Strange Twist of Luck...

[huh]

It's been a very interesting week so far to say the least. I've been searching for some sort of a computer job recently and just over the past two weeks I've sent out my resume quite a few times. This week I actually received a call back about an Information Systems Internship position, I called back quickly and have an interview set for this Friday afternoon :D I also had a Help Desk Internship position that wanted me to get back to them. On top of that, my work gave me an unexpected raise ($1.40). Kind of annoying that I get a raise like that right after I start getting other opportunities. Oh well, I guess I'd rather have the internship in a field I'm going into than continue to work at my current job!

Does anyone here have any advice or tips on interviews for an IS/IT related job/internship? I'm just curious if they are going to drill me on a bunch of technical stuff. I'm not the best under pressure, and I like to be prepared...but with the amount of questions they could possibly ask me I can't expect to be fully prepared. I've only been in one other interview before, so I'm not feeling so confident.

[kuju]

wow... that's a lot of opportunity!

as for interviews, the three most important things are dressing well/appropriately, maintaining eye contact, and a firm handshake.

other than, of course, knowing your stuff. It's also good to think beforehand about what you'd say to annoying questions such as "Tell me about yourself" "Why do you want to work for us?" (other than the obvious reasons of pay and perks)

[huh]

Originally posted by kuju@Aug 10 2005, 10:03 PM
wow... that's a lot of opportunity!

as for interviews, the three most important things are dressing well/appropriately, maintaining eye contact, and a firm handshake.

other than, of course, knowing your stuff. It's also good to think beforehand about what you'd say to annoying questions such as "Tell me about yourself" "Why do you want to work for us?" (other than the obvious reasons of pay and perks)
Yeah, I have those first three down pretty well. Also, about thinking beforehand on the questions, that's one definite thing that Ill be doing tomorrow. I printed out a bunch of common questions that I'm expecting that they may ask and making sure I at least have a good idea what to say so I'm not sitting there with my thumb up my ass or stumbling for words! Though I'm sure I'll end up having that happen sometime throughout the interview. I'm just scared of those random questions that they like to throw out there. :confused:

[kuju]

oh, and always have questions for them too. as in "Do you have any questions for us?"

and don't FIDDLE. not even with your own hands. Hands is my problem, but it's minor compared to this girl I was once in a group interview with who wouldn't stop fiddling with her necklace....

enthusiasm, interest, etc.

[huh]

Originally posted by kuju@Aug 11 2005, 02:38 PM
oh, and always have questions for them too. as in "Do you have any questions for us?"

and don't FIDDLE. not even with your own hands. Hands is my problem, but it's minor compared to this girl I was once in a group interview with who wouldn't stop fiddling with her necklace....

enthusiasm, interest, etc.
Well, he did ask me if I had any questions and I was prepared so that's good! I was actually interviewed by two guys. One was the department manager and the other was the Workstation Support Specialist. I think it went pretty good. They asked me questions such as "What is your biggest weakness", "What is your biggest strong point?" and the last one was "Why should we hire you?". I have to say, I almost slipped up on the last one because I don't like to go off and brag about why I'm the best for something. I was able to think of something positive that didn't come off like I was big headed or anything though. They really made me feel comfortable during the interview, despite how nervous I was...so that was a plus too.

They told me they would let me know by the end of next week what their decision is. I'm going to send the guy a thank you e-mail for the interview sometime either Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I just hope I get the internship, it really looks like something that I would have fun doing rather than where I currently work.

[Asphodelle13]

Wow, good luck dude. Be yourself, be confident, be concise, and show a genuine interest. Make good eye contact. Try to sell yourself in those first few minutes. Back up your boasting by stating facts- things you have accomplished in other jobs. And just be as friendly as you can be from the start by establishing rapport.

Where are you working now?

[huh]

Originally posted by Asphodelle13@Aug 13 2005, 06:22 PM
Wow, good luck dude. Be yourself, be confident, be concise, and show a genuine interest. Make good eye contact. Try to sell yourself in those first few minutes. Back up your boasting by stating facts- things you have accomplished in other jobs. And just be as friendly as you can be from the start by establishing rapport.

