IRA A FULTON SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING Leading engineering

IRA A. FULTON SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING Leading engineering discovery and innovative education for global impact on quality of life. Interviewing Fulton Engineering Career Center

Your Goal, at any interview • Make an impression that you are: – – Confident Competent Enthusiastic Someone that I/we can like and trust 2

Prepare for the Interview Research – self, industry, company, position Anticipate – collect potential interview questions Develop – create answers to interview questions Practice – prepare for your performance Staging – pay attention to the details 3

Foundational Research You Company- website Glassdoor alumni Job- reverse engineer to help with developing questions to show you can meet their needs Technical Fit- discover and show that can you do the job Cultural Fit- will you want to represent the company; will you want to work for your manager; will you want to work with your coworkers; does your work style work The Company You- social media references Job- reverse engineer to develop questions that address their needs Technical Fit- can you do the job Cultural Fit- will the company want you to represent them; will your manager want you to work from them; will your coworkers want to work with you; does your work style work at their company 4

First Impressions Sight look the part and make eye contact Sound communicate the part and no buzzing phone Smell does it arrive before you do Touch handshake Taste classy- match industry expectations 5

Body Language 77% Words Non Verbals 55% Tone of Voice 38% 6

Interviewing – Framework • Interview formats: phone, video, in-person • Interview sections: – Opening – Body – Close • Interview questions: – – General Behavioral Technical Critical thinking 7

Phone Interviews • Types: – Screening interviews or “real” interviews – Technical, behavioral, coding • Formats: • One person with you, or • Multiple people on line, or • Multiple people in one room • Treat this seriously and prepare: know your interviewers 8

Phone and Video Calls • DO know EXACTLY what time zone the call is in • DO prepare for mechanical problems: – Quiet area without interruptions • DO practice the details for a video call: – Wear interview clothes – Check background behind you – Camera – look at it, not your screen or keyboard 9

On Site Interviews • DO all your homework: – Get all travel details – Wear the right clothes – Be ready for long walks and tours • DON’T be surprised when it all changes, at the last minute 10

Common Interview Mistakes • • • Not preparing/learning about the organization Coming without copies of your résumé Inappropriate attire Arriving late (or way too early) Asking about vacation and benefits 11

Other Common Interview Mistakes • • • Talking too much, or not enough Badmouthing past employers and/or colleagues Not answering the interviewer’s question Not asking questions of them Not asking about next steps at the end of the interview 12

Four Steps to Answering Questions LISTEN carefully to the question and paraphrase if needed THINK, don’t jump to answer FORMULATE your presentation from the best example PRESENT using the STAR model 13

Interview Strategies • DO prepare • DO use ~1 minute to answer the question • DO practice answering technical questions on a white board • DO answer the question directly, OR with something close – try to respond with what you do know, or have experienced • DON’T end with "Does that answer your question? ” 14

General Interview Preparation • “General” interview questions are designed to: – Let the applicant talk about a familiar subject – Assess communications skills • Keys for success: – – Prepared Honest Non-personal RELEVANT 15

General Interview Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Tell me about yourself. Why did you choose your major? Why do you want to work here? What are your strengths and/or weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 16

Behavioral Interviewing • “Describe a time when…” • Purpose: – Use past behavior to predict future behavior – Determine the potential for success – Look for evidence of desired traits 17

Examples of Behaviors • • • Teamwork Communication Problem solving skills Conflict management Initiative Leadership 18

Behavioral Interviewing Matrix Think about situations which match typical behavioral interviewing questions Topic Story #1 Story #2 Teamwork Undergraduate research project FSE 100 class project Communication Problem Solving Conflict Management Study time in residence hall Initiative Leadership 19

Behavioral Questions: STAR + R Technique • Use this outline: – Situation and/or Task • could be background plus specific task • or S/T might be combined – Action – Result • Positive outcome OR • What you learned from past mistakes – RELEVANT to the role 20

Interviewing Skills: STAR Technique Example: Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership at work. S/T • During my last semester of school, I completed an internship at XYZ Corp. • I was the first intern the department had ever had, and they decided they wanted to continue with an official internship program. • In order to successfully launch this program, my supervisor asked me to create and administer a training curriculum for the new, incoming interns. 21

