Career Path > Resume & Interview

A reflection on the Interview

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UncaBuffalo:

--- Quote from: RVExotics on Aug 08, 2008, 05:05 ---So that was my experience. I didn't think I was going to document it here like I did my POSS test, but when I searched here for interviews, I didn't find a whole lot and figured this might help someone. Oh, I dressed in a coat and tie. As cliche as it is, you only get one chance to make a first impression. I know I was the most dressed during my POSS test (I was the only one there in a dress shirt and tie) so maybe that helps.

--- End quote ---

Hey RVExotics!  Thanks for telling us your experiences!  I am never that prepared going into an interview, so loved your ideas about portfolios & prepared examples...I will incorporate those ideas next time.

One thing about the coat & tie.  I am a firm believer that it is possible to over-dress for an interview.  I always feel that dressing one step above what you would wear at work is a good rule-of-thumb.  (I'm not sure what position you are applying for, but you mention taking the POSS.)  I have always felt that they want to know if the auxiliary operator (and any other worker spending a lot of time in the plant) is willing to dive in and get dirty.  Therefore, when I have interviewed for operator or technician positions, I have worn Dockers & a polo shirt.  But you might very well be aiming for a control room position, in which case, the tie would be the weapon-of-choice (using the one-step-up rule).  Just my take on it.

Good luck!  :)

RVExotics:
Well, I don't want to speak with complete confidence too terribly soon, but after hearing a bit of inside news the other day from my insider friend, it looks like I will not be getting it this time. Such is life. Thank you all for your advice and input. It was invaluable for preparing me for this process. If I ever apply again, I guess I'll know not to put too much hope into it, even when it seems like a pretty sure bet.

Smooth Operator:
You never know about an Ops department from one place to another. Someone, somewhere sets some arbitrary hiring standard that may or may not prove successful. Of course in the public hiring announcement its a general list of quals, but who knows how that gets applied behind closed doors.

Case in point. I know of a current class of STA candidates (SROs) who recently, all but 1, failed an NRC exam (8 of 9). I am pretty sure they were all engineers and all seemingly perfect candidates, on paper. I know one of the guys, very intelligent.

I also know a guy who repeatedly every couple of years applied for an STA spot and was rejected. Ex-Navy ELT, HP, self made guy, finished his BS and MS, but still, no spot. A poster child (nuke engineer) for Equal Opportunity failed out miserably, barely passed GF, IIRC. After so many rejections, the non-traditional learned individual moved on to better things, but I bet he still fumes everytime a bunch of traditional candidates with the right papers fail.

I wouldn't take your possible rejection personally. My class of EOs is about 50/30/20 Navy/College types/Technical non-nukes and everybody is doing fair if not better. You may just of clashed with the culture of that plant.

dinutt:
Rvexotics you sound so disappointed not much I can say other than sorry :(  it seemed to have gone south on you... but you did have a good learning experience out of this and sometimes if you try too hard at anything it ends up this way, disappointed and discouraged...I think the guy that  was conducting your interview didn't even have your job teaching on his mind and went on with the interview.as planned You obviously passed the POSS test which in the industry seems to be a challenge to pass at alot of sites so this may not be the place (location) for you to be at Try  others and maybe find out the areas of which you need to improve on that took place in your interveiw they felt needed some attention and guidance for your next venture (or do you even care at this point).above all keep looking  keep your confidence.Also are you certain you didn't get this position inside contact or not  ??? keep us posted and best of luck....
Di

RVExotics:
I will certainly update as soon as I get the final say. I believe their last round of interviews will be next Thursday, so I'll probably be notified shortly afterward. There's still a small glimmer of hope as far as I know, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much about it.

The only part during the interview where I might have faltered, and there is nothing I could've done about it, is when one of the interviewers asked if I had ever worked any physical labor jobs since the AO position would require some. I said that no, I hadn't officially worked any jobs like that since my jobs up to that point were teaching (no physical labor, just lots of mental labor!) and working at Wal-Mart. I did immediately follow up with the fact that the hobbies I choose to do almost all require me to perform some amount of physical labor: the animals I raise (5.5' 150lb birds, not easy to manage), hiking, canoeing, biking. I guess I probably shouldn't have initially approached the answer to that question in the negative, but I was just being honest. I guess I should've worked a landscaping or greenhouse job a summer or two ago.

That probably raised some questions about my ability to cope with physical labor because of my stature (5'10" 145 lbs). I may look kind of small, but if I can haul an adult emu kicking and flailing across a 2 acre pen and dump it into a trailer...well I can haul some pipes or tubing around a power plant! hah 

So on that note, who wants to buy some supplemental AFLAC health insurance? ;)

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