Interview tips

Another of the assignments for this week was to find three videos on youtube which provide useful tips for job interviews. Here are some of the ones I found...

Firstly there was this one, which was 12 tips on how to do well in a job interview. This video is short and to the point, but all 12 are key for any interview.

Then I found this one, which was a tiny but useful bit of advice. How to respond to a difficult interview question, in which you don't really know the answer, OR, you need to buy yourself some time to think. I've actually used that response myself in an interview, in which I wasn't sure how to answer the (seemingly unrelated!) question that I was asked. It gave me time to really think about what she was asking, and come up with an appropriate response, as well as gave me time to ponder WHY i was asked that particular question.

The last video was actually a series of nine videos, the first of which can be found here. These are just videos which give you tips and tricks in a viewer friendly, relaxed manner. The advice given in this series is down to earth and honest! The rest of the series can be accessed by clicking the side links, or alternately going to the user's profile, searching for "interview tips" (or, just click here) and clicking the links to the individual videos in the series.

Interview questions

So say I’m interviewing someone to replace me at my last job, and I get to ask them ten questions to determine whether or not both they and the company would benefit from him or her taking my position. My most recent position was a salesperson at a small new and used computer store which also did repair and upgrades. So, what would I ask him or her?

1. How do you handle stressful situations?
2. If your boss was doing something blatantly illegal, how would you handle that situation?
3. A customer comes in asking if you can reduce the price on a particular item, along with an ad from a competitor advertising the same product at a much lower price. You happen to know that this product is priced at 10 times the cost to the company. What would you do?
4. A customer comes in asking you to pirate software, and then becomes irate when you refuse. What would you say to him or her to diffuse the situation?
5. Can you define the difference between a virus and spyware?
6. Can you list three of the more common ways to infect a PC with spyware, and a way to prevent it?
7. How would you explain to a customer that even though we charge a certain number of hours for a specific repair, that does not mean that their computer would be ready for pickup in that number of hours (for example, we charge two hours of labor for a format and reload, although it actually takes six to eight hours to complete)?
8. How flexible is your schedule? How long beforehand would you need to know if you were needed to work late?
9. Can you point out and then briefly describe the function of the following hardware: Hard drive, RAM, NIC, modem, CD ROM, motherboard, video card?
10. How would you explain to a customer the difference between their programs and their data, as well as the fact that their data can be backed up, but not their programs?

Computers can read your mind!

So a friend linked me today to this article and it kind of blew me away. The fact that this sort of technology is finally coming about, for one. I almost feel that the technology is wasted on being used in something like Second Life, however, no matter what medium it originated from, I think it has enormous world-changing potential. If we can move it beyond 'cyberspace' (an actual, honest-to-goddess cyberspace! finally!) think of the difference this kind of technology can make in the lives of people with disabilities. Especially, I think, people with limited mobility but still fully functional minds. People could communicate when they were unable to do so before.

I personally am tremendously excited by a development like this. I have an autoimmune disorder that, from time to time, makes it difficult to near impossible for me to see, write, walk, or any number of other day to day functions. This is unpredictible, even if it is only temporary. Thinking about how a computer could, somehow, 'read my mind' and allow for me to perform some of these functions better, or perhaps need the physical functionality less? How could it not open up a world of possibility? It strips away some of the fear and hopelessness, as I am sure it can, or will, for millions of others out there who can use this technology to make their lives better rather than just to interact effortlessly in cyberspace.