Interviewing
I. Overview
The ideal interview is a two-way street, allowing the employer to sell the job to you and permitting you to enhance the information contained in your resume. So maximize the opportunity by evaluating the organization in terms of your own career development and by creating a favorable impression on the interviewer.
The invitation to interview means that, in general, you are qualified for the job; however, the employer wants to determine if you are the best qualified candidate to serve the firm's interests. This determination is made primarily on the basis of your enthusiasm and honesty.
Enthusiasm is exhibited through the quality of your preparation before the interview. By reading the organization's literature, available at the Career Services Library (3718 Locust Walk, McNeil Bldg., Suite 20), visiting the firm, or talking to employees prior to the interview, you manifest interest in the position.
Furthermore, you may become particularly impressed with that organization and, in turn, convey your excitement to the interviewer. You are not expected to be an expert in the particular field, but you should have enough knowledge to formulate meaningful questions to present to the interviewer. You can usually get an overview of the organization, its products and/or services, its management philosophy and new developments, and its financial standing form an annual report. Also, the Lippincott and Van Pelt reference collections house a variety of trade journals which discuss current issues in the field.
Not only is it important to gain knowledge about the organization and the field, but it is important to know yourself and your career objectives. Employers are not interested in students with undefined career goals; they aim to fill jobs with qualified applicants rather than direct the confused. If an employer begins to give advice at an interview, then the student's chances for the job are minimized.
It is important to be honest as you clarify data on your resume for the interviewer. Touchy situations, such as salary history, reasons for leaving previous employers, and references should be handled in a truthful fashion. It is better to present yourself as one who is straightforward than risk getting caught in a lie.
Also, physical appearance affects the outcome of the interview. A simple rule is to dress the same way you would expect to dress at work if you were offered the job. Men should wear a suit, and women should wear a suit, a dress, or a skirt and jacket.
Another factor to consider is non-verbal communication. Gestures and movements can give as much information, if not more, than words. Be conscious of slouching bank in a chair (boredom?), twiddlingyour thumbs (nervousness?), and crossing your arms (hostility?).
Very rarely does an interviewer make an offer during the first interview. It is likely that he/she will get back to you within a few weeks with an offer, a rejection, or an invitation to visit his/her organization to talk to other people, if you are recruited on campus. The second interview is usually an entire day in length. Probably you will interview with several different people in the department, all of whom participate in the hiring decision. Save your receipts so the employer can reimburse you for your expenses.
It is good idea to keep a log of your interviews. You may need the name, title and address of your contact at a later date. If you are being interviewed in the On-Campus Recruiting Services, each schedule has the necessary information on it. You should write follow-up letters to the organizations in which you are particularly interested. Such letters involve thanking the employer for the interview and reconfirming your interest in the position offered. If you are fortunate enough to receive several job offers, you must carefully evaluate the positions. Factors such as salary, training, location and career growth potential are important considerations.
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II. Additional Pointers
- Interviewing is a skill that improves with practice. CAREER SERVICES counselors conduct Interview Workshops regularly.
- Anticipate questions the interviewer will ask you and phrase answers beforehand so your conversation will proceed smoothly.
- Be prepared to ask the interviewer questions about the job and the organization that remain unclear to you in the interview.
- During the interview, take your cues from the employer; however, do not offer more information than requested, particularly about your weak points.
- Never slight a former employer and professor. Approach a bad experience from a positive point of view.
- Turn your weak points into your strong points. For instance, " I get so involved with my courses and activities, I do not have much personal time."
- Don't be afraid to accentuate your strong points, but be careful not to sound conceited. For example, "Throughout my experience as a research assistant at Hay, I developed good analytical skills."
- Select your writing sample and/or portfolio carefully. Don't bring in a pile of exhibits.
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III. Questions Frequently Asked by Interviewers
Why should I hire you?
Tell me about yourself?
Why did you decide to go to Penn?
Why did you choose as your major?
How did you learn about our organization?
What do you know about our organization?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What was the worst thing that happened to you on a summer job?
I see you received a very low grade in XXXX. Why?
What contributions could you make to our organization?
Why do you want to work?
What do you expect from a job with us?
What is your greatest asset? Liability?
If you were an interviewer, what do you think the three most important criteria would be for hiring someone for this position?
On what grounds would you dismiss someone?
Do you like working with people? Is this an important factor?
How would you handle an irate client if the complaint were against the organization's policy?
Why are you interested in this field of work?
Do you have any questions?
What was your best subject in school? Worst?
