The Dreaded "SAAFTWARE" Interview..

The writings here are based on personal experiences and observations.The views expressed here are personal and might differ from person to person ..i can't do much if someone feels otherwise.

Well,the "IT " industry and "software engineer" tag goes hand in hand ..To be frank i prefer being called a analyst or something else as i feel "Engineer" is an highly coveted tag,exaggerated at times,so terrifying that i get goose-bumps and shrink like the characters in Honey, i shrunk the audience.And the most likely people who fancy using this tag are all the mothers and the neighborhood aunties referring to their son's and daughters as "My son/daughter is a software engineer" and a teaser from my friends at times ! I am not against it but just that "not everyone deserves being called an engineer" barring a few.Its very straightforward and if u ask the "Software engineer" you'll know why.

Anyways with companies booming day by day,with the want for higher salaries the one thing that has great relevance,in common is "interview,package,partiality,on-site(going abroad),offshore,papers (for quitters),attrition".

I was no different having decided to quit my previous company (Keane/Caritor) in pursuit of a good change, "package" and attended quite a few interviews in the process.I mean change for GOOD with a LOT OF HOPE- i hope there's no one to tell me "I'm not supposed to come to work in a denim on Friday's", i hope there's no manager asking me" to send an SMS if i went to office at 9:01 or 9:05 a.m", i hope NOT to meet employees speculating on someone else's affair or whether a lady is wearing her top button or not while he can mind his business, hope not to meet a team lead/manager who'll discuss what happened at the in-laws place,one who'll comb a team members hair and decorate it like a makeup-artist, i hope not to meet employees requesting for an ONSITE because he's recently married or had to repay loans after getting a new home", i hope not to meet managers promoting, not-promoting people based on personal likes and dislikes and in turn my colleagues buttering the higher up's in all possible ways", i hope not to meet team leads complaining about colleagues through mails when he's seated just 2 cubicles away and doesn't utter a word face to face", i hope not to meet people who start crying on giving serious feedback", i hope not to be denied a good hike owing to FALLING DOLLAR RATES and i sincerely hope not to meet people who take things seriously and can't comprehend HUMOUR.As i said - IT'S JUST A HOPE, who cares anyways!But i do HOPE to meet amazing friends, colleagues like i've had before.They were truly fantastic.

INTERVIEW - Nine letter word that sends shivers down the spine !

>> "Hi, We'll definitely get back to you tomorrow,next week" !
>> "The project team is held up with critical project, so we'll let you know when you can come back"
>> "You have done very well but won't quite fit in the desired position..... But we'll keep your resume for future openings"

Crap ! True these are from the HR's diction.This was my first tryst with "jumping companies" and must admit was fortunate enough not to face enough rejections,for i would have had to hear these time and again. But i do empathize with the HR's as their primary role lies in letting a candidate know that he's not been selected diplomatically.Yes a candidate getting selected or not could be an emotional issue at times. All said and done some are real turn offs like the one below:

Treating candidate's as puppets !

I was recently called to attend an interview through a consultancy for an opening in testing with a leading organization.I wanted to attend only because i had fond memories with the company way back in 2004/05.

The requirements were simple : Testing experience,Unix knowledge and shell scripting.

With no printouts of my resume i decided to get one from the cybercafe.I was told that the black and white printer was out of order and had to take a color printout.For once in my career i had the costliest CV ever (3 pages -> 40 Rs.)The interviewer had a detail look at the CV as if he was starring at a pretty damsel.Then i was asked about a few questions on testing,how bugs are reported,regression testing,test director and seemed satisfied with my answers.Unix related questions were , explain the OS with diagram,system calls etc..The next one was a shocker ! I was asked to "write all the commands that i was aware of in unix on a piece of paper?" Am not sure if this was a "good" one ,for if the interviewer had any nous at all,why would someone be asked to write the commands in unix and in layman terms it is like "asking a candidate to list all the English words from the Oxford Dictionary".Yes i did write some of them when i was interrupted saying "i know its hard to list it direct when you are not actually using it pragmatically". Thought finally common sense had prevailed! Another guy chips in with his shell scripting questions like "for loop" syntax,write sample scripts".Once done with all the tech stuff i decided to ask them about the project i'd be working upon and not once in the entire conversation was i told that i didn't satisfy the criteria in terms of the "profile". And none of the questions were based on programming,if so i wouldn't have gone in the first place as it gives me nightmares :-) I was asked to wait at the reception.I had an hope of getting through as i believed i had done very well with answering all queries that was put forth only to be told by the HR

HR : "you are Karthik right? You may Leave".
Fine i had no issues leaving but i found it strange to be asked to leave without a proper reason on what went wrong and what the expectation was from me.
On asking ,the HR said "sorry you don't fit the profile". I replied "what profile/position? I'd like to know the reason for exit ?
HR : Karthik they were expecting someone with programming knowledge ! .
KK : Alright what kind of programming? the position was for testing and the panel never bothered to ask me programming questions.
HR : They wanted someone who's worked on unix,shell scripting !
KK : Did i ever say i worked on JAVA/J2EE !! ?? And what about the scripts and the so called "unix commands" ? Wasn't that Unix i said ?
HR : Oh so do you have work exp. in Unix,testing and shell scripts ?
KK : Well,Doesn't my resume say that ?If not this was mentioned explicitly in the "tell me about urself round" !
HR : Oh ok just give me 2 min karthik i shall speak to the panel and put you across to a different round again !

