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Impossible Interviews

James Shaw
Have you ever been faced with an interview question that seemed impossible to answer?


Mine was delivered on the premises of a 'world class' engineering company. "How would you ensure that a project is completed on time?"


My mind raced from the general to the particular - If I knew the answer to that I would be a billionaire! - Strikes, bad weather, supplier failure, poor specifications etc. Probably no words came out as the interviewer started to drop hints, "It begins with a 'P', it ends in 'N', it has four letters." "Plan?" I say. "Exactly!" says he. 'Idiot' thinks I.


In retrospect perhaps it was a test to see if I was suitable to develop for senior management - the 'big picture' people. "We will deliver better value, we will be smarter!" But how? Engineers, small-minded, always bothered about the details!


Needless to say, I didn't get that job. Perhaps just as well.
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    I have just come out of a (perfectly friendly and positive) meeting discussing my availability for the rest of May. The other party in the meeting (not my manager!) had pointed out that he works evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays. I think he and I would amicably agree that we would look for very different answers from candidates to this question smiley


    Personally I agree with James, absolutely it depends. And of course part of putting family first is making sure you can keep earning enough to feed them! But I have always chosen to work with people who can strike a sensible balance - I have missed the occasional school event because of a real crisis at work, but equally have always worked for people who realise there's a quid pro quo there - it'll keep me enthusiastic if I get a bit of time of to play with the family to make up for it. Just as I would pretty much always find a way to give my staff time to sort family (and sometimes friend) issues, provided they had a bit of a plan as to how to make sure the work got done.


    So, if I was asked that question I'd be seriously thinking "do I want to work for this company???"


    And (unusually for for me very very seriously) having recently had to attend two very sad funerals (friends, not family, but we were very aware of the families left behind), if push seriously comes to shove then the answer has to be family first  sad


    (pause for breath)


    I think the best advice I was given on this was to be clear at interview - perhaps at second interview where you are in a better negotiating position - what your (sensible) boundaries are, particularly if you have children at home, or perhaps elderly parents you are caring for. Joining a company and then saying that you need to leave early every Wednesday is annoying, and refusal often offends. But most managers should be happy to discuss this at interview, they will probably have "been there, done that" themselves. As long as you show - this is the clever bit - that you have a viable plan to meet the deliverables of the job, and that you really understand the employers concerns.


    However if you want to make a lot of money (and I personally know people who have made a LOT of money) the answer is "work". Full stop. Jolly good luck to them smiley


    Cheers, and sorry about the "down" bit in the middle,


    Andy 


    P.S. Great reply Lisa, crossed in the ether with mine!
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    Arran Cameron:





    After thinking over it I can't help wondering if your daughter has an advantage by having a parent in a position of engineering management who is able to provide insight, and insider information, into the professional corporate world when it comes to interviews. An advantage over a clever council estate kid who's parents might have only had basic jobs so have no clue about how the professional corporate world works and what impresses employers.




    Of course my children benefited from this (I talked to them from a very early age - confidentiality permitting - about the entertaining aspects of recruiting). But that's why I volunteer as a STEM Ambassador, one of my favourite activities now is going into schools to help with interview and CV preparation. I'd strongly recommend it to any members with recruitment experience (and of course I'd recommend it to any schools who aren't yet doing it!)

    https://www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors


    Cheers,


    Andy

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    P.S. I've just remembered there is a really good article about this in one of the last issues of the old E&T Education magazine. (O.K., I admit it, I wrote it.) It has a nice photo of me giving my daughter a mock interview! Actually it's a mock mock interview, we made sure another STEM Ambassador did her real mock interview at the school, I'd have been much too tough smiley

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