job market outlook?

[ao fan]

interviewing is hard.

[ao fan]

Originally Posted by Devastator

I'm not going to get into details about that. None of it is funny, just more demonstrating unattractive personality traits.

How about I ask you some questions, and let's see how you answer them. So I see that you are pretty advanced in your exams and have experience. I see that you are also mentoring/managing someone. Please share your experiences, some of the things that went well, some of the things that didn't, and what you would do differently (if anything) in the future.

[Devastator]

Originally Posted by ao fan

interviewing is hard.

it's easy for me. I had 7 offers outs of school. 4 interviews out of college, 3 offers. The one i didnt get, i didnt prepare for and kinda blew off. Getting motivated to study is difficult part for me. My resume can barely compete with a 25 year old in that sense. But once I talk to a recruiter or someone, I'm pretty confident in my closing skills.

[Devastator]

Originally Posted by ao fan

My question is a legit one that I have asked and would ask. His comment about "you ask a question, I answer it" made me want to show how it's nowhere near that easy.

[ao fan]

Originally Posted by Devastator

My question is a legit one that I have asked and would ask. His comment about "you ask a question, I answer it" made me want to show how it's nowhere near that easy.

yeah, i'm curious how he would answer that considering his issues with db.

[annuitize]

Originally Posted by Devastator

I'm not going to get into details about that. None of it is funny, just more demonstrating unattractive personality traits.

How about I ask you some questions, and let's see how you answer them. So I see that you are pretty advanced in your exams and have experience. I see that you are also mentoring/managing someone. Please share your experiences, some of the things that went well, some of the things that didn't, and what you would do differently (if anything) in the future.

I'll try my best, please don't laugh too hard.

I mentored/managed the new student in our department for about 6 month; Call him DB. I think it was a very challenging yet rewarding experience from a career growth perspective, and I am very grateful and fortunate that management would trust me with the development of a new hire.

My goal was to teach DB how to be a productive member of my team by sharing with him some things I would have liked to known when I started out, but no one told me.
1.) You get out what you put in - No one is going to be holding your hand. This isn't college.
2.) Don't be afraid of Excel and the rest of the programs we use - I understand they don't teach Excel in college. It would be nice if they did, but they don't. My recommendation is that you look at some of our models and try to follow the formulas in the cells. When you see a function that you don't understand, Google can be a very valuable resource, or you can ask me. I'd be more than willing to set up 30 minute per day training sessions, and we can go over all the commonly used functions and techniques.
3.) Don't be afraid of all the health insurance jargon you're going to hear in meetings - A lot of these people have been in the business for 10+ years. You're new. No one is going to expect you to know anything. However, I encourage you to do your best to try to learn as fast as you can. Take notes. Look stuff up on Google. Ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Questions are encouraged. I got some books on health insurance from the upper exams that are helpful if you want to look at them.
4.) Get to know everyone from the other teams - We're going to be working with these people everyday. So, it's really important that we establish a good working relationship with them. It'll help us out when we have questions or need to request information.
5.) Try to have fun and enjoy yourself - It'll make the day go by faster!

Over the next 6 months DB made a lot of progress. He quickly picked up Excel and is now working on modifying our existing models by making little enhancements. He's also answering data requests by writing SQL code and using it to query from our data warehouse.

The only downside about DB that I wish I could help him with is low self esteem. He seems to think that he's not progressing well, but I completely disagree. I think he's made a ton of progress, and he's well on his way to becoming a valuable member of our organization. He has this curiousity attitude about the nature of the work we're doing, and it's been a pleasure to work with him these last 6 months.

[Devastator]

My initial thoughts:

Your answer sounds like something a publicist would write when a celebrity has to make an apology. Your bullet points are wordy and stuff, but as the interviewer, I think you've completely danced around the question. Share some specific projects and what your role was versus his. When you are talking about these, you can share your knowledge too.

And the last answer is terrible. You've completely thrown him under the bus. We asked for something you want to change. You are young and no one is expected to be perfect. Talk about a project that didn't go smoothly and how you would change that.

Cliffs: don't avoid answering the question, don't throw people under the bus, take some blame.

[ao fan]

it's hard for me to judge annuitizes response since i know it's complete bs.

[Devastator]

Originally Posted by ao fan

it's hard for me to judge annuitizes response since i know it's complete bs.

That's my point. His whole reply sounds like BS.

[annuitize]

Doesn't the best BS'er win the offer? I thought that's how it worked?