RESUME&INTERVIEWS(MUST READ)
What is a resume?
Resumes are what people use to get jobs, right?
Wrong!
A resume is a one or two page summary of your education, skills, accomplishments, and experience. Your resume's purpose is to get your foot in the door. A resume does its job successfully if it does not exclude you from consideration.
To prepare a successful resume, you need to know how to review, summarize, and present your experiences and achievements on one page. Unless you have considerable experience, you don't need two pages. Outline your achievements briefly and concisely.
Your resume is your ticket to an interview where you can sell yourself!
What do employers really want in a resume?
What do employers really want in a resume?
At the September 1994 Professional Association of Resume Writers' Annual Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, the group hosted four Human Resource executives for a panel discussion entitled "What Do Employers Really Want in Resume?" Panelists included Kathy Soonlau, Human Resource Manager of Weyerhauser Company; Gaya Cross, Employment Analyst with Mercantile Bank; Doreen Neiseslan, Human Resource Associate with Homedco, Inc.; and Michael Herring, Executive Vice President of The Impact Group, an HR consulting firm.
In a question and answer forum, the panelists presented valuable information regarding resume review and their specific hiring processes. This information that everyone who is actively job searching should consider and put to use in planning their employment campaign.
Bypassing Human Resources: We've all heard the adage that the best thing you can do in your job search is bypass "HR" and get your resume directly to a decision maker (e.g., VP of Sales & Marketing, VP of Finance, CEO). Well, the adage is true. All panelists confirmed that although they are not pleased when a job search candidate goes direct to the hiring authority, if that senior manager wants to hire a specific individual, they generally get the position. The panelists' concerns, aside from that individual's attempt to bypass their authority, were primarily related to reference checks. If a senior manager selected a candidate and then references were verified after the individual was offered the position, there was the potential that references would not be positive and the offer would have to be reneged. From a personal observation, I believe that the HR executives were insulated by being kept "out of the loop." The end result, however, was an offer!
Cover Letters (and Salary Requirements): Each panelist confirmed that cover letters (even handwritten, if a must) were essential. Letters are expected for all positions. Of particular note during the cover letter conversation was reference to salary requirements. What do HR executives think when salary requirements are requested in an advertisement but are not provided in the cover letter. Unanimously, the panelist agreed that if the candidate appeared qualified for the position, they would offer the opportunity for an interview, despite the fact that salary requirements were not included. This is a critical point. Often it is difficult to determine what a specific position will pay. Although you may be interested, you are concerned that your recent salary may be too high or too low for consideration for the advertised position. We now know that it is either acceptable to either (1) not include the salary requirement, or (2) state the salary requirements arenegotiable.
Latest Trend in Resume Scanning: We all hear that the latest trend in the HR field is resume scanning. However, only one of the four companies represented by the panelist (Mercantile Bank) has begun to utilize this technology, and only on a limited basis. In addition to scanning each resume, they also maintain a paper copy to supplement the scanning system which still is fraught with problems. To enhance the "scan-ability" of your resume, Gay Cross of Mercantile, recommends the following:
* Do not use line or borders
* Do not use bold print, italics, or underlining
* Use Large and clear typestyle
* Leave large margins all the way around the resume
* Do not use any color paper other than white or very light ivory.
* Be sure to center your name, address and phone at the top.
Ms. Cross shared scanned copies of several resumes. You would be amazed at the poor quality of many of the resumes if the above criteria were not followed precisely. More than half of the resumes, once scanned, were impossible to read. Should you send two copies of your resume? One for scanning and a more attractive one for the print file? Ms. Cross says no. The HR department is already overwhelmed with paperwork. She recommends only forwarding the copy that will be scanned. As a job seeker, you may want to call a company and see if they scan their resumes. If so, forward a copy that will easily scan. If not, forward a more attractive copy of your resume. We all know that "Image" is a major contributor to your job search success.
Age as a Consideration in the Employment Process: Each panelist agreed that age was not a primary concern in evaluating the qualifications of a job candidate. As the initial stage of the employment review process, experience was the number one consideration. (NOTE: Many in attendance questioned this statement and asked several repeated questions regarding age as a factor in determining the list of best qualified candidates. However, the panelists consistently commented that they did not use age to disqualify. We all know stringent regulations regarding age discrimination.)
Resume Preparation: The panelists stated repeatedly that the resume is a critical tool in evaluating each potential candidate's qualification. They search for key words and phrases, they review accomplishments, and are critical in assessing the quality of the written document. Remember, the first contact you have with potential employers is via paper. That paper must be perfect in its visual presentation and quality of the written word.
