Once we are out of college and start attending interviews our aim is to get selected and get into a company .. get settled!! While doing so ... one such thought passes by everyone's mind ... what if i can exchange the seats on an intervew table!!!!! ... but we also know ... that its not possible so soon and we just laugh at it ...
I recently had that experience when I was asked to interview a person for the first time. One fine day ... manager came to me and said .. "mukul, you ar in the interview panel" ... and i was stunned! I, with an experience of 2 yrs and bit in this industry was not at all ready to hear this from my manager. As he said ... i went completely blank and asked him for few days to prepare myself. He just smiled at went away ... I just couldnt guess why he smiled at me ... but the answer to it was immediately in my Outlook inbox when an email popped up from HR. Email said .."Candidate Interview, tomorrow morning" and to add to it .. I was the first one .. to take his interview..It was not my day ... or may be He wanted me to prepare all alone, every person whom i approached for tips was not found at his seat and i was left with no choice but to think and think hard .. it was a case of thinking so hard to outsmart the candidate tomorrow. Now that was a tough one for me .. At 8pm i started preparing, collecting information ... but what should i ask ...At such times ... you get a very logical question ... "what do i know, to ask the candidate??" ... even i thought of the same .. and ... started tickling my somewhat rusted brains :-)
Unix, programing, puzzles, job profile, attitude ... so much to look for .. and have no time .. Googled around to get some info .. thought of new questions ... my approach towards the candidate, kind of questions, pace of questions .. so much to think .. and no one to help .. Went home at around 11pm. Found my roomie and explained him everything .. The moment i told him one of my decided interview questions, he started laughing on the complexity of questions ; for him it was level-1 question. I was confused for a moment but was determined not to change my strategy and i was waiting for the day with my preparations.
The next day, i reached office at 8:30am. Generally i wake up at 8:30 :-) I was a bit nervous .. but was sure i would be as confident as i should be as i approach the candidate. It was 10am and the girl came. Its natural right that i looked at her face .. she was so nervous which gave me the required strength and i was back to normal. Interview went on for 50 mins and i was not at all satisfied. I left the room and discussed with my manager the interview details. I was just not satisfied. One more round of interview was taken by my colleague and he thought the same. The candidate was rejected. Selection or rejection was not in my hands, i feel it was in the candidate's hand. It was all over, my first interview as an interviewer :-) and my manager couldnt stop laughing at me .. after looking at my reactions ;)
It was an experience to remember. My roomie should definately remember bcos this was the only day where i didnt bathromm sing, didnt shout, scream, laugh at night the day before, didnt chit-chat, woke up at 7 and reached office at 8:30am (my wake up time). All was unusual ... and what it says is ... I was thinking abt the interview for the whole night and the next morning. It has never happened to me that I have been so silent ... and thats the difference i could note the next day ... when i was recollecting my preparations for the day ..
Its not just that the candidate has to prepare but its the interviewer who has to prepare too which i never realised before. It was a good opportunity for me to refresh my other technical knowledge which we dont use in current work but also is as important as any other. The moment i realised all this ... i just thought that i dont care if i take any other interviews anytime .. but my first experience with it was pretty awsum and the one to remember. :-)
