Interview Role Play for Telecom Professionals

You have heard the saying a thousand times; practice makes perfect.

You do not know what to fully expect during an interview but with Comvergent’s help, you will be able to prepare for the unexpected.

Our advice to you is:

Visualise the interview before you’re in the real hot seat. Recite the questions expected in your down time and practice answering these questions.

Here are some of the most common questions asked during an interview for a role in telecommunications. If you can make a good impression with your answers, you’re one step closer to your dream job.

Why Should We Hire You?

Summarise your experiences:

“My five years of experience working in the telecom industry ranges from __________ to working in __________. I could make a big difference in your company because I understand technology and have customer service skills. I’m confident I would be a great addition to your team.”

Why Do You Want to Work Here?

The interviewer is listening for an answer that indicates you’ve given this some thought and are not sending out resumes just because there is an opening. Impress the interviewer by expressing genuine passion for the company you have applied for.

“Your company seems to be at the forefront of telecom technology. I want to be part of the growing industry in a great company like yours.”

What Are Your Goals?

Sometimes it’s best to keep this answer simple and talk about short-term goals rather than looking into the unknown and distant future.

“My immediate goal is to get a job in a dynamic company and then it really depends on where the company is headed. What will never change in time is my dedication, hard work and drive to learn new things.”

What Types of People Do You Have Most Difficulty Working With?

Everyone struggles with co-workers at one time or another but during an interview, it is important to spin a negative experience into a positive.

“I worked with a person who took credit for everything. This really affected my confidence and morale so I talked with him about it. He didn’t even realise he was doing this. Overall, it made our professional relationship better, more productive and I felt better after approaching the matter with honesty”

When Were You Most Satisfied in Your Job?

The interviewer wants to know what motivates you. If you can relate an example of a job or project when you were excited, the interviewer will get an idea of your preferences.

What Can You Do for Us That Other Candidates Can’t?

What makes you unique? This answer requires an assessment of your experiences, skills and traits. Be clear and do not ramble.

“I have a unique combination of strong technical skills, and the ability to build strong customer relationships. These skills allow me to break down my knowledge in a way that customer’s understand.”

What Are Three Positive Things Your Last Boss Would Say About You?

Read out your old performance appraisals and quote positive things your boss has said. This is a great way to brag about yourself through someone else’s words.

“My boss has told me that I am the most reliable database expert she’s ever had. My attention to detail meant that she could rely on me. “

How Do You Work Best With Other People?

The interviewer is looking for clues about whether you are a team player or an individual contributor. Both are important but best suited for particular roles.

“When I’m resolving a technical problem, I like to have procedures to follow. But, when the issue is something I can’t resolve on my own, it’s great to have a teammate I can turn to for help.”

What Do You Read First When You Pick Up a Newspaper or Scan Internet News?

There isn’t a right answer to this question. It is just meant to get you talking and shows an interviewer that you’re willing to learn and connected to the world around you.

What Are Your Weaknesses?

This is a dreaded question. Handle it by minimising your weakness and emphasising your strengths. It is important to be honest with your answer and show the interviewer that you can be reflective on your own professional work. Stay away from personal qualities and concentrate on professional traits

“In the past, I have taken every training opportunity possible to improve my technical knowledge. It hasn’t left a lot of down time for myself but I put my passion for the tech industry first. ”

The important thing to remember is that interviews are not set up to trip you up, there are no trick questions and nobody wants you to fail. Practice these answers and you will become more confident in your ability to conquer the interview and have a fulfilling career in telecoms! Once you feel ready to face the interview for real, get in touch with us and we’ll find the perfect role for you!

A Plan for Success for a Telecom Professional

As a telecom professional, you have many skills and expertise that you can offer to a company. So, how do you showcase this before meeting your potential employer?  The answer lies in your resume and cover letter.

Your cover letter sells the benefits of hiring you. Your resume sells the features you come with. Your first professional impression is down to these two documents; make sure they’re in both in tip-top shape.

Great cover letters showcase your personality and passion and describe what makes you a uniquely qualified candidate. Use these tips and tools to create a cover letter that increases the chances your resume will be read.

• Don’t send correspondence “To Whom It May Concern”. Find out who will review your cover letter and resume and send it to them directly

• Tailor your cover letter to the company and the job you’re after. Generic doesn’t work and won’t catch a recruiter’s eye

• Figure out how the position you’re applying to can solve a problem. Then match your letter to those requirements.
  • As an example: The company might need specific expertise or experience or they may need to improve their customer satisfaction metrics. How can you help?

