Interview Tips Please

[the B]

Just wait until you go for the jobs that require psychometric tests, assessment centres with group exericses and blind presentations... even better... a whole new set of hoops to jump through.

Interviews:

"When did you work hardest?"
"Why didn't you get a 1st class degree/some other academic thing"
"When did a team you were in fail?"

Others mentioned are nice too...

If your job should suddenly require some numerical agility... on the spot, answering... all roughly...

"Square root of 0.1?"
"Square root of 255?"
"If there is a 10 by 10 by 10 cube and all the cubes with an exterior face are marked, how many are unmarked?"
"A car goes around a one-mile track at 30mph, if it does another lap, what speed is necessary for an average speed of 60mph?" (the answer is trickier than it seems...)

 

[marty21]

can you mention something that happened a long time ago or does it have to be front ur most recent job?

i guess anything goes, it's the way you present it

 

[beeboo]

Not turning up to a job interview, but a group of people turning up for their first day of a temp. job, rolled up and pressed our intercom and one of they guys said "Yo! I'm here, with me crew." This was not the best first impression.

 

[kingmaker]

"Square root of 255?"

What in your head






Or did you mean 256

 

[kingmaker]

"If there is a 10 by 10 by 10 cube and all the cubes with an exterior face are marked, how many are unmarked?"

This is a tricky one. I reckon 400. 10x10x10 gives 1000 cubes. Each surface has 10x10=100 cubes. 6 surfaces so 600 marked cubes, leaving 400 unmarked?? Am I right ?

"A car goes around a one-mile track at 30mph, if it does another lap, what speed is necessary for an average speed of 60mph?" (the answer is trickier than it seems...)

Like the square root one, I would say this is impossible. Total distance is 2 miles which has to be completed in 2 minutes to give an average speed of 60. But time is already up because 30 mph is 0.5 miles/min

 

[kingmaker]

Dont as one bloke did this morning when I was interviewing him

a) chew gum
b) wear so much aftershave that I had to back away
c) repeatedly plead that you are reliable and that your past employment history was becaise people had it in for you
d) leave your coat on
e) say when can i start at the end of the interview
f) when discussing salary, mention the fact that you would accept less that what is advertised
g) misunderstand what the comapny is and what it does
h) change your opinions to fit mine when discussing something technical

Would f) be an absolute no-no, even if you are applying for something you are slightly underqualifed for? Serious question.

 

[EastEnder]

Would f) be an absolute no-no, even if you are applying for something you are slightly underqualifed for? Serious question.

Depends - is the role advertised with a fixed amount or a range, or is it "based on qualifications & experience" type thing?

For most professional/office jobs these days, it's usually "25-30K" or "up to 30K", etc.

If it is some sort of range, be sensible - if you think there's a good chance other applicants will be better qualified, don't pitch yourself at the highest end of the range. Equally, don't undersell yourself - you'll just end up looking desperate.

If the interviewer asks what salary you're after, pick a number that you think is genuinely fair for your experience & the job type, then maybe add a grand to it. Gives you a bit of negotiating room without sounding unrealistic.

The last thing you want to do is make too big a deal about it, people expect to pay what something's worth - if you're over emphasising how low you'll go, you risk sounding like you're not worth employing...

 

[mrsfran]

Revise what you wrote on the application form. They may be asking you questions based on what you wrote, and if you "exaggerated" and then forget what you said, it doesn't look good.

 

[Shanksy]

Well interview went well, thanks for all the tips. As usual I remembered some things I could say after I left the interview, but did also impress them by having actually read up some of the projects the council does.

 

[sunflower]

Good on ya Shanksy...did they give you an idea of when you'll find out if you got the job or did you ask them at the interview

 

[ivebeenhigh]

Like the square root one, I would say this is impossible. Total distance is 2 miles which has to be completed in 2 minutes to give an average speed of 60. But time is already up because 30 mph is 0.5 miles/min

Um why is the suqare root of 0.1 impossible its just over 0.3 (0.3*0.3=0.09)

and you would need to go 90 on the second lap (30+90)/2=60

 

[Shanksy]

Good on ya Shanksy...did they give you an idea of when you'll find out if you got the job or did you ask them at the interview

yeah, i did actually ask.

 

[kingmaker]

Um why is the suqare root of 0.1 impossible its just over 0.3 (0.3*0.3=0.09)

and you would need to go 90 on the second lap (30+90)/2=60

Fair enough, you can work square roots out roughly in yr head, sorry didn't make myself clear.

As for the other one even 90 on the 2nd lap would take 1/90 of an hour which is 40 secs.

Total time taken would be 2 mins 40secs or 160 secs which is 2/45ths of an hour

Average speed would be 2 miles divided by (2/45)hrs which gives 45 mph.

But I'm doing all this with pen and paper, and whilst relaxed. In an interview? Norfolk enchance!

 

[the B]

The point of the square roots is to work it roughly. But more importantly, demonstrate you are a logical thinker and have communication skills by explaining how you got there. Root 0.1 is a little over 0.3... call it 0.31 for example. Root of 255 is just under 16 as root 256 is 16. Call it 15.9 for example.

As for the cube, if you paint all the outside edges, you get left with an 8x8x8 cube. 512 unmarked cubes out of 1000.

The running track one can only be done by travelling at infinite speed, which is impossible. By the first lap being completed, you have taken up all the time needed to reach an average of 60mph.


In the jobs I've been going for, brainteasers are all the rage and after much trying, I did finally get a job.

Other ones include lifts with buckets of water and table tennis balls inside of them. What happens when the cable snaps?

"Explain Brownian motion" to a 7 year old/13 year old/18 year old

Glass of water, ice cubes in it, what happens to water level when it melts? Boat with rocks onboard in a pool, throw rocks into water - what happens to water level now?

 

[kingmaker]

The running track one can only be done by travelling at infinite speed, which is impossible. By the first lap being completed, you have taken up all the time needed to reach an average of 60mph.

At least I got that one right. F*cking trick question though

Boat with rocks onboard in a pool, throw rocks into water - what happens to water level now?

I would say nothing because they already under the water line. But I don't know. What type of job were you going for when they asked you this stuff

 

[the B]

Some kind of graduate job. These kind of questions are used in a number of them if my mates recollections and my own are anything to go by.

And the rocks can sit above or below the waterline of the boat. Makes no difference.

 

[kingmaker]

Some kind of graduate job. These kind of questions are used in a number of them .

Graduates are welcome to em I never even understood brownian motion myself let alone explaining it to others


If anybody has a great non-textbook answer to the dreaded 'weakness' question, I'd love to hear it.

 

[Wintermute]

impress them by having actually read up some of the projects the council does.

This is always a good question to ask as an interviewer - "what do we do?" Weeds out the bullshitters and gives good candidates a chance to show their knowledge of the industry.

 

[the B]

If anybody has a great non-textbook answer to the dreaded 'weakness' question, I'd love to hear it.

Technical things. eg. don't know x language. Correctable (eventually), but a weakness.

 

[beeboo]

Technical things. eg. don't know x language. Correctable (eventually), but a weakness.

Unless it is a key skill for the job.

I don't know why they ask questions like 'what is your greatest weakness' as they must know all they're going to get is bullshit answers.

Who is actually going to say 'I spend far too much of my time fucking about on internet bulletin boards'

 

[the B]

I don't know anyone who has actually been asked that lately. I don't think it's a question people ask anymore (and I find it hard to believe that it was ever asked - but it is one people prepare for).

I know more people who were asked 'what was the last book you read?' and then ended up discussing Harry Potter/Dan Brown or something else for a bit.