San Onofre Interview

[jdpierce]

     Next week I will be testing and interviewing for San Onofre.  I am very excited about this opportunity, but unfortunately I am coming in out of town and this is a big "roll of the dice" for me.  I am looking for any assistance that anyone may be able to give me to prepare mainly for the interview.  I am not to concerned about the tests as I have been studying the examples and have been in the industrial maintenane field for 13 yrs, including my 6 yr tour in the navy as a nuke.  It's the interview that I am looking for any assistance with.  Not that I give a terrible interview, but going after this job is going to cost a bit and I want to be as prepared as I can possibly be. 
     I have searched "situational interview questions", though most of the example questions seem to tend more towards the buisness end.  Gone over my own expierences and tied them into how they would relate to plant operations.  Gone over questions for the end of the interview.  I have gone over my own strengths and weakness', that I could give around 3 to 5 of each, explaining how they effect my work and how I cope and strenghthen my weakness'. 

As you can see, I have been doing a good amount of research but I never know what I could be missing.

I appreciate any and all help.

Thank you very much.

[heavymetal atom]

Being prepared for the situational questions ahead of time helps a lot.  Your extensive maintenance experience should provide you with plenty of relevant examples to give them, which will give you a leg up on those who are fresh out of school or the navy.  Just make sure that you nail the "procedural compliance" question which they will undoubtedly pose.  It's a Go/No Go kind of thing, so make sure that you get it right.  If you have any questions feel free to PM me as I've interviewed for several of these AO positions recently.

-Tim     

[Creeker]

One technique that I used that seemed to impress them during my interview for an I&C position was learning ahead of time plant events...  I read the news releases related to the plant, and their trips in the several years past.  For instance, they had a unscheduled outage for an abnormal noise in a S/G, and when they asked me for examples of work controls I had used in the past, I was able to bring up FME practices, citing the shutdown they had had for the abnormal noise, and the effects of other FME problems Navy related.  As I had several different plant events I was able to bring up throughout, it showed that I had done my homework related to their site.  (Got the job, BTW) 

Additionally, they commented afterwards that I had an attitude of looking forward to their next question, enjoyed the interview, and had a relaxed demeanor throughout.  Plus injected humor, when appropriate.  The guys who interviewed me were extremely easy going and relaxed, so I easily followed suit.  Hopefully your interview will be likewise.

Best of luck,

Bill

[JustinHEMI05]

Maybe google STAR interviewing technique/method and behavioral interviewing instead of situational. Might be more representative of the questions you are going to be asked. Believe it or not, you are likely not going to be asked anything that seemingly has anything to do with nuclear power. You are going to be asked things like;

"Tell me about a time you disagreed with a Managers decision, and how you handled that."

"Tell me about a time you led a team to solve a problem."

ETC.

I like this site because it simply explains the STAR interview and has a nice list of questions.

http://www.quintcareers.com/STAR_interviewing.html


Good luck and keep us posted!

Justin

[Laundry Man]

Tell me about the time your manager boss etc. was giving the wrong information out and you knew it was wrong.  What did you do?  Did you stop and correct the person?  My answer was not to interrupt but to get with said person and explain that the information being distributed was incorrect and we decided if such event ever happened again, this is what we would do.
LM

[metoo]

I had an interview on the East Coast yesterday, and I flubbed a Q a bit.  Basically the Q was about integrity, and wanted to know when you had to lower your standards to get a job done.  Not wanting to head down the procedure violation road, or any other thing nuclear for fear of entrapment, I answered with a civilian answer that I'm afraid didn't impress the interviewers.  They were cool guys BTW.

In retrospect, I should have answered about a time I had to lower my PERSONAL standard, which was above the COMPANY standard in order to do something very important for the good of the company.