Where are you working now?
As far as interviews go, I feel I did pretty well. I at least accomplished most of the tips you listed. With the exception of the last question I was asked. I'm still kicking myself for it :confused:

Right now I work at M&I Support Services. We take care of all the financial papers and support calls for customers at our building. I work in the lower department and my title right now is Document Control Specialist. It's a fancy name for what I like to refer to as "File Jockey". Ok, that's kind of depressing now that I think about it...heh :P Oh well, a jobs a job I guess. I definitely want out though!

[Kuky]

Ah shit, I somehow missed this thread, I wish I'd have caught it earlier, given my expertise at internship interviews hehe. Sounds like you did ok, but it's hard to tell. It also sounds like this was more of a cookie-cutter interview, which is the kind I don't like (where they have a set of questions and they don't allow themselves to go off on tangents). Then again, if I can get the cookie cutter types to go off on some line of discussion, then I know they like me and are interested enough, or at least curious. That's a good sign.

I hate the "what are your weaknesses" question, cause it's a total load of crap.

[Burro]

Just say "Actually come to think of it, I really can't think of any, and frankly, if you don't hire me now, you might just get a nice flaming bag of crap on your doorstep. Oh, is- this your card? Thanks."

[MuthaFranka]

Originally posted by Burro@Aug 14 2005, 04:11 PM
Just say "Actually come to think of it, I really can't think of any, and frankly, if you don't hire me now, you might just get a nice flaming bag of crap on your doorstep. Oh, is- this your card? Thanks."
That's almost exactly what i've said at every interview i've ever been to. And I've never been turned down for a job before once i've made it to the actual interview. So do the math.

Just for the record, I don't include the flaming dog shit line, even though I may be thinking it.

[Kuky]

That's a really good way to get out of that question actually. Convey that if you could think of a weakness, you would have done something about it already.

[MuthaFranka]

I always thought saying "I'm a perfectionist" may work, but it's such a bogus answer I go with the "y'know, I don't have any weaknesses", and everything works out okay generally.

Make sure you know how to laugh really phony.

[huh]

I was thinking about the weakness question the night before the interview. I didn't want to give an answer that sounded fake, so instead I used a real weakness that I do have but doesn't really pertain to the work I would be doing there. For the weakness, I ended up saying giving presentations or speeches to large groups of people. I'm just not very good at it. Although I did give an example of how I have been improving on it.

[kuju]

that question is total bullshit... I mean, basically you simply have to find (or make up) one of your strong suits, and make it sound like a weakness. totally pointless.

[Kuky]

Be careful with using public speaking as a weakness - that might be a skill they is asked of you no matter WHAT your line of work is. It was easy to answer when I was in school, cause I'd mention something totally irrelevant, like chemistry :lol:. Or maybe mentioned that I never liked the courses that require very little thinking and all memorization (bleh, as if i would WANT a job where they want me to memorize instead of understand/reason). If they asked for something more relevant, I'd give something less relevant, and soon enough, we'd both be laughing at how stupid the question is.

But really, the thing with interviews is, the dumbest thing anyone can do to prepare is to download a list of hundreds of possible questions and see if they can prepare for each. Just prepare what you want to tell them about yourself, and HOW you want to say it. You can quickly answer every question and then continue the line of thought off a tangent and tell them something that, in the end, is spun to sound like an answer to the question.

Here's an interesting anecdote from a prof: There was a time when mathematicians were psychologically oppressed, in that whenever they wanted to publish a book, it HAD to be practical, or else it would not be allowed to appear on the shelves. And they had screenings, but they were not very good, given the volume of books coming through. One mathematician was writing about something called "measure theory", which is VERY theoretical/impractical. The book started like this:

"Assume a tailor needs x square feet of material to create y shoes. Theorem: ... Proof ... theorem ... proof ......." - kind of the same idea hehe.

And if it's an interview for a job you REALLY want, you will go over it a million times in your daydream, and you'll taylor your answers into perfection (at least i do... cause i let my mind wander while i walk places... cause i'm a freak :lol: ).

[huh]

Well, the interview had to of gone pretty descent since I received a call already about it today :D They offered me the position, and I accepted (of course :P)! So as of the start of the next month I will be an Information Systems Intern at a fairly large company. The timing couldn't have been better. This will actually knock off two of my goals for this year, since I will be able to move out on my own after starting this job. That will be a big change that I look forward too!

Now I get to go into work and give my resignation :D That should be pretty interesting.

[kuju]

That's awesome! I'm really happy for you!