yes both would be acceptable answers. the most obvious however.. manhole covers are round because manholes are round!

 

[QUOTE=JonBoy,Feb 6 2007, 01:40 PM] I would NOT admit or suggest that you have a weakness in communicating.

 

I know that they use the same telephone system that our call center uses. I'm very experienced with it. That's why I'm applying at the company.

Should I ask something like "How many different servers do you have supporting the phone system? How many call center agents? How many business users?"

 

As for the weakness I think I'll probably just say that I'm not always very organized and explain that sometimes I just have so much work to do that I don't always get around to organizing my workspace.

 

IMHO it depends on the job description.

If the advert is asking for someone with experience with that particular phone system, imho techy but appropriate questions are great (such as the ones you listed)

if the phone system experience isn't a requirement, perhaps stating that you have prior experience and following up that statement with a question about it that is appropriate but less techy in nature is a good follow-up.

With re: to the communication - I still stand by my point that in my opinion, it's a good answer to the weakness - however I do also agree that you might want to rephrase to limit it to a certain situation - such as public speaking or communicating technical ideas and points to non-technical people (such as peopel in different departments).

I know that the way an engineer would speak with me is different than how they speak with each other - showing that you identify that general weakness as one you possess (it's common and I don't think anyone will argue that) but that you are taking ownership of it and trying to improve it says a lot in my opinion.

I <3 engineers/IT guys who can explain techy things to me in terms I understand. Not that I'm a complete idiot (I work in telecomms and know a fair bit about techy stuff) - but with advanced concepts I need some clarification in addition to a tech spec sheet and a product description.

 

I practiced interviewing with a friend last night and he said that my answers were good but he could definitely tell that I had practiced. He also told me that I needed to relax.

 

I will repeat what I said in your other thread..

Speak Sloooowly.

If you think you're speaking too slow, your probably going at the normal pace. It's so easy to speed through an interview and not even know it.

 

I tend to speak quickly when I have a lot of ideas to say or points I want to cover, this used to be a struggle when interviewing (especially as I'm from up north but live down south, people used to be like "wait, what?"). It took a LOT of concentration but now is routine to run my answer through my head and take a breath before answering, as well as the conscious thought to "speak slowly and make it concise!"

 

You never want to sound too rehearsed. The best way (for me at least) is to jot down bullet points of what you would respond with, but don't sit there and write out verbatim what you would reply.

Also mix things up a bit, don't be afraid to ask a bit of a personal question. These people have probably sat though 10 interviews with the same questions and answers.

One question that I like to ask is: "What is one thing you like about this company? Other than the people you work with." The first initial "safe" response is, I love the people I work with etc.... It forces them to think a bit, thus they may remember you better. Another one is the reverse. What is one thing you wish the company could change or improve upon. Hate is such a strong word so I wouldn't use that. But you may get an insight into the company that normally you wouldn't. I was told by quite a few people that my company as a whole is a bit slow paced and that in general people take a while to get back to you. Sure enough in my corp culture, a lot of people take days to answer a simple email. Some companies its more high strung and you are EXPECTED to answer an email within an hour or two.

Good point on the weaknesses, however, I would be wary of using the term weakness in the first place. If they say what are your weaknesses. I ususally would reply with, "While I don't consider them weaknesses, there are always areas on which I'd like to improve on..." And here is what I'm doing to improve... etc.. etc... Saying that you HAVE a weakness is already bringing yourself down. You always want to spin anything with a negative connotation into a positive light.

The famous question, "Tell me a time about when you failed at something." This is a tricky question. You never want to answer, I have failed at nothing, but you don't want to answer I have failed soo many times let me see.... Again, positive spin, focus on the learning experience, the knowledge gained, how it will make you stronger, don't focus on the specific task that was failed, but rather on the success you did have, even if you didnt achieve the main goal.


Just a few of my thoughts.

Oh and if you go in for an interview. DO the simple things. Wear a nice(doesn't have to be expensive mind you) suit that FITS. Not your dad's suit(unless you're the same size). Shine your shoes. Comb your hair, brush your teeth really well. Be well groomed. While these things seem like common sense you'd be suprised....

Good luck.

 

The interview lasted 1 hour 10 minutes and overall it went well. I don't know whether or not they hired me, they said that they will get back to me within a week.

Luckily they didn't ask any of those weird questions, like why is there fuzz on a tennisball. Some questions that they asked kind of surprised me, like Give an example of a time when you demonstrated your information-gathering abilities.