• List the specific job requirements and your matching qualifications in side-by-side columns so that the HR person can quickly see that you have what this job takes

• Sell yourself as the solution:

Describe the benefits of hiring you

Explain how you’re qualified to solve the problem

Include your years of experience relative to the position and your most recent job in the field

Be confident, factual, and positive

• Talk about what you can do, not what you have done. A recruiter can see your resume for more detail on your experience, education, and accomplishments

• Keep it short and simple. Use bullet points whenever possible. And never go over one page in length

• Ask for an interview

• Sign the letter and make sure to proofread

• DON’T CALL or send duplicate resumes. This won’t gain you any points. It may actually give recruiters a reason to disqualify you

Your resume is your best sales tool and gives you an opportunity to solve an employer’s problems. Done well, it can make you an indispensable solution to the company’s needs. Follow these resume do’s and don’ts to ensure you look like high quality telecom candidate.

DOs

• Keep it simple and easy to read

• Bullet points: use them whenever possible

• Grammar and spelling: make sure they are perfect. Employers have a rule: “If there’s a typo, throw it out.”

• If you have less than five years’ work experience, limit your resume to one page

• Specific skills. This is not a market for generalists; note the specific skill set you will bring to the business

• Key words; this includes technical terms and expertise (hardware and software in which you are proficient), job titles, certifications, names of products and services, industry buzzwords and jargon, types of degrees, company names. In the following examples, keywords are underlined:

Supported maintenance and repair of switches, special circuits and pair gain equipment

Deployed Cisco routers, LAN/WAN and network management products

Coordinated installation dates facility assignments

Prepared Premises Installer daily log sheets

• Education and experience. If you are applying for your first job, list education at the top. Otherwise, experience precedes education

• Employment history; your most recent employment goes first. List the name of the company with a short description, the city and state, the position/title held, and the dates (month and year)

• List promotion and dates for each position

• Make sure you’re a fit. Think about the company’s business culture. For example, a non-union company won’t be impressed if you flaunt your union credentials. It scares them. And the opposite can also be true

• Profession organisations and awards. Include professional organisation/association memberships and any positions you held. List your professional accomplishments – awards, certifications, honours etc.

• Your email and voicemail. Use a professional sounding email address and voice mail and be sure to check them often

DON’Ts

• Don’t include a photo or personal information – height, weight, age, for example

• Do not use an objective/summary unless you have many years of experience

• Never hand-write any information on your resume

• Don’t send your resume to more than one person at a firm/division and never send a gift/toy

• Don’t use coloured paper – it doesn’t scan or fax well

• Don’t include references on your resume

If you follow our steps to success, you are guaranteed to present yourself as a high quality candidate and an experienced telecom professional that any organisation would want in their team.

Technical Interview Tips for Graduates

When you apply for a graduate position in the engineering, technology or science sector, you’ll most likely experience an interview containing technical questions.

Here are some tips from Comvergent to help you stay mentally equipped during these questions on your chosen sector.

Know the basics of your subject inside out

Interviewers will quiz you in-depth about your course. To avoid going blank on any questions, revise the basics that everyone in your discipline should be well aware of and emphasise the areas that will help contribute to the company in question.

Be prepared to talk about projects you have worked on

Technical interviewers often focus on project work as it is through this most technical graduates have the opportunity to do more independent work. Be ready to give a brief summary of what your project focused on, situations you faced, how you overcame problems and the final results.  If you have been involved in a group project, make sure you can distinguish your own contribution. Talk about what YOU did and the parts that YOU took responsibility for.

Use experience to back up your technical knowledge

If you have any practical experience that is relevant to the job you are going for, you could prepare a summary of the information to explain it clearly and efficiently in the interview.

It’s not always about getting the correct answer

Technical interviewers may ask you to comment on a range of scenarios or hypothetical situations. You may not know the answer to everything you are asked, but try to show the interviewer how you might go about solving the problem, or finding the information you would need to answer the question.

Your interviewer is not just interested in your technical knowledge; they also want to see how you reason, and how you approach problems.

Demonstrate your communication skills

The interviewer will also look for more personal skills. You need to show that you can work well with others and communicate clearly, avoiding technical jargon when it is not necessary.

 

For more tips like this, visit our candidate page. Good Luck in your interview!

NLNG Invests N2b into Developing Engineering Capacity in Six Universities

The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, has signed a N2 billion Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with six Nigerian universities to develop their engineering education capacity.

The MoA was signed with representatives of the University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, University of Port Harcourt, University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Managing Director of NLNG, Babs Omotowa, said that the NLNG would spend N340 million on the construction of modern engineering laboratories with cutting-edge equipment in each of the six universities.