Why do you want to work for us?
Why did you take a leave of absence?
Would you consider relocating?
Could you travel three days a week?
How much do you think you will be earning in ten years?
Do you plan to go to graduate school?
You strike me as graduate school material. Why are you applying for jobs?
If we hired you, what is the top position you see yourself holding?
What is the lowest salary you would consider?
Have you had any serious health problems in the past five years?
Is there anything which could potentially interfere with your performance?
Could you make a commitment now?
Tell me about your experience on a part-time job.
Of what accomplishment are you most proud? Least proud?
You don't seem to have done as well as academically in college as you did in high school. Why?
Who else are you interviewing with? What do you think of those organizations?
How do you get people to do things they don't like to do?
Are you more interested in program development or implementation?
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IV. Tough Interview Questions
Describe yourself in 3 adjectives.
Let's pretend that the first 25 minutes of the interview have passed. What were planning to tell me in the last 5 minutes?
Why do you, a liberal arts major, want to go into business?
How do you feel about working with numbers? What is 12% of 69? How did you figure that out?
With your educational background in political science, why didn't you apply for law school?
Where do you think employment with this company will take you five years from now?
What do you think of our organizational structure?.
How do you feel you work without direct supervision? Are you prepared right now to work without supervision?
Would you prefer to work independently or collectively? Why?
How much traveling would be ideal in a job?
What is one of your weakness? Now, I know you had one prepared, so give me another one?
What major problem have you encountered and how did you deal with it?
What have you learned from your mistakes?
What was the best part of your college experience? What was the worst part of your college experience?
Why should we hire you rather than one of the 200 other applicants?
What's your grade point average?
How much do you expect to earn?
What makes you tick?
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V. Questions to Ask an Interviewer
What areas need the immediate attention of the person you hire?
What are the major responsibilities of this position?
What are the company's sales and profits projections?
Whom do you identify as your major competitors?
What are your plans for new products or services?
How would define your management philosophy?
What are you looking for in the person who will fill this job?
Describe a typical day.
What kind of training would I receive?
Where can I expect to go from this position?
What activities could I engage in now that might help me on the job if I'm hired?
How long have you been with the company?
How centralized is the organizational structure?
What do you like most about your job and the company?
Whom could I speak with who has the position now or who has been promoted from the position recently?
What are the avenues for advancement?
What is the turnover rate?
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VI. Questions Asked of Penn Engineering Students in Actual Interviews
** GENERAL QUESTIONS **
How would your friends describe you?
Tell me about yourself.
What are your long-term goals?
What characteristics/traits do you most dislike in a person?
What is your biggest weakness?
What is your GPA?
What interests you about this company?
Why do you want to work in this industry?
** DIFFICULT QUESTIONS **
What question do you wish we had asked?
What are you looking for in a position?
Highlight the one thing on your resume that separates you from everyone else on Penn's campus.
What was your least favorite class?
Give an example of a time when you found it necessary to "challenge" authority.
Tell me a joke (the dirtier, the better).
What don't you do well?
Tell me a time when you failed at something.
Describe a group work situation where you and your partner were having trouble getting along with each other. How did you resolve the problem?
Describe a situation when you were faced with a dead line that you couldn't meet. How did you handle it?
Describe a situation when you had to learn a large amount of material quickly. How did you do it?
Give an example of a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
You are very qualified, why would you want to work at a small company like ours, when you could work at a stronger company?
You work in a library, and a book has been misshelved. How do you find it?
What would your enemy say about you?
** UNUSUAL QUESTIONS **
If you could be a fruit, what type of fruit would you be?
How many gasoline stations are in the United States?
How much does a 747 jetliner weigh?
How would you build a golf course? What are the important criteria?
** TECHNICAL QUESTIONS **
What temperature (ÁC) is 212ÁF?
What does NEMA stand for?
After being shown 6 plastic and metallic objects, describe what material was used and how each was made.
COMPUTER SCIENCE:
Reverse a linked list.
Swap two numbers without using temporary space.
Write STPCPY(), function, optimize.
Design a checkbook program:
a) Open a new account
b) New entry
c) Delete an entry
d) Compute balance
How would you test this program? Design an interface.
What is a DLL?
Describe what a telnet session entails.
Given a binary tree, we need to keep track of all the parents of a given node. What's an efficient way of doing this?
Tell me all about Sparc RISC architecture.
Look at the picture below. Will the water depth, d, rise or lower after rock, R, is thrown into the lake? (Do not write out equations. Argue by waving your hands.
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