I had my interview yesterday. Thanks for various threads on this site, I knew the interview would consist of various behavioral questions, so I did a bit of research into those kinds of interviews and found some tips such as preparing 3-5 stories that could illustrate qualities like teamwork, leadership, difficult choices, etc. Before I went in for the interview, I prepared a set of 3 identical portfolios that I felt illustrated my qualifications for the job. Apparently, preparing portfolios like this is a somewhat uncommon thing. I can't say one way or another just yet how well it helps me, but I was thanked by all three of my interview panel for preparing them.
That reminds me, you may wonder how I knew my panel would consist of three people, thus how I knew to prepare three portfolios? Well, thanks goes to my inside connection who works closely with the person in charge of hiring, who happened to be one on the interview panel. If you're considering preparing a portfolio, I recommend you contact the head of the HR department, who will probably be in the interview him/herself, and ask how many will be there. If in doubt, prepare more than enough.
The interview began the way almost every interview I've had began - "Tell us a little about yourself, your oral resume if you will, about your life and what you've done. Then we'll get to the behavioral questions." So I went through my spiel about school, work, and my hobbies. Once I was finished, the lead interviewer (the person most in charge of hiring people), asked the first question. All three of them jotted down notes while I was speaking. With behavioral questions, they're looking for you to use an actual example that happened in your past and how you dealt with it. I have a tendency to go off into the hypothetical, so I had to constantly remind myself to stick with the facts rather than the 'what ifs.' Once I was finished, the second person in the line asked her question, then the last person, and the process repeated until I had answered roughly 6-8 questions. I did use the same example for two of the questions, because it just fit so nicely with the second question.
I tend to get very nervous before things like this, and I certainly was walking into the training building, but once I walked into the interview room I just focused on the task at hand. All three people on the panel were very relaxed and friendly, which helped ease the tension. I even managed to squeeze in a few jokes and get them to laugh on a few occasions. I always try to do that whenever possible for my part.
I certainly felt a lot more confident about it than I did with the POSS test (yikes), but now it's just a waiting game. I was told it could be 2-4 weeks before I hear anything. I'm hoping to hear something before 2 weeks is up, but from some of the posts here at nukeworker, the nuke industry isn't always the quickest and most efficient when it comes to things like these.
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.
Hopefully someone gets something out of this. I'll update once I get the nod either way.
