Interviewing==> Past Experience Questions

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L2Tony

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I'm aware that it may vary on any given day, but what's the yardstick on remembering
technical data from previous jobs. I was working as a Physicist about 4-5 years ago and then I moved into Business Development for same firm.

Assuming that there are people with Physics/Science backgrounds on the interview panel, will I be grilled with technical questions ? To be honest, I've forgotten most of the detailed stuff, but can prep up on the basics.

Are people with >5yrs experience expected to remember what they did during Years 1-3 down to the nitty-gritty ? By the way, even if I wanted to, I don't think I could really rev up on such details since I no longer work for the firm and simply don't have the documentation on hand. I'm assuming that IBs do not allow their ex-employees to hold onto documents, so how do you folks cope ?
 
Incidentally, this is for Finance interviews :)
 
Kinds of questions like this I got, 5 years out of engineering undergrad: On that mechanics project (on resume) where you rebuilt a car, what type of engine did it take?

Question I got, about 3yrs work experience as engineer, after 1 yr of MBA: "Explain a COMPLEX design you did in laymens terms to me" (Afte explaining old job and saying a strength was communicating complex ideas with ease)

You have to figure that the person on the other side of the desk is not going to know jack ist about your job, no matter what they remember from freshman physics (which I don't even think most people take). They wouldnt' risk getting caught up in that when they have limited time and many other things to probe you for.
Even if you get someone who does know, if they are working at a bank, they will probably just get into generalities and try to gauge you by the way you explain yourself and if it smells about right.
Good luck.
 
Saks, thanks for the reply.

That must have been one tough interview.....FIVE years out of undergrad and you were describing engines used in student projects ! But ANYTHING on the resume is fair game I guess. The complex ideas question is expected I guess.

EDIT: by the way, my question is targeted at all of you folks who started off in finance/accounting as well.....how well do you have to remember the earlier stuff ?



Saks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kinds of questions like this I got, 5 years out of
> engineering undergrad: On that mechanics project
> (on resume) where you rebuilt a car, what type of
> engine did it take?
>
> Question I got, about 3yrs work experience as
> engineer, after 1 yr of MBA: "Explain a COMPLEX
> design you did in laymens terms to me" (Afte
> explaining old job and saying a strength was
> communicating complex ideas with ease)
>
> You have to figure that the person on the other
> side of the desk is not going to know jack ist
> about your job, no matter what they remember from
> freshman physics (which I don't even think most
> people take). They wouldnt' risk getting caught up
> in that when they have limited time and many other
> things to probe you for.
> Even if you get someone who does know, if they are
> working at a bank, they will probably just get
> into generalities and try to gauge you by the way
> you explain yourself and if it smells about right.
>
> Good luck.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 10:20PM by L2Tony.
 
It's my experience of finance / banking / FM interviews that - especially as you get more experienced - you get asked more open, general questions. It's upto you how much detail you go into. But remember you are giving yourself rope to hang yourself!

Competent bluffing and radiating credibility are all about speaking strategically on the subject / question asked and throwing in RELEVENT details. It's deciding what level of detail is relevant that is the skill that sorts the wheat from the chaff (to use a Biblical metaphor) ...
 
Loxley ... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's my experience of finance / banking / FM
> interviews that - especially as you get more
> experienced - you get asked more open, general
> questions. It's upto you how much detail you go
> into. But remember you are giving yourself rope
> to hang yourself!
>
> Competent bluffing and radiating credibility are
> all about speaking strategically on the subject /
> question asked and throwing in RELEVENT details.
> It's deciding what level of detail is relevant
> that is the skill that sorts the wheat from the
> chaff (to use a Biblical metaphor) ...


Loxley, this is excellent advice and one that I can definitely afford to follow better myself. It's all about giving the interviewer what they want to know without bombarding them with details - more likely than not, you'll either get someone who doesn't care about the details or someone who knows so much about the details that they'll grill you on anything you say that might not be right. It's not worth opening the floodgates to that potential type of assault!

And I also agree with you that as you move up, the questions you get tend to become more general and big-picture oriented...that being said, if you have something on your resume, make sure you're able to talk about it.
 
Scenario: unlucky enough to end up with a detailed obsessed schmuck and you are clutching at straws at one of the detailed-oriented questions.

Comeback: " ............................ " ?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 12:58PM by L2Tony.
 
Comeback: " Such details were not overly significant and as you can see, a significant amount of time has elapsed since then".
 
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