Interviewing Skills: STAR Technique Example: Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership at work. S/T During my last semester of school, I completed an internship at XYZ Corp. I was the first intern the department had ever had, and they decided they wanted to continue with an official internship program. In order to successfully launch this program, my supervisor asked me to create and administer a training curriculum for the new, incoming interns. A • To complete this task, I outlined all the procedures the new interns would need to learn, such as……. . . • Next, I created a three day training agenda covering these topics. • Finally, I piloted it with four new interns. 22

Interviewing Skills: STAR Technique Example: Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership at work. S/T During my last semester of school, I completed an internship at XYZ Corp. I was the first intern the department had ever had, and they decided they wanted to continue with an official internship program. In order to successfully launch this program, my supervisor asked me to create and administer a training curriculum for the new, incoming interns. A To complete this task, I outlined all the procedures the new interns would need to learn, such as……. . . Next, I created a three day training agenda covering these topics. Finally, I piloted it with four new interns. R • The training was a huge success. • On a survey completed after the training, all four interns rated the program a 10 out of 10 in the areas of usefulness and creativity. • In addition, each intern rated my communication and leadership styles as “Excellent. ” 23

Interviewing Skills: STAR + R Technique Example: Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership at work. + R ensure you told a story that was relevant and helpful to their company 24

Interviewing Skills: STAR + R Technique I need a volunteer. The audience will help you if you get stuck. STAR + R Technique Practice: Give me an example of when you worked with a group or team of people to complete a project. Situation: Task: Action: Response/Result: Relevance: 25

Behavioral Interviewing Pitfalls • Redundant responses – Don’t use the same example (or two) for every question • Off target or abstract answers • Incomplete answers (most common) 26

Common Behavioral Interviewing Questions 1. Tell me about a project or role that you've taken on that is outside your job description. 2. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond at work without being asked. 3. Describe a time when you had trouble seeing eye to eye with a colleague. How did you handle the situation? 4. Give me an example of when you worked with a group or team of people to complete a project. 27

Technical Interviewing • Assess knowledge and expertise related to job scope • Probing questions may be used to: – Gain specifics – Discover truthfulness of résumé information – Clarify understanding 28

Technical Interview Preparation • Go through job description – Find key words – Formulate your own questions related to those skills – Practice answering those questions • Be clear about your role in group projects 29

Technical Interview Preparation Example • Job description indicates a need for experience with --– Be able to explain your experience with -- • What is the most complex project you have done with ---? Describe it. – Be able to explain what --- is best suited for 30

Example Job Description: Company Overview OSIsoft is a growing company that is dedicated to keeping a small business feel while maintaining global outreach. We hire smart people, and trust them to make the right decisions for the organization, and the customer. OSIsoft provides the best aspects of a startup, such as direct access to customers, learning and training opportunities, new technology, and challenging engineering problems, as well as the stability of a company devoted to being around for the next 30 years. OSIsoft is a global leader in operational intelligence. We deliver an open enterprise infrastructure, the PI System™, to connect sensor-based data, systems and people. OSIsoft has installations in 127 countries and is widely used across manufacturing, energy, utilities, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, data centers, facilities and the process industries, as well as the public sector and the federal government. OSIsoft is headquartered in San Leandro, California, U. S. A, with offices around the world. At OSIsoft, we provide the industry standard in enterprise infrastructure for management of time series data through the OSIsoft PI System™. Our customers rely upon the PI System™ to safeguard data and deliver enterprise-wide visibility into operational, manufacturing and business information. The PI System™ enables users to manage assets, mitigate risks, comply with regulations, improve processes, drive innovation, make business decisions in real time, and to identify competitive business and market opportunities. We are time series data; if the data has a value at a given time, we collect it, store it, and show it to our customers whenever they need it! We let engineers and managers see exactly what’s going on in their processes in real time – useful, right? 31

Example Job Description: Software Engineer - New Graduate As a Software Engineer, you will: • Join one of our small, energetic development teams • Be responsible for designing, coding, testing, documenting, and supporting our software products. • Complete an orientation period where you will learn about our products, customers, and company culture. This will happen through classroom training, customer interactions, visiting operating facilities and direct peer mentoring You may enjoy this if: • You have a passion for creating software • You are familiar with software design patterns, principles and methodologies as well as knowledge of operating system internals • You like to problem solving and have sharp debugging skills • You are creative with computers and software applied to engineering We’re looking for: • Top graduates from the best Engineering & Computer Science Universities • Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree or Ph. D in Computer Science, Chemical, Mechanical, Computer, or Electrical Engineering background or related field with a minimum GPA of 3. 5 • Strong knowledge of one or more modern programming languages (C++, C#, Java, etc. ) Nice to Have • Experience with developing manufacturing process-related software 32

