Tuesday, March 13, 2007

just chill chill just chill

so sometimes HR will ask you to go back and interview some wide-eyed MBA student. a lot of the people i know are getting a kick out of this and have already decided on the brainteasers they will cream them with. the irony is you never remember the easy going interviewers only the "mean" ones.

we were interviewing this pharmacist and my mom asked him some basic questions of what would you prescribe for so and so. he started shivering and stuttering. i think he had that *going blank moment*. he didnt say anything. my mom waited for a minute and asked another question. more silence. perhaps he was nervous. perhaps he wasnt prepared. of course, me being the silent interviewer on the side staring him down wasnt helping either. needless to say, he didnt get the job.

i wonder what makes you so nervous during an interview. if you dont know you dont know, right? sometimes the most brainy pple dont get through, it sometimes just depends on how good your conversational skills are. basically its for you to let them know how much you know but most importantly its for them to get to know you and to somewhat like you.

i remember the worst interview i had was with this investment firm and i had lost my voice the day before. i could barely speak. this was a conversation at a paperie (sp!)

me: *whispering* do you have any smaller sheets?
salesperson[trying not to laughing]: *whispering back* no, im sorry thats all we have.
c: actually, shes lost her voice
salesperson: *now laughing with 32 teeth and speaking loudly* yea i know, im sorry we dont have any.
me: *whispering* that sucks!
salesperson: I heard THAT.

*more laughter*

ok lame conversation. but i had to go through that during the interview too. and when we were seated with the other interviewees, one of htem asked me laughingly "are u going to speak like that, all day?". boy, was he happy. not that i was going to give him any competition. with or without my voice.

well neway, my voice wasnt the only thing that wasnt on my side that day. i had the most grilling 6 back-to-back interviews. i had this interviewer who wouldnt give up and kept grilling me about this probability question. and continued to ask variations of it. and u know how sometimes you meet pple and you form an impression of them, irrespective of whether you know them or not. looks can be deceiving is lesson no 1. this interviewer totally looked dumb. like those cheesy one-kilo-of-hair-gel-on-their-head guys with tight jeans. sad to say he was far far from stupid. and since i know being assertive is impt during the interview. and if you think your proof is right its imperative to stick to it and explain your view rather than going yes i agree with you. coz sometimes they trick u or sometimes if u explain your point well enough and its still wrong it actually works in your favor. at least thats the tips ive got. but then i should have guessed that these tips arent applicable to ME. finally he became so exasperated with me, he made a face at me (i kid you not) and just said good luck. (good riddance). needless to say i didnt get that job and my voice hadn't returned even when they called me to reject me. i was still croacking on the phone when they gave me the standard im sorry we cant call you back for the umpteenth interview. im always confused what should i answer to that, i always say thanks. in a non sarcastic way. but should i be really saying "thanks". for rejecting me. perhaps for letting me know that i suck?coz, you know i REALLY dont know that.

i always get a little flushed when i dont know an answer. its a big give away. another bad interview was this bad cop good cop set that i had to interview it. the good cop asked me all the easy questions. smiled when i iddnt get it completely right. he would give me hints and tried to help me out and then when i got it right he gave me a huge encouraging smile. the bad cop asked me to draw things out, write on paper, picked up on where i was trying to be vague and finally asked me "what are the advantages of a hash table". Wat the... if only i had paid attention during freshman year in data structures.it was a simple question but i went totally blank *its been a while* was my answer. stupid stupid stupid. by that point i was exhausted and just didnt care anymore and didnt even feel like bs-ing. i would be "im sorry, im afraid i dont know". and then bad cop would start to smile and good cops smile goes down a notch.

i hope im a good cop when im interviewing pple. thats, if i ever get a chance to.

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