Why say.. "Responsible for administering all financial and administration functions for a large manufacturer. In addition, supervise MIS, human resources, safety and public relations. "When you could say..."Senior Executive with full responsibility for the strategic planning, development and management of the entire corporate finance and administrative function for a $28 million manufacturer. Hold concurrent executive responsibility for leading the corporation's MIS, human resources, safety and public relations affairs."
Why say..."Formed a human resources department for a new corporation in the high-tech industry. "When you could say..."Recruited to launch the start-up of a complete Human Resource organization for a newly incorporated high-tech venture. Given full autonomy for establishing policies and procedures, defining staffing and management requirements, developing a comprehensive benefits program, and building the entire HR infrastructure."
Marketing is the key to effective job searching. It is critical that you be aggressive and bold in your resume. Following are some new words and phrases...some fresh ideas..that you can integrate into your resume and cover letter. Although each word/phrase is used in one specific example, you can easily use these words to describe a variety of positions, achievements and professional activities.
1. High-profile executive management position leading the complete corporate marketing and advertising organization.
2. Accepted high-visibility public relations assignment working with the executive management team to launch the company's introduction into the European marketplace.
3. High-Caliber presentation, negotiation and closing skill.
4. Catalyst for change, reengineering and performance improvement.
5. Experienced change agent successful in retraining all clinical care personnel to meet the challenges of health care initiatives in the year 2000.
6. Launched a series of organizational development initiatives in cooperation with new strategic plans for productivity/quality improvement.
7. Positioned corporation for fast-track growth throughout emerging markets.
8. Pioneered the introduction of a series of leading edge video teleconferencing technologies.
9. Transitioned business from start-up through accelerated growth to its current position as the #1 corporation in the hazardous materials remediation industry.
10. Created a dynamic sales culture to support the introduction of a new product portfolio.
11. Orchestrated a complete redesign of the MIS organization, introduced sophisticated technologies, and exceeded internal production objectives by 38%.
12. Redesigned corporate infrastructure to streamline/consolidate accounting, finance, and MIS functions.
13. Proactive in leading the corporation's strategic planning and product development initiatives.
14. Spearheaded the development of a new transportation and distribution operation.
15. Improved customer perceived satisfaction through retraining all front line personnel.
16. Led the sale/marketing of a complete portfolio of edutainment products. (Latest buzz word for educational entertainment technology)
17. Drove revenues form $100,000 to $1.2 million within one year.
18. Realigned health care benefits programs to expand coverage while reducing expenses to the corporation.
19. Accepted equity participation with start-up corporation providing international trade financing for development nations.
20. Fast-track promotion through a series of increasingly responsible administrative management positions.
21. Successful in leading corporations through critical start-up, turnaround and fast-track growth.
22. Provided vision and direction to reposition corporation and capitalize upon changes in technology and market demand.
23. Selected from a competitive group of more than 200 professional candidates for the number two position with the XYZ Corporation.
Your resume is your personal advertisement. And, just as with any other advertisement, it is largely focused on your ability to "market", your qualifications and position yourself competitively against the competition. We all hear the statistics; we all know the vast number of professionals vying for the same positions. What can you do to distinguish yourself from the crowd and win in the job search game? To an increasingly large extent, it is your ability to market yourself. To present your qualifications, experience and achievements in a manner that is sharp, focused, upscale and aggressive. Be aggressive, be bold, but be honest.
Typos, Grammatical Errors Most Common Resume Mistakes
Typos, Grammatical Errors Most Common Resume Mistakes
Like lifeguards protecting their organization's waters, recruiters look for reasons to blow the whistle and tell job seekers to get out of the candidate pool. According to the results of a survey by Accountemps, careless students often oblige. In fact, slightly more than one-third of executives surveyed recently cited typos or grammatical errors as the most common mistake on resumes.
The national poll includes responses from 150 senior executives—including those from human resources, finance, and marketing departments—with the nation's 1,000 largest companies. Executives were asked, "In your opinion, which of the following is the single most common mistake job seekers make on their resumes?" Their responses:
* Typos or grammatical errors—34 percent
* Including too much information—22 percent
* Not listing achievements in former roles—17 percent
* Poor layout and/or design—17 percent
* Including too little information—7 percent
* Other/don't know—3 percent
Facts to Gather Before Interviewing
Facts to Gather Before Interviewing
* Key people in the organization
* Major products or services
* Size in terms of sales and employees
* Locations other than your community
* Organizational structure of the company
* Major competitors
* View of the company by clients, suppliers, and competition
* Latest news reports on the company or on local or national news that affects the company
Preemployment Inquiries—Disability
Preemployment Inquiries-Disability
See also information about Handling Illegal Questions
Illegal Questions
Legal Questions
Do you have any disabilities?
