| So you're a college student who has landed your first | | | | look to determine if you are someone they want to |
| interview for a college internship or full time job. Now | | | | hire. Use this opportunity to highlight your results, and |
| if you've given it much thought, you've probably | | | | their impact on the company: awards, cost savings, |
| asked yourself "Self, What exactly are those | | | | sales made, production improvement, etc. Don't short |
| recruiters looking for as an ideal answer to their | | | | change yourself on this section, its critical that you |
| questions?" | | | | highlight every positive impact that you made! |
| The first thing you should have probably asked is | | | | I also must warn you not to exaggerate or lie about |
| "Self, What are they going to ask me in that | | | | your accomplishments! This doesn't ever help anyone |
| interview?" For that, please refer to my article | | | | in the process, especially if a company does their |
| Questions recruiters are likely to ask in an interview. | | | | homework by calling your provided references to ask |
| After you've read through that, read on in this article! | | | | about you! |
| Now that you know recruiters are very likely to ask | | | | Finally, your response should take approximately 3-5 |
| you behavioral questions, the next thing to do is to | | | | minutes total. Any longer, and you've lost the |
| figure out what they are looking for in an ideal | | | | attention of your interviewer. Any shorter, and you |
| response. And the wonderful thing is that there is a | | | | probably haven't gotten your message across either. |
| systematic response you can give to every single | | | | A good interviewer will also probe you with questions |
| question they can throw at you! You just have to | | | | like "Tell me more about that" or will guide you along |
| know how to formulate it. That's where I come in. | | | | with "So what was the result of that?" All I can say |
| In my very first interview freshman year (with | | | | is don't rely on them to help you along. Ace it the |
| General Electric), I thought I was providing great | | | | first time through! |
| answers, had some great experiences to share, etc. I | | | | Here is an example of one of my responses all put |
| look at it now, and it's no surprise I didn't hear back | | | | together. See if you can pick out each section. I used |
| from them. I even wonder how fast it took the | | | | this response typically for a question along the lines |
| recruiter to throw away my resume. | | | | of "Tell me about a time you faced a difficult |
| Here's an example of mine of what not to do... The | | | | technical challenge." |
| interviewer asked me "Tell me about a time you | | | | "While working at NASA, Kennedy Space Center, I |
| demonstrated leadership." To which I responded fairly | | | | was in an organization that was doing preliminary |
| plainly "Well...I was Senior Patrol Leader in Boy Scouts | | | | design work for the Launch Pad systems of new |
| for several years, that's probably my best example | | | | rockets we are using to go to the Moon and Mars. |
| of leadership." | | | | We received Flight Vehicle Commodity Loading |
| The interviewer was nice and tried to help me | | | | requirements from Johnson Space Center and |
| through the rest of the interview, but honestly, it | | | | Marshall Space Center, and then designed the Launch |
| was a train-wreck. I hope you can see why. Now I | | | | Pad accordingly." |
| know you won't ever do anything quite that bad, and | | | | "My boss had originally given an assignment to a |
| I wrote this article to make sure of it. | | | | Contractor and was not happy with their progress. I |
| Recruiters who use behavioral questions are looking | | | | was assigned to take over the project, lead the |
| for responses in what's called the STAR format. That | | | | contractor, and come up with multiple conceptual |
| breaks down into: | | | | solutions for providing a specified amount of liquid |
| Situation | | | | helium to the vehicle on the launch pad and cost |
| Task | | | | estimates for each method within 2 weeks." |
| Actions Taken | | | | "To do this, I learned as much as I could about liquid |
| Results | | | | helium, utilizing in-house resources such as reference |
| As long as you answer behavioral questions in that | | | | books, other people in the department |
| format, you cannot go wrong! And the cool part | | | | knowledgeable on the subject, etc. I considered |
| about it is that it flows in a logical order that keeps | | | | multiple options: starting with atmospheric liquid helium, |
| you on track. By practicing this format, you are | | | | or with pressurized gaseous ambient helium, the use |
| guaranteed to answer questions fully and concisely. | | | | of expansion valves, compressors, heat exchangers, |
| So let's get down to the details of the Situation | | | | etc. I learned about heat exchanger design, heat |
| component. The Situation is basically setting the | | | | exchanger fluids, efficiency/effectiveness, etc. I |
| stage for your response with the relevant | | | | worked with heat exchanger companies to get |
| background information. This includes where and | | | | details, and had the contractor do detail work here." |
| when you were working (company, how old/what | | | | "I also knew very little about cost estimating, so I |
| year in school), and maybe a bit of info on the | | | | worked with the contractor (who had experience |
| problem you faced. | | | | here) to learn broad strokes and details here. I also |
| The Task blends slightly with the Situation, and is just | | | | worked back and forth with the contractor to ensure |
| as simple. This is something along the lines of "I was | | | | that technical details were correct." |
| assigned to do x." Plain and simple, it may be the | | | | "In the end, I wrote a technical report to summarize |
| most straight forward part of your response. Keep in | | | | all data, assumptions, and everything so that it could |
| mind that it also sets up the measuring stick for your | | | | be easily reviewed by peers, and easily applied in the |
| results, so be sure that it is actually what you were | | | | future after I had left for school. The concept study |
| assigned to do! | | | | and cost estimate were turned in on time to my |
| The Actions portion of your response should be | | | | boss, who was pleased. In the end, we created a |
| where the meat of your answer is. You need to | | | | detailed 35 page study report, which was sent to |
| take this opportunity to say "I performed xyz | | | | people at Marshall Space Flight Center and Johnson |
| analysis and used abc tools to do so." or "I led the | | | | Space Center who gave it their thumbs up. The |
| group by doing abc." You also need to consider how | | | | format I used for the report was standardized as |
| technically savvy your interviewer is. If she/he is an | | | | "Boilerplate" for the organization reports, and I was |
| engineer, then you can feel free to go into a few | | | | awarded a NASA On The Spot Award." |
| (but not too many!) details about what you did. If | | | | This response fit neatly into about 3-4 minutes, and |
| you get an HR person doing the interview, don't | | | | covers all of the components of the STAR format. |
| even try to go into details, it probably won't help! | | | | Interviewers loved it (and told me that they did) |
| The Results should also be very easy, but is without | | | | because it flowed so well and I had demonstrated |
| question the most important part of your response. | | | | fantastic results. I encourage you to write out your |
| As interviewers and companies are looking for | | | | examples too, as this can make them clearer and |
| candidates who have been extremely effective in | | | | simpler. Good Luck! |
| their past jobs and experiences, this is where they | | | | |