Quote:

---

Orginally posted by faisal

Quote:

---

Orginally posted by desi in ottawa
Can we start a job interview qn bank on CD (unless there is one and I dont know)?

---

Good idea. All my votes for it.

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------
A Proud Indian Canadian

Hi,
I see many people posting their interview experiences which are interesting and informative. After reading these I felt like writing my own as well even though I know mine are not as interesting and informative. But still…….I came to Canada in July 2002. At that time my intention was not to work but to complete my studies. I was doing comp engg in India which I dropped midway to come here. My plans changed then next day when my friend from high school(who has been in Canada since 1998) came to visit me. He advised me against going to school right away and instead work for a year and then go and study what ever I find interesting. I kinda liked his advice and asked him for help in finding job. He made my resume and together we scanned the newspaper for jobs. We found a job ad that seemed interesting. It was with Citibank and as required I faxed my resume. I got a call for interview the next day. Following are details of my interview (I still remember these vividly because that was my first interview)
Interview-
I was little bit early in arriving for interview, told the receptionist about the purpose for my visit. HR person (lady) came and we exchanged pleasantries and proceeded to her office.
Ques 1 – As I can see from your resume you did your university education from India. So where did you do your high school from?
Me: From India as well. In fact I came to Canada just a few days back.
Ques 2 – Oh really! So how do you like this country?
Me: Well I haven’t had much chance of sightseeing but what I have seen in these two days is very beautiful.
Ques 3. She looked at my resume and said after a pause – So you have never worked before. This would be your first job?
Me: yes
Ques 4 – You don’t have any experience in financial sector and most people who have applied for this job have experience. Why do you think you are better suited for this job?
Me: Well, Every person has to start somewhere. As you mentioned this job involves working with marketing team and most of the work involves keeping track of marketing campaigns. I have had some subjects in my university which covered these areas. Its only that I don’t have any work experience in this field but I don’t lack knowledge. And you know sometimes its better and easier to train a new person.

She smiled and said that’s true and said that they are doing interviews today and tomorrow and would let me know the result by phone. I got call the third day and started working there next week. My salary there was 11.50 an hour but work was very hard. My job involved tracking marketing campaigns through coupon system. Keeping track of which newspaper generated how much response…and when they came to know that I have computer skills as well I was usually asked to design new pamphlets for marketing. It was really hard job. It was like an office assistant to marketing manager. I used to get like 25 hours per week so it was like part time job. So I started applying for other jobs- both computer related and other jobs but never got any response for a few weeks. Then I got a call from another finance company. It was basically a sales job so interview was like a usual sales interview with question like – why do you want to do this job, why did you quit your last job etc etc. Now this job was equally hard as well and I left this job after 4 months. And I still remember it was January 2003 and I was unemployed again. I had been avoiding call centre jobs till now but now I decided I might do those before I head back to school. I did tech support job for some time and joined BCIT (post secondary institution here in Burnaby) in September. In meantime I used to apply to every job that I thought I might get. I think I must have applied to at least 500 hundred jobs during this time but never got any reply. Job market seemed like a black hole to me whose only job was to suck ppls resumes without any reply. One day while I was looking at job postings at bcit website I found a job that I found interesting. Like a ritual I applied for that job and forgot about it because this not getting any reply thing had made me like this. After a week while checking my e-mail I found unknown e-mail with subject line that said Interview. I clicked on that and to my amazement found out that some one wants to interview me. I had even forgotten about the job so I went back to bcit website to look at the job again before confirming interview time. When read the job description again I was very excited. I prepared for interview and as usual was early for the interview.
Interview
The very first question was –
Your university education was related to computers but you have not been working in your field of study. Why?
Ans;- Because I was not able to get job in my field. Since I came to Canada I have been applying for IT jobs but never got any response. This is my first interview that might get me a job that is related to my field. I am really thankful to you guys for calling me for interview.
Ques – Don’t you feel frustrated of not being able to get job in your field?
Ans. – Well, before you guys called me for interview I used to feel frustrated but not anymore because now I feel I am actually making progress. After a year of applying for various jobs I have got a call for interview and if rate of progress remains same I should be able to get a job another year on ( and then I gave big smile to HR manager). And I might get this job as well and that would mean a lot of progress. As long as I keep making progress I am happy. After all life is about improving yourself each day.

This proved to be the turning point. HR Manager had a hearty laugh and then asked me some other usual questions. Then he told me that since I have foreign credentials I would have to go through technical test which I passed easily. I got the job and it has been more than a year since I have been working at BCIT and I like this job a lot. Year 2004 has been really good. During this time I have also been able to work on independent projects. So this is the story of my interviews in Canada. I know it is long and hopefully I didn’t bore you guys a lot.

Anyone know of any Software Management position in Accenture (Toronto) ?

When i applied for Accenture a few months back , their recruiting team contacted me and asked to fill up a form by email where they ask about salary expectations etc. I asked for whatever I am making now and have not heard anything from them since though i feel that technical experience wise i fit like a T for that particular position... looks like Accenture is not a good pay master

Hi Aman

How r u doing. Thank you very much for sharing your interview experiences. Its really nice to know all your experiences.

Could please share your experiences with Tech support job in Call centres.

I would like to know from you about the Job Opportunities in Technical Support Jobs in Call centres in Canada. What are the Skills the employer will look for.

Right now, there are so many jobs available in India for Technical Support Representative jobs in call centres. I want to acquire these skills before coming to Canada. I am having Canadian Immigrant Visa.

I appreciate your valuable time for discussing on this issue.

Thanks a lot.

GKM.

Here's a question that was thrown at me recently when I was interviewing for the job. The interviewer told me that if hired, the environment I would be working in was extremely fast paced and I'd be juggling 3/4 projects (possibly for different departments) at the same time. What if I thought that there was no way I would meet the deadlines?

My first reply was "I'd try to put in more hours and try to persuade the respective managers to push back the deadline a bit".

His reply was "Say, you put in your max hours and it was still not going to be enough. And say none of the managers were ready to push back the deadline even by a minute."

What would you do?

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Are you there?

I would ask for additional resources up front. If there is one thing I have learnt working in demanding situations, it is knowing when to ask for help.

Either ask for more time, and if that is not possible, ask for more resource(s), and delegate the responsibility. Taking more than what you can handle will only lead to disasters. Identify such situations early on in the project.