Had my Amazon interview. Didn’t go as well as it could’ve, but Mulan told me lots of things that I can improve about my interviewing skills, and I realized something - I think pretty much everyone I know who’s gotten internships at a lot of these bigger companies is better at those skills than I am. I realized it makes a humongous difference, and I’m going to consciously dedicate a lot of time on honing my strategy for those kinds of questions.
@mulan
Things that Mulan mentioned:
- I need to figure out what my strategy is — I seem kind of shy, a little bit rigid, robotic, and don’t really let my personality shine through. Mulan goes with the genuine, enthusiasm strategy, because people have told her that’s what genuinely comes out in her interviews. I need to find what my shtick needs to be, because everyone needs one.
- Mulan thinks that in my technical interviews, I should be confident and direct, not completely but say the “I think” in the right places. Not in the places where it seems like I’m doubting my self, but in the places where I’m presenting the answer while keeping alive the possibility that I could be wrong.
Other notes from today:
- Went to the National Museum of Scotland, where I learned a decent amount of Scottish history and most interestingly, how the Scottish economy completely transformed with the Revolution (both the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution), and how Scotland was at the center of it with the steam engine, shipmaking, mills, and so on. It was equally interesting to see how the Scottish economy shifted from those areas just as fast, and instead of people bitching about “bring back our jobs” the economy just sort of changed and people went with it (oversimplification but that’s what it seems like to me)
- On a similar note, had a really nice conversation with Hilary Noyce about Scotland, places to visit in the UK, India, the differences between the US and the UK and why things are in the US the way they are, the reasons for Brexit, the fringe festival, pub quizzing, and more. She seems like a very intelligent, kind woman (Allie too), and I really like the both of them.
uid: 202001070000 tags: #journal #edinburgh