Job interview

alcoholic_engineer

So I finally managed to get a job interview, and it is actually pretty much my dream job.

It involves being paid to be a field engineer and travel all over the world.

But I have never had a real job interview. They have tended to be more informal and so I really am not sure what to expect.

I have heard varying ideas even on dress (some say full suit, some say nice dress shirt and pants with no tie) so I plan to err on the side of caution and wear my suit unless you guys have different experiences.

I am gonna bring resume, transcripts, list of questions, some references...

As well, I know that there will be a technical portion of the interview- how in depth are they? Should I bring a calculator and formula sheet?

Thanks for your time: any suggestions would be rad



As well, it is for a company called Intermap- has anyone heard anything good/bad about them?

xThanatoSx

Erring on the side of caution by wearing the full suit and tie is DEFINITELY a good idea.

Having a few copies of your resume is also a good thing - never assume that the person you're going to be interviewing is going to have a copy of it.

I can't help with the technical portion of it - not an engineer.

Improvolone

If you have a briefcase to bring with you, put in there anything you might need.
Like said calc or forumla sheet for instance.

kathos

Field Engineer sounds pretty awesome. And it sounds like a job that you do NOT want to fuck around on. So I further the motion of the suit.

First; if the interview is a few days away (or hopefully a week or so away) go to the pharmacy, get some skin clearing formula (NOXEMA is good), some Crest VIVID Night/Day (two different tubs) and eat fruits and stuff (healthy foods) because the saying is true: you are what you eat. So if you eat cheesy poofs and big greasy shit you'll look like a slob.

Second: If your hair is long or shaggy or raggedy, go get a haircut. Just tell the barber or hairstylist (I'd say latter is the better choice IMO) that you have a really important interview and that you'll be wearing a suit.

Third: It may be a really awesome job, but it doesn't mean you have to be all nervous. Try to get all the shakes out and be a little casual (show them you're an ordinary guy and not some guy ready to be a worker drone). IMPORTANT: Talk to people on the subway or whatever. Random strangers, or if it's too much for you just talk to a convenience store guy or something you frequent often (doesn't have to be a life story), this'll boost your Confidence EXP .

Fourth: Make yourself stand out. Since you'll be travelling the world show them you have some culture or something. But not some fucking gay Ankh (no offense to anyone, but this lost its meaning when kids started wearing them "'cause they're cool") or anything. Something like a felted messenger bag to carry around your papers and folders. Like this one:



Note: bag's my dad's that I use now.

You may have a slight sense of selling out, but it might give you that boost (or use a briefcase, your call).

BlochWave

I have a degree in physics and recently got a job with an aerospace engineering company, and also interviewed with Boeing. So mayhap you can take my advice?

A)Suit is a must unless told otherwise. For the remainder of your life, when in doubt wear a suit. Overdressing? You mean looking TOO nice? Not a problem, you may be more dressed up than everyone in the building(my boss was in a short sleeve shirt)but that's expected, do note what everyone wears so you can also look right for the also important first day. Don't wear a black suit, that's too formal(funerals and church!)granted if you're being interviewed by engineers they may care as much as you do. Or they may care a lot, or they may be specifically trained hiring managers. Assume the worst. Wear a nice watch if you have one.

B)Standing out and showing individuality is good and important, but not for appearances. Lose the earrings, shave(unless you have nicely groomed facial hair, cut the hair, don't do anything too exotic to it(no spikes, mohawks, fauxhawks, etc.)

C)Memorize your questions, it's GOOD that you have some, but it's gonna look lame as hell if you have to read them.

D)If you have enough stuff to warrant a briefcase or bag, good, if not, you're gonna look silly with your suitcase full of one paper. Your resume and transcript(which should be brought, good job)might warrant it. Also important a list of references, three or four. Contact old professors, RELEVANT employers(they don't care what your boss at Arby's thought of you!)etc. tell them you have a job interview and would appreciate their use as a reference. Give time for this 'cuz they'll probably pull a "umm who are you?" and you need to remind them and give them some warning.

E)Wake up about an hour or two before you need to begin preparing. If you're like me you'll have nervous poos. >_>

Now the part you really care about! Questions? Prepare for the obvious interview questions, but the part I didn't actually expect was that YES you will probably be asked engineering and science questions. Know everything about the job you're applying for. The Boeing interview was for electromagnetic stuff, and I was asked about Maxwell's equations and how to apply them and vector calculus to E&M. That kinda stuff, usually abstract "concept" questions. The job I have checked my familiarity with probability distributions(difference between normal and lognormal? What's a standard deviation?)and asked some random physics questions(explain the uncertainty principle)A friend of mine's a math major and was asked about gamma functions.

Likely they aren't gonna ask you like hard math questions or something, just conceptual stuff. DON'T try and dodge a question or be evasive, if you don't know, tell them, they may ask you stuff they don't expect you to know to see how you react. On that same note they might be like "what's the surface area of Texas?" They wanna see how you think. If you have to think about any question outline your thinking process, that's what they care about. So be like "well the US is roughly 3000 miles across, from a mental image of a map I'd say maybe 1500 miles north to south, the bulk of Texas is almost square like, soo..." and so on. That might be completely wrong, but they don't care. They probably don't know the answer anyways

Addition: DON'T FIDGET. The engineer interviewing me for my present job called me on it actually, he handed me a business card and without thinking I fiddled with it. On that note you're expected to be a little nervous, don't panic if you know you're coming across as a little nervous, but don't seem panicky or overly stressed. It IS stressful, and they'd like to know you can perform when freaked out. Don't constantly change positions in a chair, I do that too when nervous