Chanakya - Team Building Workshop (T-2 days) #interview

Good evening, everyone.

Language, Words and Writing!

I believe this from many years that, languages (or writing in particular) are the API's which hit our core system (called brain) and get us the information.

And for writing, I believe that words have power of creation. It can be an article like this, it can be pen and paper or a whiteboard, when we write it, its process of creation. India's world-famous author Ruskin Bond, even today write using pen and paper and creates the world.

I am so grateful of the moment at which I decided to write this countdown series for purpose of Sarvhitay Elements Chanakya - Team Building Workshop.

Those of you who are just reading this (and do not write enough), let me confirm that we will keep running multiple activities in future that you will definitely find a good one reason to write and feel/realize above aspect.

Interview

8th topic of this workshop is that we have kept 1 hour, 1-to-1 discussion/interview with me. And this we will call interview for formal reasons, informally I call it "time pass". Because we pass little time during it. (Everything is time pass as per me)

Here are some baseline understandings for an interview:

1) Interview is done in formal settings

2) We are talking about personal interview with a leader (not technical round)

3) We can be either a leader or the candidate

4) My rule is to have 1 hour (Over 90% of my 150+ interviews as Tricentis Head were 1 hour, just few cases I had to agree to reduce due to circumstances)

5) We are meeting the person first time (This is more common case)

3 key aspects (As a candidate)

1) Try to bring the discussion on a ground, preferably where it's your expertise area, or area of your experience (if not expertise). Why - By this we give access to leader about our capabilities better.

2) Tell what they want to hear but tell also what you want to tell. Why - We will not get a full liberty to tell it all. So, at each opportunity we need to mix a bit of "us".

3) Curiosity, a genuine feeling to know, to be aware about person, and organization is very important. Why - Yes, we are looking for a capable person from required IQ (sorry my friend IQ again) BUT we also looking for a person with connect, association and vision with company which are EQ aspects. Curiosity about organization, how it works, what is the vision for future and geo, and many questions relate to it are EQ questions.

Utilize the never-ending curiosity with a personal touch to everything you are saying with context of your personal best experience. If you can do it. It's a great interview. Simple.

I have few experiences to share in this role. Please keep reading up to examples for it.

3 key aspects (As a leader)

In my 150+ (never counted, it can be 200 as well) interviews. Here were my aspects,

1) Take the candidate to the area of his/her strength during conversation. We wish to know what is maximum this human achieved.

2) Encourage the data + time but as well personal emotions so that it's a story or a narrative. Asking candidate to tell a story is a great point (a new article required!). This is reason I can recall most of interviews!

3) Curiosity, of serious level for candidate. Focus 1000% on the person and get their best version out in this interview. They need to experience what a leader is like, not meeting just an intelligent (Sorry IQ again!) person.

Conclusion

Did I tell you that, topics as a leader or a candidate are exactly same! Doesn't matter who is who. It's a dialogue of 2 humans. Just treat it like that. 90% interview will go great with the formula. 10% people with high IQ will not like it, leave them, its ok.

If done this way, what happens?

Here are examples of my experience,

1) 2006 for my first job in IT, I was down in first innings of my final interview and was asked to play well in second innings. And here came Vaibhav Kelkar . He conducted the interview human way. Exactly like I have written above. If you are really curious, read my article on how Vaibhav added value to my life in that first conversation (called interview)

2) 10th March 2015, Alan Ota and Roman Zednik conducted my personal interview in Grand Hyatt Pune, this was for Tricentis job! Beauty of this interview was that it was a presentation round. They asked me (and other candidates in final round) to prepare a presentation with 2 aspects,

A) Slides about yourself

B) Awareness of Tricentis as company + Tosca as product

Whilst preparation I added 1 more section in my presentation. It was ideas that can complement Tosca. Please note I did not used word improve or enhance!

This approx. 1 hour interview (they had only 45 min, but I talk a lot), made my entry to Tricentis. And guess what this presentation went to Tricentis Founder Wolfgang Platz and CEO too. A dream start for me at product company.

Thanks to Roman and Alan, who are such great leaders I love. Who talk so well, when I was nothing and just a candidate. And this is showcase of true EQ.

3) My final round (or interview) with my friend Atanu Roy happened over a lunch table. I am anyway a tester, what can I ask to a developer, so better to eat along. So, for this final discussion, somewhere in Q4 2015, we met at Green Park Baner, Pune. Up to that I was alone in Tricentis India, and I was meeting this young developer first time. I saw his hand had some bandage (He need to write about it!). With very different people meeting first time, I will evaluate that interview as a good discussion. It had respect for both sides. For Tricentis a developer was ready to take challenge for "testing" company in India.

Just 13 months later my friend Atanu, won prestigious Tricentis Founder Circle Award and abstraction by Wolfgang given to him was, "The Alchemist". Atanu had built the migration API to create artifacts from other tools into Tosca.

At the end.

Interview is just a reason for meeting. Wherever we meet anyone, formal or informal setting, first time or not. If we find few proper aspects (discussed above) we can create strong bonds. These give long term connect and unimaginative results. Both.

See you tomorrow with final episode, T-1.