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Job Interview

MJ5150

MJ5150

Moderator
Staff member
Gold Supporting Member
Apr 12, 2001
17,407
35,667
Edinburg, Texas
#1
I quit my state job about a month ago to focus on studying for some network security classes, and because i just was tired of working there. Since then, I sent my resume out a couple times to see what was out there.

I got a phone call tonight from Microsoft. Not a temp agency working with MS, MS itself. They want to hire me as a security engineer working with the Hotmail, and MSN Search teams. I have an interview on Thursday morning at 11AM my time. The perks are unreal...free MS courseware, study guides and exams, a pass to shop in the MS employee store, and a sweet health plan and many days off. I'll try to find a PC to login in from at MS, and let you guys know how the interview goes. :D

So, if I get this job, I guess I can't honestly participate in the IE vs. Firefox, or MS vs. MAC arguments anymore. Bill will be paying me directly, so I would have a conflict of interest.

I am excited. This is only the third job interview I have been on in my life. I hope it goes well.

-Mike
 
#6
Thank you for the encouragement! I must admit that I am starting to get nervous now.

Well, I am leaving in about 10 minutes. Gotta stop along the way for breakfast and a venti gingerbread breve'. :)

-Mike
 
#11
MJ5150 said:
I
So, if I get this job, I guess I can't honestly participate in the IE vs. Firefox, or MS vs. MAC arguments anymore. Bill will be paying me directly, so I would have a conflict of interest.

I am excited. This is only the third job interview I have been on in my life. I hope it goes well.

-Mike
Click to expand...

This doesn't mean you can't use Firefox, though. So, y'know, just don't tell Bill.
 
#12
OK...that was weird. Interviewing for IT jobs is a strange process. They like to do multiple interviews. You see, I am new to the interview process. Where I come from, construction, you hire people on the spot after you look them over and see if they have all their tools. This was my third time I have been in an official job interview. Each time I got called for an interview, I'm thinking to myself "Cool, these people want to hire ME". I need to get used to the fact that it is not as personal as it was in my construction days. When I talked to a guy, it was because I was ready to hire the dude.

It turns out I am candidate 12 this week, with a few more people to interview. As I sat down, I was all ready to answer some hard core security questions, and technical issues. Nope, this dude wanted to talk about my customer service skills, how I interact with others, what I think of people who lie and cheat. He asked me questions like "What four things irritate you the most about people?", or "If such and such happens, what would you do?". He asked me about how I deal with problem customers. I gave him a nice answer, then I asked him why does that matter, I didn't think I was applying for a helpdesk position. He responded that sometimes we do have to deal with customers. The interview lasted about 15 minutes. At the end, he told me about trimming the list down to just a few for a second round of interviews next week. In what could be a critical mistake, I asked him why all the interviews. Why not just decide today? He told me they have a process to follow. But, he did say to me "see ya next week" as we exchanged good-byes. So now, I just sit here and wait to see what they thought of me. This sucks worse than the interview.

-Mike
 
#14
MJ5150 said:
As I sat down, I was all ready to answer some hard core security questions, and technical issues. Nope, this dude wanted to talk about my customer service skills, how I interact with others, what I think of people who lie and cheat. He asked me questions like "What four things irritate you the most about people?", or "If such and such happens, what would you do?". He asked me about how I deal with problem customers. I gave him a nice answer, then I asked him why does that matter, I didn't think I was applying for a helpdesk position. He responded that sometimes we do have to deal with customers. The interview lasted about 15 minutes.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Yeah, some human resource people seem to ask the most asinine questions. I remember when I was looking for an IT gig, people would always ask me if I had experience with XP (this was around 2002 or so when XP was just starting to become the main workstation OS used by people). I always told them I hadn't (because, well, I hadn't). When I finally landed an IT position, I was working with XP the first day (first professional tast I had to do was install a copy on a client's laptop). I thought, "Geez, using this OS is pretty easy. Why were all of my potential bosses making a stink out of this?"

I'm of the opinion that many employers either don't have a clue on what they want from an employee, or they have their priorities seriously screwed up.

Then again, where I live, nepotism plays a bigger role than skills, education, or experience when it comes to landing a job. :rolleyes:
 

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