Do you have a disability that would prevent you from performing the essential functions of the job with or with an accommodation?
Are you able to perform the essential functions of the job?
Please complete the following medical history as part of the application process.
Have you had any recent or past illness or operations? If yes, list and give dates.
What was the date of your last physical
exam? What medications do you take?
As part of the hiring process, after a job offer has been made, you will be required to under go a medical exam. The results will remain confidential and will only be used if emergency medical treatment is necessary or to assist in the determination of a job accommodation, if needed.
Are you able to sit? Can you sit for four hours at a time? (Assuming this is an essential function of the job.)
Can you carry objects? Can you carry three-pound boxes to the copier? (Assuming this is an essential function of the job)
Are you color blind? Can you distinguish between color bands? (Assuming this is an essential function of the job.)
What is your corrected vision?
When did you lose your eyesight?
How did you lose your eyesight?
Do you have 20/20 vision? (If this is a job requirement.)
Do you see a psychiatrist for stress? How well can you handle stress?
Are you an alcoholic?
How often do you drink alcoholic beverages?
Do you drink alcoholic beverages?
What is wrong with your leg? How did you break your leg? ( If it is obvious the person's leg is broken because the person is wearing a cast)
How often were you sick? What was your attendance record?
Can you demonstrate how you would perform the following job functions?
Why do you use a wheelchair and will we have to make any accommodations for the wheelchair? Will you need any accommodation to participate in the recruiting process?
Tell me all of your disabilities. What are your job skills, educational background, and prior work experiences?
Interviewers' Favorite Questions...and Answers
Interviewers' Favorite Questions...and Answers
You’re wearing your best interview suit and facing your best friend, who’s wearing the most inscrutable hiring-manager face she can muster. You’ve carefully positioned a video camera to record your every move. All is in place for your mock interview.
“Tell me about yourself,” your friend/interviewer intones, adjusting her glasses and gazing steadily into your eyes.
What should you tell her? What would you tell a real recruiter or hiring manager?
“Don’t tell me where you were born and raised,” says Jonathan Ferguson, assistant director of career services at George Washington University and a veteran of countless mock interviews with students. “Don’t tell me that you were a cheerleader. Focus on your academics and experience. Ask yourself, ‘what are the top five things I want this person to know about me?’”
Ferguson says that while many recruiters ask questions that are a bit more pointed than “tell me about yourself,” it’s still likely to come up in many interviews and it’s best for students to prepare for it.
What other kinds of questions do recruiters ask? Following are 10 more, plus ideas for how to answer or the kinds of competencies the interviewer is seeking, courtesy of Ferguson and three experienced campus recruiters.
1. What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
“I want to hear something related to retail,” says Haley Peoples, college relations manager for JC Penney Co. Inc. in Dallas, Texas. “I don’t want to hear ‘I want to be an astronaut’ or ‘I want to win the Academy Award.’”
Peoples says the question is designed to help the interviewer know if the job seeker will be happy in that position, or if he or she wants to work in it only as long as it takes to find something “better.”
2. How do you make yourself indispensable to a company?
“We are looking for both technical and interpersonal competence,” says Doris J. Smith-Brooks, recruiting and advertising manager for Boeing Co. in Seattle, Washington.
Smith-Brooks explains that students who have interned or completed cooperative education assignments generally answer the question best because they know what working for a company entails.
3. What’s your greatest strength?
“Don’t just talk about your strength—relate it to the position,” Ferguson says. “Let them know you are a qualified candidate.”
4. What’s your greatest weakness?
“Say something along the lines of, ‘I have difficulty with this thing, and these are the strategies I use to get around it,” Ferguson says. “For example, you could say, ‘I’m not the most organized of individuals, so I always answer my e-mails and phone calls right away. I’m aware of the problem and I have strategies to deal with it.”
5. Tell me about a time when your course load was heavy. How did you complete all your work?
“We generally are looking for an answer like, ‘Last semester I was taking 21 credits, so I made sure I had a day planner and mapped out all my assignments,’” says Felix J. Martinez, senior staff recruiter at Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, Illinois. “We’re looking for a plan-ahead kind of individual, not someone who just flies by the seat of his pants.”