I sat outside for close to 2 hours while i saw the other cadets being rejected,happily handing out the badge and signing on the register.I didn't care if i attended the "different round" again but i decided wouldn't leave until i had a proper justification.Just because the organization is big and people are keen to work there, doesn't imply you can play with cadets according to one;s whims and fancies.The HR met me again( am sure she was cursing me big time ) when i told her " i don't want the interview again and that i wanted the "EXPENSIVE" CV returned back instead of going to the bins.The HR looked at me bewildered for a while,went searching for it and finally handed over the CV to me.

The next immediate thing i did was to call up the manager in-charge of the consultancy and suggested them to thoroughly examine a candidate's profile rather than just put him across to an interview.As the cliche goes "No one is indispensable".The issue here is not with x or y getting knocked out, but the manner in which the whole thing is done.Personally it really didn't matter to me if i get through or not as i have a good enough offer in hand but the matter of fact is that there will be candidate's who are desperately in need of such opportunities and these are easy ways to get knocked out.

At the end of the day it makes sense to choose a person for what he's good at and how well one fits in the scheme of things.

Interview Approach

Get RID of THE "MENTAL BLOCK",Don't ASSUME,Don't Fear !

There are quite a few in this world who feel intimidated about interviews.Ofcourse everyone is human this is bound to happen.Even the great Tiger Woods once said "The day i feel i am not nervous when on the golf course,I'll Quit".However there is a limit to it.The best way to prepare for an interview is to "know what you are doing well currently ", " to be able to put across the work and achievements if any like no one has done before", "going with a great body language" and "smile as much instead of sulking with a thought of will i get through or not". I feel it is important to attend an interview without expecting much about the results.Yes, everyone likes to succeed but never get demotivated on rejection as there are other places "destined for you".I'd prefer to use "rejection" than "failure" as the latter has a real strong meaning which i believe is not in sync with what happens at "such interviews".

I'm sure there are a myriad of articles on how to deal with situations on rejection and my take on this is no different.On being rejected the right thing to do is ask the interviewer on how one could improve further,note down the questions and reflect back on them using books or the net.At times it is required to have a go at the interviewer as most of them try to put on the fake attitude and be arrogant.NEVER ASSUME THE INTERVIEWER KNOWS THE BEST.Give them a damn and move on ! Forget the past unless you have messed it up with an interview at "GOOGLE" or "APPLE".You have thousand's of companies which "will" need you-Trust me! Another thing hard to understand is the candidates including me(initially) having a concrete mind cribbing "Oh...! what did they ask in technical","can you please tell me the questions".While it is imperative to be good technically in any field, my experiences have taught me that "Technical (Unix,C,C++) is not the end of the world and never assume you will get an offer letter with "Tech knowledge"..To speak well and generate positive vibes is important at times.It happened at a couple of interviews which i'd say were the best that i've faced till now.

Another thing i've noticed is some not willing to take "that extra step" towards applying for similar positions or different positions.I believe its of no use cribbing about "who'll give me that position which is different?","I have no experience how will someone take me in" and so on.Stop assuming you are not good enough.Instead make an effort to take that extra step irrespective of the outcome and maximize the opportunities coming your way.Trust me once you do it you'll feel confident on :

a) taking that "step" which you were apprehensive about and can do the same if required in future.
b) finding different ways to think.

There's no harm in "TRYING" though.

I believe INTERVIEW and MARKETING are pretty much similar , except that the medium varies.And to SELL one requires the following:

1) The PRODUCT - "Its me,you or any TOM DICK HARRY".
2) The CUSTOMER -" End user is the company which is hiring you".
3) ATTRIBUTE OF THE PRODUCT - "Each one of us have an attribute we possess, identify them".
4) Customer In/Product Out - Let the customer know the right attributes ,explain how these would help in growth".

End of the day it boils down to marketing oneself well with the right attributes be it an interview or dating a girl.

Approaching an Interview :

1) Make sure the the profile on job-sites is updated every 3 days or once a week.Thanks to my friend who passed on this tip to me.Reason being , i presume the CV's are sorted on the latest modified time and not updating for weeks could well mean the profile could go unnoticed and find yourself wondering "why the heck am i not getting calls?,"Oh my profile is not good enough i guess!".

2) Prepare well on what you know and in case you are being asked something unfamiliar , present yourself in a way that you can learn and do it if given a chance."DO NOT BLUFF".If the interviewer makes a fuss out of it tell them its no "rocket science".

3) Dress well and possess a fine body language even if not confident of clearing the interview.Fearing will not help in anyway.

4) Its all well to be rejected. If so STOP MAKING EXCUSES because all this would help is probably get sympathy from your friends and NOTHING ELSE.

5) Never try and force yourself into understanding a topic which you've never done in the past with just a day or two to go for the interview. Tell the panel that you are willing to work hard and provide instances of how you did it in the past(small or big) or how you intend to do it in future.

6) If rejected make sure to know the exact reason for chucking you out unless you feel you truly don't deserve getting through the next round of interview.

7) Reflect back on all the achievements happened in the past - small or big.You have done it before , so you can do the same again- its no BIG DEAL !

All the Best.

Cheers,
Kutlu..