA_PE]

great news, BLE. I hope it works out for you.

 

[Sschell]

good luck dude!

 

[Chucktown PE]

Congrats ble. I hope everything works out for you.