Job interview advice for a supervisory position (16)

1 Name: Management Candidate 2005-11-15 21:45 ID:GpF+2vRE

Background: I am 23 years old, and I do technical support for a major medical diagnostics company. It's big enough that if you've ever had blood drawn, chances are we did the testing. I have worked for this company since I graduated college in June of 2004. I was a contractor from June to April '05, and in April, I was hired on as a full-time employee, giving me real job security, a boost in salary, benefits, and responsibilities.

I've volunteered and worked on projects, both for Six Sigma and for the department, met every single tech-support metric, written procedures, gotten kudos from management, and done everything I could to continually do better. I'm paid fairly well ($39,000 a year pre-tax, which is awesome for a political science degree) I've taken and passed a pretty tough Help Desk certification exam as part of our consultancy proficiency shpiel, and I get along very well with everyone.

Recently, they announced a reorganization in our supervisory structure. We've had one manager (Boss), one supervisor (Underboss that reports to the manager) and us employees, reporting to the supervisor. The way it'll work is that two supervisors will report to the big boss. They opened up a position for another supervisor, and they offered the position to us employees to apply for. I applied, and they apparently liked my resume enough to ask me to come for an interview. That happens on November 29th.

I haven't held a supervisory position, although I was in charge of the aforementioned projects and recruited support for those on my own. I've held offices in extracurricular activities in college and high school; in the former, I helped with recruitment, training, development, etc.

The supervisory position takes me off of answering calls and moves me into supervising ten employees. I'll be their manager, for all rights and purposes, and report to the boss, who then reports to the boss of corporate IT.

The reason I'm posting this is to get some advice. I am going to prep the hell out of myself since this is my gateway up from the day-to-day stresses of answering phones and moving up in a very good company. I love working for my company, but I don't like my job very much. I've had offers for two other similar positions (Doing tech support) since I started with my current employer last June, but with less volume and stress, and somewhat comparable salary.

I can market my current position anywhere, but I want to stay with this company. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice for how to pimp myself a little better as a supervisor during this interview?

2 Name: kinda dqn, i think, but not in an entirely bad way 2005-11-16 03:54 ID:r+N5QNOo

i would like to start this discussion off by saying that maybe you are about to make the mistake of your life.

There's a girl working with you, let's imagine her name is lucy, anyway, this girl is really shy but she has the 'turns into saucy slut 'alike when she takes off her glasses' thing completely down.

She has had a crush on you since you started working there but never been brave enough to act on it, instead she's been there, in the background observing from afar as you mingle with the others, she's listened to you talk about your ex to colleagues etc. All this time she's dreamt of being at your side.

But in the near future, dare i say November 29th you will nail an interview that will make you her boss. Suddenly you're not one of them anymore, you joined the other team. You stop hanging out with the normal crowd and move up a bit, cocktail bars, golfclubs etc.

At first she will think that this is affirmation of the fact that she is looking at the right man for her, definitely. But slowly, gradually you will change. One day you wear an armani suit to work, and it feels great, comments from the guys, looks from the girls, you sir, are obviously hot fucking property. The next day you are invited to a board meeting, when the pawns see you step out you instantly become the most interesting gossip subject for the next weeks. Your ego swells. You realize that your card is not fancy enough anymore, after angsting over it a few days you decide to go with a plain but timeless design, have it printed in japan. It will say 'Management Candidate, Upper Echelons, Fast Tracker, Youwanttoknowme' in black ink on almost perfectly white paper with a small design of a vine laid in gold on the corner opposite to the company name.

Cocaine.

You start an affair with your secretary. A completely sexy dangerous affair, complete with sex in utility closets etc. She's married to a nobody and keeps saying she would leave him for you but there are no feelings involved on your behalf and you realize that she's just being a greedy bitch. However your testosterone and ego are coasting, you keep stalling, having forbidden encounters until the whole company knows. Cocaine.

Then, shit hits the fan, 'lucy' accidentally walks in on you two going at it. Everyone had kept it a secret from her because she's very sensitive.

