Before I left out on holiday, I volunteered to help my alma mater, Vanderbilt University, with 1 of their courses, Technical Communications, a course inside the College of Engineering. A couple alumni solicited the support of other Vandy Engineering grads to assist with this program, and since Josh attended VUSE, he forwarded the email over to me. It was right up my alley!
Recently,
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I volunteered to partner with four students, and during each mock interview, I followed the same basic format. I prepped them with about as much information as I’d normally provide interviewees …. You are interviewing for a position with Microsoft, and we will speak for about 20 to 30 minutes so that I can learn more about your background and interests. <I should pause to note that I performed these mock interviews on my own time, and the students knew they weren’t really interviewing with Microsoft, although I did present each with the opportunity to submit his or her resume to our college recruiting team. I’m writing up these notes because I thought the conclusions were interesting and may assist you all, too.>
Anyway, enough with the background information. During the interviews, I found a few common themes emerged within the “areas for improvement’ section, and given that these behaviors can be easily corrected yet can also have a big impact on the outcome of an interview, I thought they were important to note.
1. Research the company with which you are interviewing. Even if it’s a big name company you think you know. Most of the students I spoke with had not visited www.microsoft.com, www.microsoft.com/careers, or www.microsoft.com/college. Other than recognizing the obvious products like Office, IE, or Xbox,
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Check out the company’s main website. Be prepared to answer questions like: What type of product or technology would you like to work on? Which of our job descriptions most interested you? Why? It’s 10 minute research that can make a huge difference in how you perform within the interview.
2. Have a career plan. Kinda. Most of the students I spoke with were a couple years from graduation, and while I wouldn’t expect them to have 100% clarity on their long-term career plans (or even 30% clarity, for that matter), I would have liked to have seen at least some evident thought around life after graduation and (since these mock interviews were mostly for internships) how an internship might play into that plan. When I asked these questions, I didn’t get any straight “I don’t knows,” but I did get a lot of vague answers that confused me even further and showed me that most interviewees had given their future careers little or no formal thought.
Check out career books and job boards. Talk to professors, career counselors, and friends. Be prepared to answer questions like: What would you like to do in your career after graduation? Where to do you see yourself in 5 years? Like I said, it’s ok not to have a rock solid plan (actually, that’s probably good) but try to formulate at least a quick one-liner. "I’m really interested in mobile devices like cell phones and PDAs, so I’d like to work in development for a company who produces leading-edge mobile technology." No 1 will hold you to that promise forever – but that line gives the interviewer a lot of insight into your passions and interests.
3. Sell yourself! A lot. Many of the interviewees I spoke with were hesitant to soak up the spotlight. They tried to downplay their skills or talk about the accomplishments of other classmates or friends. It’s ok to be selfish … this interview is about YOU! Be confident.
Be prepared to answer questions like: Tell me about the most difficult project you’ve ever worked on. Tell me about a time you had to work in a group on a project. What’s the most difficult technical problem you’ve ever had to solve? These questions are geared at finding out about you ... your strengths,
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Oh, and one more point here … If an interviewer asks you, "What would you do different if you could work on this project / problem again?,
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Anyway, I hope this exercise helps you. I should say that the students with whom I spoke performed really well within the interviews. I pointed out a few common flaws above, but they also had many common strengths, too … great communication skills,
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This whole experience makes me think I’m missing a great career as a resume writing and interviewing advisor. Ehhh … maybe in my next job. ;-)
gretchen
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