Job Interview Failure

I have been fortunate enough in my career to avoid IT job interviews up to this point. It has been that I have been asked not the other way around. It is quite amusing that I have worked as an interviewer but never been interviewed myself. So yesterday I went to my first IT job interview to see what it is like to be on the other end of the table.

Now I'm going to write what are generally the three most important human features in hiring context.

The most important part of yourself to show in an interview is that you are exceptionally passionate about your subject. There are a lot of people who know how to design and write programs competently, but those with passion are the ones with the greatest chance to stand up and achieve something remarkable. Real passion is something very rare.

The second most important part of yourself is that you are specialized. The greatest companies do not seek people that are generally competent in every aspect, but the people who are the best in some aspect. Usually the passionate are also the most specialized.

The third most important part of yourself is to show that you are not a hoax, that you know what you are talking about. This is the easiest part to do. Everybody with the slightest sophistication can show this. With the passionate this is self-evident.

What comes to my first interview yesterday, I think I emerged as an enthusiast and not as a complete clown. But I made one terrible mistake. I drew myself as a generalist - not a specialist. I did not convince the interviewer, nor did I deserve it. Albeit knowing all this, I somehow managed to fail.

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So I accepted the research trainee position in TKK.