Interviews - fall'08

7 interviews in the first round this term. I've never been successful getting interviews in the past in the first round. I think project engineer at Toyota does help.

I also revamped my resume this term. This is my 6th coop term so I've already payed my dues for the 5 required credits. I came into this term with a "I don't need a job" mentality. Thus, I added a notch of "ambition" and a touch of "cockiness" to my resume - basically saying in a nice way "I don't want to do your bitch work". Seems like it is working.

A focus was to get away from traditional mechanical jobs, which has proven to be difficult. I applied to a bunch of project management jobs and also some miscellaneous finance jobs. More success with the PM jobs than all others. Another focus was to get away from home.

Pris said to me that you're not truly away from home if you can still be within drivable distance and can still go home on weekends. This is also a reason why I'm very proud of her for being truly independent after last co-op term in London and this study term in Rome. Hence, NY, San Diego and Boston on the list for the interviews.

First one, Brooklyn at a company that does education solutions for project manager, I definitely screwed up. I still blame the interviewer for being a first time and don't know what she was looking for. First interview of the term always makes me nervous. I definitely over prepared for this one and sounded like a robot reading off a script. Being a phone interview, I could literally read off what I prepared. Lesson learned.

Second, Brampton at a space agency. I included my flickr page in my resume at the bottom for my interest as an active photographer. The first thing the engineer said to me when I sat down was, "very nice photographs" (photographers say 'shot', 'image', 'capture', 'photograph', we don't call them pictures. pictures are the stuff that comes out of your cellphone). The interview was smooth as I went through my qualifications. First question he asked me after that was "what camera do you use?". Obviously, he was more interested in my photography than my engineering. I have no problem with that except I felt kind of bad for the HR person that was also there and had no interest in what we were talking about for the next 10 minutes (30 minute interview). I tried to steer it away from photography back to engineering because I was interviewing for an engineering position instead of a photography position. But when the guy can specifically name a few (yes, a few) photos he liked on my flickr page, it is hard not to talk about it. Lastly, when we got to the end of my portfolio where I include a few print outs of my better shots, he got excited and said "YEAH!! That's what I'm talking about!!" So...the job, its decent, it gets me back into aerospace, but I'm still undecided (Brampton...meh). Would be cool to work with a boss that shares the same passion though.

Third, Mississauga for an acoustic engineering consulting firm. The work is interesting. The company is small but consists mainly of engineers doing real engineering work. Consulting is one thing I would like to try as well. My interviewer, who was obviously one of the partners, as his name is in the company title, was a very nice guy. It was very enjoyable talking with him. The conversation was light yet insightful. The job is 1/3 field work, 1/3 analysis, 1/3 report writing. He mentioned that students typically get through 15-20 projects at their stay. Variety is good, my 3 minute attention span requires variety. 40 hrs a week no OT even if you put in extra hours (Toyota has spoiled me with OT), but a possibility of bonuses at the end if the projects are under budget.

Fourth, RIM in Ottawa for another PM job. Another phone interivew. It was casual and lots of jokes. The interview is basically looking for a bitch coop to take care of the group's scheduling. However, I probably had my most embrassing interview moment with these guys. It went something like this:
- Interview spews out a technical term (I don't even remember what it was) while talking about one of my projects.
- Me: "Oh, okay..I see" (thinking that he had more experience and insight on the matterthan me)
- He went on to say, "Oh yeah? Well I just made up that term."
- *awkward silence*
- Me: "O...haha....I guess you got me good on that one..."
- Interviewers: LOLOLOLOL

One more consulting firm in Mississauga and then Boston and San Diego coming up with two electric/hybrid autmotive companies. I'm hoping San Diego comes through since it's 4 openings interviewing 8 candidates. I don't even care what I do, if I don't see white shit all around me and enjoying 15+ degrees during Jan-Apr, I will consider whoring myself out.

Some interview notes:
- I connect better with interviews in person and I tend to not bluff as hard compared to phone interviews, thus, I'm more genuine.
- Bring a portfolio of your pass projects and interests. It leaves and impression because most likely other people aren't doing it.