She breaks down, doesn't show up to work for two weeks. She realizes that the person she's been admiring has turned into a maggot infested ball of managerial excrement who lives for ego. Feeling vulnerable, she decides that she's got to get over it. She meets up with some old friends from high school in hopes that it will cheer her up. These friends, while she's been living the straight life, are partymonsters. The night starts at a bar where some cocktails are had, in a backroom, without lucys knowledge meth and x is scored. The girls want to go clubbing, lucy is hesitant but decides that since YOU have changed she must too, afterall, if she can't get anything as the person she is she'll just turn into someone else. X. At the club drinks are spiked.

(since it's getting kinda late and i really need to go pee i'll try to end it fast)

fast forward to a year later, she's in the gutter, has aids, tb, etc. You're driving along the coast in your bmw when you bend over to pick up the ritalin you just dropped on the floor and go careening off a cliff. Your body explodes in midair.

The last thing you see is your life as is should have been. You decide that the corporate ladder is idiotic and soon quit, realizing your coworkers are a bunch of douchebags. You open a cafe downtown, one that's only open five hours a day, but you still make enough to live nicely. Lucy drops by coincidentially the morning after a bad day at work. You look at each other. Slightly embarrassed say hi, catch up on what's going on. You tell her how great your life's been after you quit. How you're never stressed anymore, how you have so much time to read etc. She expresses jealousy at that. Small talk happens, then, one of you suggests dinner as a better setting for catching up. The other agrees. A restaurant is decided on, it will be next saturday. Come saturday, mildly nervous, even though it's unlike you, you go there meet her at the bar. The restaurant messed up your reservation. The two of you debate what to do. A lightbulb lights up. 'The cafe is really close to here and there's a kitchen there' you say 'what do you say we go there and i cook something nice for just the two of us, afterall, i've had plenty of time to practice since i quit'.

Cut to arrival at cafe.

You run half the way because it suddenly started raining hellamuch. Completely soaked the two of you burst in. The moment you close the door the two of you look at each other and burst into laughter, your shirt is so soaked it clings to your skin, the same can be said for her dress. After the laughter stops a blanket of uncomfortable silence enfolds you both. You look up simultaneously, she blushes. You kiss.

etc. etc. (be brave my poor bladder, i'm emptying my literary gland)

anyway, I hope you give this some thought

ps. i work at a cafe exactly like this and i know for a fact that they are completely sexy to go to in the middle of the night.

pps. if anyone wants to make a dojin game with me, according to this storyline, or something like it, all NHK style, let's talk in this thread. Afterall this is probably one of the longer posts on 4-ch, and probably the most articulate derailment of a potentially 'useful-to-someone' thread so far.

peace out

3 Name: Management Candidate 2005-11-16 04:07 ID:Heaven

>>2

I think my girlfriend would not appreciate the cheating.

I kinda fast-forwarded... nice scenario, but:

A) I barely even drink
B) Otakon, Katsucon, Anime Next, and possibly Anime Boston are cheaper than cocaine and just as (if not more) satisfying
C) The closest equivalent to "Lucy" in my department is a coat hangar since all the women are married and I would NOT hit that... they're competent co-workers, but none are my type... see the part about the girlfriend
D) That cafe would exist a lot easier if I socked away money from being a corporate tool for a while, used the time to have the company pay for my MBA, which looks better to the banks that would then own my soul for a small business loan
E) Worst comes to worst, I do accounting for the family car dealership and am set for life since I helped build their system when I was twelve.

So yeah, I gave this no serious thought because not only did it not help, you completely missed the point. Nice effort, but sage for failure to address the topic at hand.

4 Name: Random Anonymous 2005-11-16 05:17 ID:EkifB4ue

Wow, what an interesting thread.

Sadly, I don't really have any advice to offer... I'm about to be in a similiar position myself, graduating in the spring and looking for that first 'real' job in my field.

Hopefully someone will step up and give us all some good advice.

5 Name: Random Anonymous 2005-11-16 07:35 ID:nOQR8vo+

I'd be with >>2, except for the fact that that's the "normal" scenario. We here at 4-ch are not normal, and instead of cheating and buying cocaine, i'm sure >>1 would just buy some hentai and a few DVDs.

However, all the advice I can give to you >>1 is the stuff I'm sure you've already thought of. Clean yourself up, get a nice suit, make yourself "presentable." Other than that, bullshit your way through the interview and tell them exactly what they want to hear. These kind of things are sort of hit or miss from the second you walk in the door, but I wish you luck.