Martinez says recruiters at Abbott Laboratories use the STAR method of interviewing, which involves getting the interviewee to describe a situation that includes a task that needed to be accomplished, the action taken to accomplish the task, and the result of that action.
“We actually tell the candidate, so they’re aware of what we’re looking for,” he says, adding that the approach can help candidates focus on their answers.
6. Tell me about a time when you had to accomplish a task with someone who was particularly difficult to get along with.
“I want to hear something that shows the candidate has the ability to be sensitive to the needs of others but can still influence them,” Peoples says, adding that he’s heard plenty of wrong answers to that question. “Don’t say ‘I just avoided them’ or ‘They made me cry.’”
7. How do you accept direction and, at the same time, maintain a critical stance regarding your ideas and values?
Smith-Brooks repeats that internship or co-op experience can give students the experience to answer that question, pointing out that students with good interpersonal skills honed on the job can understand how to walk that fine line.
8. What are some examples of activities and surroundings that motivate you?
“Most of our technical disciplines are teamwork professions and require getting along with and motivating other people,” Smith-Brooks says.
9. Tell me how you handled an ethical dilemma.
“Suppose you worked at a bank and a long-time customer wanted a check cashed right away but didn’t have the fund balance in his account to cover the check,” Martinez says, explaining that if the bank’s policy prohibited cashing checks in that manner, the teller would have a choice of violating bank policy or alienating a good customer.
Martinez says the best way to handle such a situation would be to go to a supervisor, explain the situation, and ask for advice. He adds that students who can’t offer a situation that they handled correctly the first time can explain how they learned from making mistakes.
“Explain that the next time, this was how you handled it,” he says.
10. Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a problem with no rules or guidelines in place.
“I’m looking for a sense of urgency in initiating action,” Peoples says, explaining that the question probes a student’s ability to overcome obstacles.
For Peoples, students offering the best answers to the question describe a retail-related problem.
“I’m looking for the right thing in terms of customer service,” he says.
Core Java Interview Questions
Core Java Interview Questions
Here are few interview questions in core Java that I usually ask while interviewing...
1. What are the different types of inner classes?
2. In which case would you choose a static inner class?
3. What is the differnce between final, finally and finalize?
4. What is externalization? Where is it useful?
5. Explain the Exception heirarchy in Java.
6. How do you identify if a duplicate element is being added in a Set?
7. In which case will you may have to write a private inner class and why?
8. If there are 2 classses A and B, while Class A has 2 methods a1() and a2() and Class B has 2 methods b1() and b2(). Consider a case where both b1() and b2() are synchronized. What happens when A.a1() calls B b = new B(); b.b1(); and A.a2() calls B b = new B(); b.b2()?
9. If there are 2 classses A and B, while Class A has 2 methods a1() and a2() and Class B has 2 static methods b1() and b2(). Consider a case where both b1() and b2() are synchronized. What happens when A.a1() calls B.b1(); and A.a2() calls B.b2()?
10. If there are 2 classses A and B, while Class A has 2 methods a1() and a2() and Class B has a static method b1() and a non-static method b2(). Consider a case where both b1() and b2() are synchronized. What happens when A.a1() calls B.b1(); and A.a2() calls B b = new B(); b.b2()?
11. What would you do if you need a synchronized HashSet?
12. What is the use of anonymous class and when do you write it?
13. When does JVM know that its time to kill itself?
14. What are the various algorithms used for GC in Java?
15. How do you avoid your class to be cloned?
16. Do we have memory leaks problem in java? If not, why? If yes how to avoid them or fix them?
Java Internals and Design Pattern Questions
1. What are ClassLoaders?
[Ans] A class loader is an object that is responsible for loading classes. The class ClassLoader is an abstract class. Given the name of a class, a class loader should attempt to locate or generate data that constitutes a definition for the class. A typical strategy is to transform the name into a file name and then read a "class file" of that name from a file system. Every Class object contains a reference to the ClassLoader that defined it. Class objects for array classes are not created by class loaders, but are created automatically as required by the Java runtime. The class loader for an array class, as returned by Class.getClassLoader() is the same as the class loader for its element type; if the element type is a primitive type, then the array class has no class loader. Applications implement subclasses of ClassLoader in order to extend the manner in which the Java virtual machine dynamically loads classes.