“The signing of the MoA with six universities marks the first milestone in NLNG’s University Support Programme (USP)…The MoA spells out modalities for the execution of the Programme, ranging from financing to contracts and procurement, as well as safety, quality assurance, quality control and sustainability of laboratories.”

Omotowa added that the selection of the universities was based on their outstanding performance in engineering and technical education.

The Engineering Industry: A Woman’s Perspective

To continue our celebration of National Women in Engineering Day, Comvergent has talked to three women who have succeeded in the engineering industry on their take on their job and their personal experiences as women in a career in engineering.

Dawn Bonfield is the Executive Vice President of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES).

A materials scientist from Bath University, Dawn has worked as a materials engineer at AERE Harwell, the Citroen Research Centre in Paris, British Aerospace’s Sowerby Research Centre in Bristol and MBDA in Stevenage.

Dawn joined the WES Council as Executive Vice President in 2011 after working as volunteer WES Office Manager.

Why do you think engineering was the career for you?

“I guess it was because I liked maths and science and my dad was an engineer so I always had that home encouragement and summer schools I went to really encouraged my skills there.”

Did you feel any discrimination or like your skills weren’t as valued as a man when you first started out in the industry?

“It didn’t occur to me to see it as unfair. I think if you ever feel like a minority, you get comfortable in that position. I was the only girl in my higher maths class in further education but I think instead of questioning it, I became used to that environment.”

So, tell us about NWED…

“WES wanted to do something different to celebrate its 95th birthday (it has been open since the First World War). So we have decided to celebrate the day with something similar to National Women’s Day.”

What has the response been like?

“Phenomenal; a huge amount of people have decided to get involved. We have even heard feedback from people in Beijing! The day has ended up really drawing attention to the issue of women in engineering.”

What does WSE think of the reports that engineering is a male dominated industry?

“Engineering has changed a lot; it is not the industry it was. It is much more welcoming and everyone’s skills are valued. Companies today know that they need diversity and they are embracing that.”

What would you say to young women who are aspiring to have a future in engineering but may feel deterred from the reports?

“You have nothing to be worried about. Engineering is a great industry and this is a great time to get into it. It is not a dirty industry anymore; there is communications, data analysis and online; so many careers you can make of it. Hopefully NWED will promote this on a global scale.”

Magdalena Pawlik works as a Provisioning Technical Administrator at Easynet Global Services. Before working there, she worked as Project Administrator/Co-ordinator for Comvergent for a year.

Why engineering?

It was purely a coincidence actually. I am not a technical person and my attention was more on the administrative side of things but that is one of the main reasons I enjoy this industry; there are so many sectors to get involved in.

Did you feel any discrimination?

No, not at all; there are so many opportunities for anyone in this industry that I never felt undervalued or that anything was closed off to me.

What do you think of reports that engineering is a male dominated industry? Are you conscious of this when you go to work or does it not describe the environment you work in?

Personally I feel as much of an equal as any man I work with on a daily basis. There may be more men than women in this industry but I am not reminded of it in my every day work life.

What would you say to young girls and young women who aspire towards a career in telecoms and engineering but might feel deterred due to the reports?

There is no reason not to go for it. Why not? There are too many opportunities to pass up on.

Has your experience with Comvergent been satisfying? Have you always felt just as valued for your skills as a male in your position?

Yes Comvergent provided a very supportive, very helpful environment and I have been given the opportunity to enjoy so much experience in a dynamic and appreciative industry.

Adina Boardman works as the Business Project Manager at Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN)

Why engineering?

It was definitely a progressive thing. My career history was much more telecoms and customer focused but I slowly ended up finding a place in the industry that fit my skills.

Did you feel any discrimination?

Never, not once.

What do you think of reports that engineering is a male dominated industry? Are you conscious of this when you go to work or does it not describe the environment you work in?

I have not experienced any negativity personally. At the end of the day I believe that no matter where you are in life you have to adapt to different people and different environments and it is no longer as simple as one box for men and one box for women. The industry is so diverse now but I think every different person compliments that.

What would you say to young girls and young women who aspire towards a career in telecoms and engineering but might feel deterred due to the reports?

Go for your goals. It is a great environment and you shouldn’t stop yourself from achieving what you want to achieve.

Has your experience with Comvergent been satisfying? Have you always felt just as valued for your skills as a male in your position?

Definitely. I am very, very happy with where I am in my career right now and I appreciate Comvergent’s help in getting me there.