2011-07-05, 02:01 | Link #21 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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I suggest that you pick up some books on financial management and source for freelance work, and at least get a passive income in either insurance agent sales or trading. Then to shore it up more, get more technical knowledge to supplement to autoCAD and MATLAB, and build up a stable programming foundation in Java and/or C++. You might want to ask around the older techies in our forum (Vexx, Seijisensei, GHDPro) to see which are the more common languages used for IT operations in the various companies around the world. Most of those tech skills are easy to build up if you use them to design a portfolio for potential employers - I think a technical portfolio is more practical than just a degree itself; I am building a stock and investment portfolio this December after I raise enough money for my capital.
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2011-07-05, 03:31 | Link #22 | ||
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
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Another thing to bear in mind is that a lot of the engineering openings may require you to move. For instance certain areas like Australia and Canada have major shortages, while others not so much. I'd say you're more likely to get cash (and substantial amounts at that) working in Engineering then Finances. Though there's no harm in maintaining an investment portfolio as well... |
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2011-07-05, 08:00 | Link #23 | ||
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Oh yes, when going to interviews, answer the questions with your heart and mind. Don't follow all those "prebuilt answers" given by HR consultants, I had a friend who works as an interviewer who says that he won't hesitate to drop candidates' resumes into the bin if they give more than 25% worth of prebuilt answers - simply shows that they are shirkers because most of those answers are designed to avoid sensitive issues from being discussed. Quote:
But I wouldn't suggest to go into security though. Most of those ex-army or ex-police who are released due to age, then joined have some form of work illness - a state of OCD which makes them unusually sharp-minded and sharp-eyed as compared to a normal person on the streets; they can see alot of things about people and premises most normal people couldn't. Stick to Engineering. I wish I did engineering instead of Econs and Finances, but since I am working towards financial freedom so I can do whatever I want, a portfolio is worth much more than a degree to me. And a portfolio of previous works is always better - I wish I kept a file of it when I was doing freelance in the early days of the Internet revolution (2000-2004).
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2012-09-21, 13:34 | Link #24 |
Nyaaan~~
Join Date: Feb 2006
Age: 40
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Job Interviews
So, in a few hours I'll be going to a cocktail reception to meet some potential candidates that my firm is interviewing for our recruiting process tomorrow morning (yes, they'll be going through a series of interviews at 9AM on Saturday morning, I will attempt to not be hung-over while interviewing them).
So this made me think about starting a thread about "Interviews" both from the perspective of the person doing the "Interviewing" and the "Interviewees" This isn't my first time interviewing candidates, and it definitely won't be the last. I'm waiting for a "book" of resumes to come in and am prepping some questions to ask these guys. These are the guys at the top 5% of their class and all young and eager -- ..and likely a mirror image of one another. So, things I'll be looking for, but often times find it difficult to evaluate: 1) Technical Knowledge 2) Record of Achievement / Leadership 3) Social Fit (whether I would strangle them if we were working together for 18 hours a day 6-7 days a week and it was crunch-time at 3AM) 4) Raw Intellect |
2012-09-21, 13:49 | Link #25 |
Salt Levels Critical
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Your job is quite an interesting contrast from my own. While I'm not in charge of hiring, I do get to look over all the resumes and...well, basically, anyone who displays a high amount of technical knowledge, leadership qualities, or college education, gets theirs immediately filed away in the "NO" folder because we'd have to pay them too much.
Granted, it's a small business and the entry level positions we hire for don't really require a vast amount of knowledge, but, well, I'll just say there tend to be common patterns amongst personalities of people who have or haven't done certain things and we have employees who I'd say have a less than stellar work ethic. |
2012-09-21, 14:12 | Link #26 | |
Nyaaan~~
Join Date: Feb 2006
Age: 40
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I'm going to be interviewing probably ~10-12 candidates tomorrow morning (bright and early..) and they'll each be going through maybe 8-10 interviews one after another. We call it "Super Saturday" and it's more like a marathon than a sprint. This is the "second round" of interviews for them after the initial screen. What I find challenging is -- these guys may as well come out of a cookie cutter most of the time -- everyone has great grades, been prepped by their university career centres, read the interview guides, etc.. It's a struggle to get a clue as to how they really are as a person, how they would be to work with and to see whether there's any unique qualities about them that makes them "more" than the other candidates.. |
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2012-09-21, 14:29 | Link #27 |
Megane girl fan
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
Age: 55
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I was talking to a friend of mine the other day (please don't look so shocked. Yes, I do have friends outside of AnimeSuki) and he was telling me he went for an interview some time ago. He handed the interviewer his resume, who looked at it only briefly, and then proceeded to shoot the breeze for the next hour or so talking about anything and everything.