2. What is Service Locator pattern?
[Ans] The Service Locator pattern locates J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) services for clients and thus abstracts the complexity of network operation and J2EE service lookup as EJB (Enterprise JavaBean) Home and JMS (Java Message Service) component factories. The Service Locator hides the lookup process's implementation details and complexity from clients. To improve application performance, Service Locator caches service objects to eliminate unnecessary JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface) activity that occurs in a lookup operation.
3. What is Session Facade pattern?
[Ans] Session facade is one design pattern that is often used while developing enterprise applications. It is implemented as a higher level component (i.e.: Session EJB), and it contains all the iteractions between low level components (i.e.: Entity EJB). It then provides a single interface for the functionality of an application or part of it, and it decouples lower level components simplifying the design. Think of a bank situation, where you have someone that would like to transfer money from one account to another. In this type of scenario, the client has to check that the user is authorized, get the status of the two accounts, check that there are enough money on the first one, and then call the transfer. The entire transfer has to be done in a single transaction otherwise is something goes south, the situation has to be restored. As you can see, multiple server-side objects need to be accessed and possibly modified. Multiple fine-grained invocations of Entity (or even Session) Beans add the overhead of network calls, even multiple transaction. In other words, the risk is to have a solution that has a high network overhead, high coupling, poor reusability and mantainability. The best solution is then to wrap all the calls inside a Session Bean, so the clients will have a single point to access (that is the session bean) that will take care of handling all the rest.
4. What is Data Access Object pattern?
[Ans] The Data Access Object (or DAO) pattern: separates a data resource's client interface from its data access mechanisms adapts a specific data resource's access API to a generic client interface The DAO pattern allows data access mechanisms to change independently of the code that uses the data. The DAO implements the access mechanism required to work with the data source. The data source could be a persistent store like an RDBMS, an external service like a B2B exchange, a repository like an LDAP database, or a business service accessed via CORBA Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) or low-level sockets. The business component that relies on the DAO uses the simpler interface exposed by the DAO for its clients. The DAO completely hides the data source implementation details from its clients. Because the interface exposed by the DAO to clients does not change when the underlying data source implementation changes, this pattern allows the DAO to adapt to different storage schemes without affecting its clients or business components. Essentially, the DAO acts as an adapter between the component and the data source.
5. How can we make a class Singleton
A) If the class is Serializable
class Singleton implements Serializable
{
private static Singleton instance;
private Singleton() { }
public static synchronized Singleton getInstance() {
if (instance == null)
instance = new Singleton();
return instance;
}
/**
* If the singleton implements Serializable, then this
* method must be supplied.
*/
protected Object readResolve() {
return instance;
}
/**
This method avoids the object fro being cloned
*/
public Object clone() {
throws CloneNotSupportedException ;
//return instance;
}
}
B) If the class is NOT Serializable
class Singleton
{
private static Singleton instance;
private Singleton() { }
public static synchronized Singleton getInstance() {
if (instance == null)
instance = new Singleton();
return instance;
}
/**
This method avoids the object from being cloned
**/
public Object clone() {
throws CloneNotSupportedException ;
//return instance;
}
}
6. Can we make an EJB singleton?
[Ans] This is a debatable question, and for every answer we propose there can be contradictions. I propose 2 solutions fo the same. Remember that EJB's are distributed componenets and can be deployed on different JVM's in a Distributed environment
i) Follow the steps as given below
* Make sure that your serviceLocator is deployed on only one JVM.
* In the serviceLocator create a HashTable/HashMap(You are the right judge to choose between these two)
* When ever a request comes for an EJB to a serviceLocator, it first checks in the HashTable if an entry already exists in the table with key being the JNDI name of EJB. If key is present and value is not null, return the existing reference, else lookup the EJB in JNDI as we do normally and add an entry into the Hashtable before returning it to the client. This makes sure that you maintain a singleton of EJB.
ii) In distributed environment our components/Java Objects would be running on different JVM's. So the normal singleton code we write for maintaining single instance works fine for single JVM, but when the class could be loaded in multiple JVM's and Instantiated in multiple JVM's normal singleton code does not work. This is because the ClassLoaders being used in the different JVM's are different from each other and there is no defined mechanism to check and compare what is loaded in another JVM. A solution could be(Not tested yet. Need your feedback on this) to write our own ClassLoader and pass this classLoader as argument, whenever we are creating a new Instance and make sure that only one instance is created for the proposed class.This can be done easily.
7. How is static Synchronization different form non-static synchronization?
[Ans] When Synchronization is applied on a static Member or a static block, the lock is performed on the Class and not on the Object, while in the case of a Non-static block/member, lock is applied on the Object and not on class
