Kick Ass in the Interview!

You've managed to differentiate yourself from thousands of other resumes; you've been narrowed down to the final five or fifty for that matter (depends on company size).

 How to nail the interview?

 1. Be yourself

2. Know your strengths

3. Know your weaknesses

4. Relax

 I took an interview with the contractor that ultimately offered me the position in Central Texas.  But when I went in the interview, I was caught off a bit.  1. It was a can you interview today?  and 2. Can you be here in an hour?

 I could, and did. I had on my best suit, and tie.  I also had hair way too long for the corporate office, sideburns that rivaled Elvis' and a soul patch that was nearly a fu man choo.

 I apologized for my appearance, and told them, that in fact so busy, I hadn’t been to the barber. But assured them, my appearance did not affect my ability to handle business.

 I looked a bit askew but I presented myself with confidence. I was asked technical questions.  And I let them know what I knew. And the question I didn't I told them I knew how to find out.  They wanted to know my biggest screw up.  Well that would have been my second day at my first job as a young sys admin.  The backup tapes on Novell were overwriting the SQL database backups, and on top of it. The tapes were old.  NOTHING was being backed up and the SQL server crashed.

I attempted a restore. Impossible. The prior sys admin had setup backups, concurrently. And Novell overwrote the SQL.  I pulled out weeks of tapes. It was all for naught.  So what'd I do?  I went to help in SQL, and to Yahoo and Microsoft Tech Net (at that time Google hadn't debuted in my life) and began looking up SQL commands that would restore and rebuild corrupt data.  Ultimate result: I got the SQL server db back up and running.  We lost days worth of work.  We ended up with NEW tapes; and new backups.

Now I started my job that year on Dec 23rd - on a Wednesday. The second day, Christmas eve is when the snafu happened.  We were obviously off Christmas, but I was in on Saturday morning, the 26^th, trying to fix it.  I beat the boss in- he was a Saturday worker too.  Bill, the owner of the company looked at me and asked, "Well, how is it going?”  And I told him, and I told him the possible consequences of data loss, and then I said, "I understand if you fire me." -"Heck no, he retorted, I like your work ethic, your in here on a day you didn't have to be." - and he walked off.

Same interview, they asked me the worst possible thing happening to me at work; I replied quite sullenly with a rhetorical question.  "Have you," I asked, "ever had to fire anyone? I have and that is the worst possible feeling.  It is business, but it made me personally sick to my stomach. But it had to be done. I know it affects people's lives but it was a necessary decision when I was a director of a prior company."

And we conversed about good things on the job, reviewed my resume.  And I used that chance to highlight my achievements. The interview, a panel interview of three persons, though formal, became an exchange and discussion of ideas.

I was at ease, and that seemed to put them at ease. Interviewers are people, just like you whether or not they will be your boss, or just a part of HR.  If you are nervous, don’t fake NOT being nervous.  Tell them you are, take a breath. Guess what? They just put on their shoes, one at a time, just like you!

I was actually reminded of that interview this morning; I was watching a clip from “The Pursuit of Happyness” when  Chris Gardner, having just bailed himself out of jail,  sprinted to the interview at Dean Witter, covered in paint,  in jeans, a wife beater T, and a Members Only jacket that didn’t zip.  He walked in confidently and introduced himself to the board. He didn’t try and give them a story he told them the truth. And when asked by the apparent head honcho, “What so you think they would say  if I told them I’d hired a man from an interview who came in with no shirt on?”  Chris Gardner replied after a thought, “He must have had some really nice pants!”  - It broke the ice completely- everyone laughed. He landed the position at Dean Witter.

 I was myself throughout the interview. And by the end I was asked two questions. 1. Would I consider a move to Texas and 2. How does this salary offer sound?

 If you've read my previous post; this was the company I was gunning for. They offered 100% medical for the family.  And I had spent $9600 the previous year paying for insurance for my family-so that was like a $9600 raise on top of the salary.  Oh and moving from Virginia to Texas there was no State Income Tax.  Another savings and boost to my bottom line.  

 Ultimately, it took about a month before I landed that job. But I have had dozens of interviews since then, over the phone and in person.   And it comes back to being yourself, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and no what kind of questions to ask back to open the interview. And since that time, I’ve come to master the art of the phone interview as well. But that’s another topic.

 To find out whose hiring right now in your state, or the place you want to be:

 www.govtcontractorjobs.com