He got the job (I forget what it was for). I guess the interviewer was looking for someone who knew how to talk to people. Endless "Super Saturday" Soul
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2012-09-21, 14:57 | Link #28 |
Asuki-tan Kairin ↓
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Fürth (GER)
Age: 43
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Did I just misread it or is each of them going through 8-10 interviews on a single day? This seems to be overkill in my oppinion.
I mean, if I had to go through more than 2 interviews at a company that wants to potentially hire me, I would certainly think twice to actually start working there. A company with such overblown processes might be ineffective in other management areas too. And usually I don't like my work to be more concerned with processes than getting actual work done. 2 interviews should be sufficient to get at least a good idea about their soft skills. Regarding technical knowledge and raw Intellect one might as well trust their graduation results. I suppose the best of them receive contracts with a probation period clause. But what I would like to know; Are they going to be hired as professionals or put under the companies umbrella as trainees to be further qualified for their later work (by means of vocational training/on-the-job training/higher education)?
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2012-09-21, 15:37 | Link #29 | |
Nyaaan~~
Join Date: Feb 2006
Age: 40
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I'll be the first to admit there's a bit of an endurance challenge in this structure. I'm not 100% sure I like it, but it's common in my industry. |
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2012-09-21, 15:41 | Link #30 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: New York
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One of the favorite interviewer questions is, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
If you want to catch them off-guard, be funny or friendly, it works a lot of the time. Just for the record I am currently job hunting myself. |
2012-09-21, 16:14 | Link #32 |
The Interstellar Medium
Author
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 34
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Job searching as well, but I've never even been to an interview (for a job, I've been to other things), and it scares me quite a bit. Mostly because I'm never comfortable in such situations, though I've learned to just relax, sit in a good pose, smile and keep "normal" eye contact.
Beyond that, my biggest problem is due to my brain and inability to make small talk. I've always been a "slow" person. If someone asks me a question that requires a somewhat thought-out answer... it can take me a few minutes to say something. Usually filled with "Uhm" and "Ahs". Imagine this through my school life and you see the problem. Extremely annoying and embarrassing. Questions like the above "After 5 years..." is a death sentence. Random drop of thoughts, but I find the thread interesting so.
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2012-09-21, 16:24 | Link #33 |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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I will be going to an interview in 3 hours time straight out of a midnight shift. Being in the freelance line where everyone is trying to undercut you, it becomes a potential tug of war when it comes to the topic of salary.
I suck at small talk too. Unless it is about market forecast or technology. So far no interviewer has dared to ask me about politics.
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2012-09-21, 16:35 | Link #34 | |
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
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Also job searching. Ah, post-college fun.
Not exactly a social butterfly, and gets hives every time someone say "networking" without the slightest hint of sarcasm, but what are you gonna do to make it in corporate America? Well aside from saying shove it and go off to write romance novels while chilling out in Antigua. Quote:
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2012-09-21, 16:56 | Link #37 | ||
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
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So what then? Quote:
No, I should change that: many people have plans. You'd be lucky if 1 in 10 actually follows through. |
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2012-09-21, 17:07 | Link #38 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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There are also alternatives to be taken into account; I have experience working in a few industries and have no medical problems other than dyslexia, which I don't disclose because the local employers treat it synonymously as low-IQ. Essentially, I can work anywhere so long it doesn't require a specialist license. And there is also the art of faking facial expressions and eye movements, as well as mirroring postures or adapting them; it works more effectively here I guess because the HR of big companies tend not to be very smart and fresh out of uni.
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2012-09-21, 17:29 | Link #40 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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More often than not, it is easy to read people's flaws from their responses to your apparent silliness. Those who join in and extrapolate or be tsundere about it tend to be the real honest and open-hearted ones, those who silently agree and nod are the dangerous ones, while those who act professional tend to be the submissive ones with chinks in their armour that are easily found. Note that some people are fantastic actors, so the above may not work everytime. The professional part, IMO, tend to work most of the time - hence I have little or no respect for people who act and follow professional guidelines for the sake of "being professional", they aren't finding any way to improve on themselves or the system they work on. This is an excellent system to look for wonderful people to hang out with; fantastic people discuss ideas, pragmatic people discuss events, average people discuss people. I like to hang out with people who have wild ideas or like to discuss the dynamics of events, but they tend to be rarer these days because most people I meet like to talk about others behind their backs.
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