Example Questions from the Job Description: • • • Why are you interested in our company? Describe your ideal role. Are you open to relocating? Do you prefer to work alone or in a team? Why? If you were having difficulty with a project, what would you do? • Rate your skills in C++, C#, Java. – How recent have you used this language? – Why you would use one over the other? – Are you able to provide the code for me to review? Tell me about the most complex program you have written. Give me an example of time you needed to debug a program. Go up to the white board and solve this problem <xxx> What is an “open enterprise infrastructure”? – What experience do you have with it? What experience do you have with developing manufacturing process-related software? What experience do you have with cataloging and retrieving data in real time? What is your experience in working as part of a development team? Tell me about your experience working with customers. What is your typical role in a team? Tell me about a time when you believed the team was not on the right path for delivering the best solution? What questions do you have for me? • • • 33

Critical Thinking Questions • Evaluate critical thinking skills • Assess how candidates deal with unexpected situations • It is ok to think the problem through, you don’t need to answer immediately; employers would rather have someone who thinks things through than one who speaks without thinking 34

Examples of Critical Thinking Questions • Why are manhole covers round? • If you have a refrigerator in a room and leave the door of the refrigerator open, what happens to the temperature of the room? 35

Inside your padfolio: Why You Interviewer names/titles - Extra résumés - Job description w/ keywords highlighted - Other asked or brief supplemental materials used at discretion Blank space to write quick keywords from questions if needed Story bullets About me 3 technical strengths and 3 competencies with back-up stories 3 technical weakness with plans on how to overcome stories Project most proud Would have done differently Role in a team Above and beyond story 5 -7 job related questions to ask them- not $, not benefits Job related question Job related question What are the next steps in the interview process and timeframes for making a decision? Reminder to yourself: Wrap up by expressing interest in the job, thanking them for their time, and state you are looking forward to hearing from them. 36

Questions for Them Demonstrate your professionalism, business acumen and competence 1. Can you describe a typical day for the ___ in your organization? 2. Could you give me some examples of projects that I’d be working on? 3. What would you say are three most important skills needed to excel in this position? 4. I’ve read about ---. Do you expect your organization to be affected by this? 5. Can you tell me the next steps and time frame for your hiring decision? 37

Next Steps: For You • Follow up with a brief “Thank You” email – – Subject: Your Name/Posting # (or title of the position) Briefly restate your interest in the role and your skills Thank the interviewer Signature line with your contact information • 4 -7 sentences typically 38

Interviewing Help: Fulton Career Center website https: //career. engineering. asu. edu Career Center Guides Career Spot Videos 39

Interviewing Help: Online: Optimal Résumé https: //app. joinhandshake. com/ 1. Access Optimal Résumé from Handshake main page 2. Click on “Interview Questions & Coaching” at bottom of screen 40

Interviewing Help: Interview Practice Appointments https: //career. engineering. asu. edu 41

Summary • Competent, Confident, Enthusiastic… how’d you do? • Successful outcome: – Depends on many elements – Be ready for things not to go your way – stay on track! • Initial outcome is not the end of your relationship with the organization 42

Backup: Interview questions

Common Behavioral Interviewing Questions 1. Tell me about a time that you received a significant amount of critical feedback. How did you handle the situation? 2. Talk about a time when you were faced with a difficult decision and describe how it turned out. 3. Give me an example of a time when you were forced to make an important decision without all of the necessary information. 44

Common Behavioral Interviewing Questions 1. Describe a time when you needed to persuade a person or group to do something they didn't want to do. 2. Tell me about a time when you faced a lot of obstacles to achieving a goal. 3. Talk about a stressful situation you've experienced. How did you handle it? 4. Tell me about a time when you failed. 45

Examples of Critical Thinking Questions • A car is travelling along a highway carrying helium balloons in the rear seat. The car has a head on collision and comes to a rapid stop. Which direction do the balloons travel? Why? • On a canoe in a pool, you take a 16 pound bowling ball out of the canoe and throw it in the pool. What happens to the water level of the pool? 46