I just read Competency-Based Interviews by Robin Kessler.  Could have said it all in half the pages, but still worth the money I paid Amazon.  What I got out of it was to slip in other competencies in your answer, while making sure you've answered the competency for which they've asked you for an example.  Then, when they get to the other competencies, they already believe you have them, and are likely to grade higher.  Don't know if it works in real life, but they all but had to shut me up!

Good Luck!

[jdpierce]

Thank you everyone for your ideas and assitance.  I really appreciate it.  I will update when I come back.  Thank you again.

[HydroDave63]

Some of the favorite recurring STAR-type questions include:

Name a time when you had the lead role of a project that failed, and how did you deal with it?

Name a time that you had a disagreement with a peer when there was no management or fellow workers to ask, and how did you handle it?

How do you prioritize multiple highly important tasks or projects?

You observe a fellow worker violating a safety procedure, how do you handle it?

Good luck with the interview, it's a plant with a lot of possibilities, going through some interesting and challenging times

[jdpierce]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the replies and help.  Past both tests and I believe I did very well at the interview.  I should know within the next week.  Again, thank you all.

[JustinHEMI05]

Congratulations! That is great news! Please keep us posted! for the success.

Justin

[jams723]

Congratulations, good luck!

[jdpierce]

Well, I guess my interview didn't go as well as I thought.  Thank you all for your help and support.  Maybe next time I can write some good news.

[JustinHEMI05]

Keep your chin up and soldier on!

Justin

[IPREGEN]

Most interviews used the BEI type of questions these days. This is the case in the business (non-nuke and nuke world)
You can Google BEI to learn more about it but here are some representative questions

Sample Interview Questions:

    * Think of a problem person you had to deal with, describe the situation and tell me how you handled it.
    * Describe a situation in which you felt it was necessary to break company policy or alter procedures to get things done.
    * Can you give me an example of when you came up with a clever way to motivate someone?
    * Tell me about an important goal you've set in the past and how you accomplished it.

The following is a list of typical questions that you may be asked at a BEI Interview. Do not attempt to learn answers off by rote but be prepared for these types of questions, usually (but not always) mixed in with technical ones.

    * Think of a problem person you had to deal with, describe the situation and tell me how you handled it.
    * Give me an example of a colleague/ vendor/ customer who was hard to communicate with and tell me how you handled it.
    * Describe a situation in which you felt it was necessary to break company policy or alter procedures to get things done.
    * Give me a general description of your responsibilities in your current or last job.
    * Tell me about something you've done in your job that was creative. Think of a specific example. Tell me exactly how you handled it.
    * Tell me about a time you made a quick decision you were proud of.
    * Tell me about an important goal you've set in the past and how you accomplished it.
    * Do you know the expression 'to roll with the punches'? Tell me about a time when you had to do that.
    * When you had to do a job that was particularly uninteresting, how did you deal with it?
    * Tell me about a time when an upper level decision of policy change held up your work. How did you handle it?
    * Describe a situation in your last job where you could structure your own work schedule. What did you do?
    * Tell me about a time when you've stuck to company policy or procedure, when it might have been easier and more effective not to.
    * Think about a problem you might have had in being decisive, and tell me how you handled it.
    * Describe a time when you had to communicate some unpleasant feelings to a supervisor.
    * What's been your experience of dealing with poor performance of subordinates? Provide an example.
    * In your current position, what sort of decisions do you make without consulting your boss?
    * Can you think of any major obstacles you had to overcome in your last job? How did you deal with them?
    * What types of things have made you angry, and how did you react to those situations?
    * You've told me a lot of your strengths for this job. But I need to get a balanced picture and get some knowledge of where you might need some improvement. Describe for me a time when you made a mistake that illustrates your need to for improvement.

[DelayedNeutron]

Don't feel so bad jd, I thought I did well on the interview also. I'm an ex-Navy Nuke, with 4 years of commercial electrical maintenance experience, a Physics degree, and I am working as a Nuclear Equipment Operator at another plant (over 2 years) and I still didn't get hired.  Makes me wonder???