Jobs: Flirting with the Big Wigs
I ummed and ahhed my way through my telephone interview with BHP today. It felt awful. But I managed to say that I didn't want to work for TEMCO (in Launceston), I was happy to relocate anywhere else. I said that I wanted to be a leader, that my long term goals involved making a difference. But how??? There was a long pause. Then I had a little rant about how I wanted to be a part of a sustainable future. "Frontiering Engineering". Yes. I mentioned "Frontier Engineering". I also bemoaned the fact that industry has a bad public image, and I wanted to change that public perception... I want the communities to see BHP operations nearby as a positive thing for the community. Then there was the question about strengths... My writing is a strength. And I'm a creative thinker. But I am also do engineering, so I must have some strengths in logical thinking. I was careful not to say that I was a particularly clear thinker. That would have felt far too dishonest at that point in time. My head was going everywhere by that stage. The clincher must have been when they asked me about the areas that I would like to see developed (read "weaknesses"), so I said, that I would like to improve the way I present orally (with a few more mumbly umms and ahhs). I, of course mentioned the fact that I was nervous. Already making excuses. It's a good start. So I get the nice spiel on how it's something that you develop and that being nervous was par for the course.
One of the hardest questions I found was "What is your greatest achievement?" So I mentioned being dux. But that felt crap, because it wasn't as if I had any competition for that - not like there has been in recent years. Nor is it something that I particularly care about. So I talked about my umpiring and put the lady that was interviewing me to sleep. I decided that my greatest achievement was umpiring the premier league senior grand final in 2005. That was extremely depressing when I could think of nothing to surpass that. It was a fantastic day, a great honour and the New Norfold crowd is not something that I will forget in a hurry, but was it really "The Highlight", the pinnacle of my achievements to date? I tried to justify it again. I talked about how I wasn't a natural athlete - which I'm sure is completely meaningless to the poor woman who was trying to interview me, but I think she got the idea that I had triumphed against all odds. Aww shucks. And there's something in there about my perseverance. A greater show of perseverance would be to get to the top again, with stronger competition, having slipped a little with my own fitness. But that's by the by.
The upshot of it is that the interviewer was very happy with how I went and reassured me that I had done very well. She told me that I was being advanced to the next stage in the interview process. So, I have to perform a 1h online test. If I achieve an acceptable level in that, they will send my application to my first preference location who will either fly me across for an interview or say, "Not interested" in which case they pass my application on to the next location on my list of preferences.
So, all rather exciting. May well get a trip to Perth in the relatively near future!
I also spoke with a bloke from the DMO. He gave me a good idea of what would be involved working with them. Essentially, it involves reporting on the various projects and signing off on stuff. So, that seems down my alley, as far as I can tell. So that is also an exciting prospect.
And GHD is also an exciting prospect, being an international company with offices in Hobart. But alas, no news from them yet. They should get back to me in the next few weeks.
Hasn't this been a long and boring post.
I haven't even talked about Zinifex (didn't make their shortlist), SKM (haven't heard anything from them) and Hydro (they're always a bit slow on the uptake). It's all a bit of a raffle, because a lot of people are applying for a lot of jobs, but they can only take one job, making it difficult to get a good gauge of who will end up where.
So who knows. God.
One of the hardest questions I found was "What is your greatest achievement?" So I mentioned being dux. But that felt crap, because it wasn't as if I had any competition for that - not like there has been in recent years. Nor is it something that I particularly care about. So I talked about my umpiring and put the lady that was interviewing me to sleep. I decided that my greatest achievement was umpiring the premier league senior grand final in 2005. That was extremely depressing when I could think of nothing to surpass that. It was a fantastic day, a great honour and the New Norfold crowd is not something that I will forget in a hurry, but was it really "The Highlight", the pinnacle of my achievements to date? I tried to justify it again. I talked about how I wasn't a natural athlete - which I'm sure is completely meaningless to the poor woman who was trying to interview me, but I think she got the idea that I had triumphed against all odds. Aww shucks. And there's something in there about my perseverance. A greater show of perseverance would be to get to the top again, with stronger competition, having slipped a little with my own fitness. But that's by the by.
The upshot of it is that the interviewer was very happy with how I went and reassured me that I had done very well. She told me that I was being advanced to the next stage in the interview process. So, I have to perform a 1h online test. If I achieve an acceptable level in that, they will send my application to my first preference location who will either fly me across for an interview or say, "Not interested" in which case they pass my application on to the next location on my list of preferences.
So, all rather exciting. May well get a trip to Perth in the relatively near future!
I also spoke with a bloke from the DMO. He gave me a good idea of what would be involved working with them. Essentially, it involves reporting on the various projects and signing off on stuff. So, that seems down my alley, as far as I can tell. So that is also an exciting prospect.
And GHD is also an exciting prospect, being an international company with offices in Hobart. But alas, no news from them yet. They should get back to me in the next few weeks.
Hasn't this been a long and boring post.
I haven't even talked about Zinifex (didn't make their shortlist), SKM (haven't heard anything from them) and Hydro (they're always a bit slow on the uptake). It's all a bit of a raffle, because a lot of people are applying for a lot of jobs, but they can only take one job, making it difficult to get a good gauge of who will end up where.
So who knows. God.
posted by BSJ-rom at 8:53 pm
5 Comments:
Welcome to the corporate world, my friend.
Some rules I have found:
* Always follow up on failed interviews to find out what you could have done better
* Look for jobs with prospects. Don't get stuck in a job that goes nowhere.
* Use your Uni experience and scores for now. For graduate positions, this is what people care about. Tell them about your experiences at Uni, and how they relate to stuff you'll experience in a work environment.
Thanks for keep us updated mate. Sounds like you did a great job on that interview.
We'll see. I never can tell how I've done in an interview. It's weird always talking yourself up. Just hope it doesn't catch on to the rest of my life. That'd be crap.
Well it seams if I ever get a degree, I will never get the job. I can't suck up that hard.
I haven't gotten any jobs yet though...
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