Interview Thoughts and Notes

Today I was contacted by Portage Inc., an Environmental Engineering firm based out of Idaho Falls, but located all over the United States including Anchorage, Alaska (where our family is contemplating a move to). I thought I could use this opportunity to record some thoughts and notes that will help me do well in the interview.

My most favorable and important attribute that I can offer as a potential entry-level hire is not my technical expertize, but rather my passion for Mechanical Engineering. So the question is how do I demonstrate my extraordinary passion in the interview?

1. Show enthusiasm for the job
2. Come up with behavioral examples of situations which resulted in favorable outcomes in the form of results.
3. Show a drive for achieving excellence and a "can do" attitude.
4. Show that you can be relied upon to do what you say you will do.
5. Incorporate the actual words, "positive attitude", "striving to do my best" and "Passion for excellence" into the interview.
   

Yesterday, I went to the Internship and Career Center at the Kimball building on the BYU–I campus in order to have a mock interview. During the interview the first thing that stood out to me is that I don't have a descent answer for the "Tell me a little bit about yourself.", statement. So a 30 -Second Sound bite about who I am is the first thing that I am going to work on here. I will focus on a few different points of description of my work background.

1. It should be tailored to the job description and the culture of the company.
2. It should include such things as work experience, special skills, education, and training.
3. It should include your most positive points.
4. In as short a statement as possible tell them the measurable results you deliver, and who you deliver them to. Then shut up.
5. Don’t try to tell them EVERYTHING in one breath. Tell them something that is so powerfully grabbing that they just have to ask you for more, and even then when you respond keep it short, keep them asking for more.

Over the last couple of days I realized that the amount of information that I came up with in my excel spreadsheet that I made was way too much for a "30 Second Elevator Pitch". So, I will post a picture with my excel spreadsheet here. My pdf with answers incorporating the aspects that were spoken of above will be introduced in the next post.

So Much to Love; Or, Why I Love My Wife

To be continued......

Place Yourself in a Safe Position and then Resolve to Never Move

As a boy of five or so, it was my father who first expressed to me the importance of maintaining ones position when one is correct. Acquiescing a position in order to appease an aggressor belies noble character. This philosophy has helped me to become a very idealistic if inherently stubborn person. In the past, if I thought my view was correct, I would doggishly hold on to it no matter what the consequences. To the extent that my view was truly "correct", such a stance, I thought was noble and somehow enabling even in the midst of adverse consequences.

Sometimes however, my view was correct from my vantage point, but my vantage (I found out later) was myopic. In such cases it can be very easy to have a false view of "truth". Because of the fact that my view is myopic, there must needs to be an unchanging measure of true and false understandings.

My belief is that life's understanding must be based on true principles that do not change. The only set of principles that I know of which do not change are contained in the Gospel. Heavenly Father has the big picture of the universe. Heavenly Father has purposefully placed over us a veil, so that we do not have the full view of eternity in our grasp. We can thus learn to choose the right even outside the direct presence of our Heavenly Father. The set of principles upon which I have chosen to place myself are those of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These principles are true and unchanging. This I know to be true.