6 Name: dmpk2k!hinhT6kz2E 2005-11-16 11:46 ID:Heaven

Do you know the whole task/skill method of transferral? It's really helpful during interviews.

That, and just relaxing. Try and convince yourself the outcome doesn't matter.

7 Name: Management Candidate 2005-11-16 12:51 ID:PG1QWi/s

>>6

Can you elaborate on task/skill method of transferral a little? In the words of Starship Troopers, I'd like to know more.

I'm basically adopting a mantra for this: "Take it if I get it, learn from it if I don't." The outcome doesn't matter to me in the sense that I'll still have my current job if this doesn't work out, I can fall back on going the Six Sigma training route and still get my MBA in the process, and I still make enough to pay the rent, the bills, and eat well while having enough for a video game or a couple of DVDs a month. So if I lose, I can still build experience in the process.

>>5

The best part of what you said is that I still have the awesome new suit I got for my interview with a job in NYC... it'd pay as much as the supervisor position, but I don't think I could stomach the commute. ^_^

8 Name: dmpk2k!hinhT6kz2E 2005-11-17 05:11 ID:Heaven

>>7
See here: http://coopcommunity.sfu.ca/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=238&meid=254

I recommend you read all the sections on the sidebar. A lot of it is fluff, but it's useful fluff.

Also, don't forget to send a nice thank-you card after the interview.

9 Name: Management Candidate 2005-11-17 05:34 ID:PG1QWi/s

>>8

An actual Hallmark-esque cards? Would a letter be just as well?

I can't stand greeting cards. They're as impersonal as sending a thought gets. I'm a decent enough writer, so I'd like to send my thoughts in a sincere (if not more individual than a mass-produced card) directly.

I will be sure to give that link some good looking-overs. My boss (the one to whom I'd be reporting) also slipped me a packet of interview pointers. Seems like he's rooting for me, which is always good. I knew that our mutual appreciation of Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, NYC restaurants, and fast cars would come in handy one of these days.

10 Name: dmpk2k!hinhT6kz2E 2005-11-17 10:28 ID:Heaven

Yes, a card. A letter probably will do fine too, except that people can leave pretty cards as decorations in their office, and letters are usually long-winded and formal. But, like you say, make certain it's a card with no text printed on the front or inside, and it had better be a quality card too (read: not the 99c kind). Get a couple opinions from people with good taste.

Write three or more sentences with a black rollerball (or better) pen, and make sure it's neat. You might want to practice it several times on normal paper first. Express your appreciation for the interview, without being obsequious, and wish them well. Sign it.

No matter what the outcome, it leaves a better opinion about you.

11 Name: dmpk2k!hinhT6kz2E 2005-11-17 10:33 ID:Heaven

One other thing: for heaven's sake, make certain all correspondence is free of grammar and spelling errors. One of the most common crimes in a cover letter or resume are spelling mistakes.

You're certainly aware of this, but for some reason people make this mistake all the time. I have no idea why.

12 Name: Management Candidate 2005-11-17 16:14 ID:GpF+2vRE

>>10 >>11

I try to be a grammar Nazi par excellence. I can't imagine why people are in the positions they are with the basic spelling and punctuation errors that I've seen. :-/

I will definitely find a good card to send. I'm taking a look at that site now, too. I x-posted this to the Monster Interview forums, too, but their Management forums keep giving uncategorized errors. :-(

13 Name: dmpk2k!hinhT6kz2E 2005-11-18 02:51 ID:Heaven

> I can't imagine why people are in the positions they are with the basic spelling and punctuation errors that I've seen.

Good god, you speak truth!

I sometimes receive emails from managers that just leave me shaking my head. Some of them look straight out of AOL.

14 Name: Random Anonymous 2005-11-24 02:47 ID:EkifB4ue

Bump because we need more advice! I found out today I have an interview on monday for an internship position with the IT department of a local hospital. Man, I've got to go and buy a suit already?! :(

15 Name: Random Anonymous 2005-11-30 22:10 ID:wkFA8yV3

Anyway, I got the internship. It wasn't really an interview at all. >_> More like 'when do you want to start?'

16 Name: Random Anonymous 2005-12-04 02:57 ID:Heaven

Congrats :D

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