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Big job interview tomorrow. Haven't been on a lot of professional job interviews, so I'm pretty nervous.
I've been trying for months to land a job at GM, and after several near misses to even get considered for a job, I have an interview tomorrow. Well, officially it's an "informal sitdown," which I think means it's an interview to GET an interview, but that's still big for me given how big a leap this is from my normal field of experience.
If ever I needed to perform to 100% of my ability, it's between 1pm and 2pm tomorrow.
posted
You'll do great. You are absolutely right that it's a de facto interview. Dress accordingly. I would not be surprised if the informal interview goes well, they will have you immediately sit for a formal one that day, possibly more. Don't be afraid to come prepared to interview all day.
When they ask you to walk them through your resume they don't want to hear the minutiae of your entire professional career. Give them 2-3 key things you did at each job, and describe them quickly/efficiently.
Be familiar with GM's corporate culture and mission goals. Link. Seriously. I know corporate goals sound retarded and vague, but those are the things GM corporate determined were so important they needed to be written out. To the extent you can be familiar with those goals and actually cite them in your answers as to why you'd be a good fit at GM, that will signal to recruiters that you've done your homework and GM is somewhere you actually want to work, not just a firm to collect a paycheck from.
Anyway, you weren't soliciting advice, but I'm on the job hunt too, and this is my way of giving you a fist bump for solidarity.
Good luck, and again, you'll do great!
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: You'll do great. You are absolutely right that it's a de facto interview. Dress accordingly. I would not be surprised if the informal interview goes well, they will have you immediately sit for a formal one that day, possibly more. Don't be afraid to come prepared to interview all day.
When they ask you to walk them through your resume they don't want to hear the minutiae of your entire professional career. Give them 2-3 key things you did at each job, and describe them quickly/efficiently.
Be familiar with GM's corporate culture and mission goals. Link. Seriously. I know corporate goals sound retarded and vague, but those are the things GM corporate determined were so important they needed to be written out. To the extent you can be familiar with those goals and actually cite them in your answers as to why you'd be a good fit at GM, that will signal to recruiters that you've done your homework and GM is somewhere you actually want to work, not just a firm to collect a paycheck from.
Anyway, you weren't soliciting advice, but I'm on the job hunt too, and this is my way of giving you a fist bump for solidarity.
Good luck, and again, you'll do great!
May not have been soliciting it but I absolutely appreciate it.
There's so much information to remember. My brother has worked there for a couple years and he's tried to prep me, but this interview came up really fast. I've basically had 48 hours notice, during which I literally worked 24 hours (two 12 hour days in a row). My prep time has been limited and I'm feeling a bit harried.
But of course it helps that my brother knows the hiring manager well.
Bout time a little nepotism worked in my favor, but it can't get me all the way there. That part is on me.
Thanks again, I'll report back tomorrow!
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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A study I saw recently, indicated that the best way to deal with that is to channel the nervousness into excitement instead trying to calm down. From a biophysical perspective, calm is the opposite of anxious, but excited and anxious are pretty similar. So everytime you start to feel like throwing up, say 'I'm excited to do this'. Say it out loud if possible.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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Some of the questions in that link that Blackblade sent me ended up being really helpful, not just to show I was a good candidate, but they yielded good, interesting answers I was glad to have.
An hour after the interview I got a call saying the manager I interviewed with halted the hiring process and wanted to make me an offer. So I got the job!
Still in a slight state of shock. This is a huge break for me and it's going to be a ton of hard work, but the potential for where my career could go now is incredible.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Outstanding! I hope it is all that you want and need it to be! I have a lot of friends and family of people we know who work for the Big 3, and it is a career for most of them.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Jake: I'm really happy for you, Lyrhawn. What are you going to be doing, exactly?
Well my job title is "analyst," which from what I can tell is a catchall term for "employee." I've been up for several analyst positions over the last few months and none of them are even remotely the same.
A lot of it is generating reports and doing data analysis. Lots and lots of work in Excel with Vlookup and pivot tables and charts. Putting together Powerpoint presentations and running meetings when my bosses can't be there for them, or creating the presentations for my bosses. My boss is moving into a position that used to be occupied by two people in a dual role, so he agreed to take on the larger role if they gave him an analyst to help with the work. Directly above him as an Executive Director. So my work will be seen on a regular basis by some somewhat important people and I'll occasionally have to run meetings in their absence to gather data. I also have to administer a Sharepoint intranet.
I'm familiar, on an intellectual level, with how to do all that. But I've never done most of it for a living. So a lot of this will be pretty new to me. It's making me a little nervous. But I also can't put into words how exciting it feels to finally feel like I'm moving to the first rung on my career when for the last several years I haven't even been able to find the ladder.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I also have to administer a Sharepoint intranet.
I'm so sorry. You ever need a shoulder to cry on, just know I'm right there with you, buddy.
Seriously though, your job sounds awesome. I love a mix of data mangling with public speaking. Congratulations!
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
The General Geeky thread over on sake is going to be a big help as well. Definitely post there if you get stuck with something.
Posts: 1087 | Registered: Jul 1999
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posted
Analytics is a good field to be in. The job of "analyst" does indeed vary wildly from company to company, and even within companies, but as a field it's a pretty hot one. I'd bet GM has some great internal best practices and analyst training you can benefit from.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I'm a Business Analyst myself and spend most my time developing and automating reports. I dabble a little bit in SharePoint as well. If you need any help I could do my best. No guarantees that my skills will port over perfectly though. Posts: 362 | Registered: Nov 2008
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I'm moving into a totally new field and I appreciate the support.
I'm not sure if I've ever wanted to really nail something as much as I want to nail this. I felt that way going into grad school, but I feel like all the things I've done, undergrad, grad school, starting a non-profit, things that had begun to feel unimportant now have all perfectly aligned to afford me one real chance to move my life in a big positive step forward.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Welcome to corporate America. It's a dog eat dog world, but if you ain't a dog you're gonna have to figure out your own lunch plans.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I knew this job was going to be completely new to me, but the amount of things I have to learn is simply staggering. I spent the first three hours today thinking I'd made a horrible mistake. But at some point in the afternoon my opinion shifted. Everyone is incredibly nice and welcoming. I was afraid at every turn that I was going to be expected to know things I didn't, but everyone was very understanding and helpful. It looks like I'm going to get what I've been wishing for for the last year; a job that will train me from scratch without expecting me to have years of experience at something.
To be sure, it won't be easy. Just memorizing the command structure, names and titles is daunting. But I ended my first day feeling like this is challenging but very doable. I'm in the deep end of the pool, but I have those little floaty wings.
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When I hire (well, I don't hire, but when my team hires) an experienced consultant, I figure it's going to take at least a couple of weeks before they are going to be able to do ANYTHING useful - and that's when their expected contributions have been very narrowly defined. If we were to hire entry level the ramp up period would be much longer.
That you even managed to emerge from the first day feeling "doable" reflects well on both you and the people helping you get oriented.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Yeah, don't sweat it. 85% of your job is learning firm specific stuff, so just hit those bricks until those muscle groups build, and it starts to become second nature.
You'll get it Lyrhawn, and I'm sure I speak for us all when I say we are proud of you. Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I'm really happy for you, Lyrhawn. What are you going to be doing, exactly?
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