Hiring Process/Thoughts

bigpimpin24

bigpimpin24

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Hello everyone. I am in the process of going through a hiring phase for a company. I received my Associate's Degree this past May and finally heard back from this company a month or two ago. My degree was in Process Technology (PTEC) and I'm having an interview tomorrow. The company is Beyond Petroleum (BP) formerly known as British Petroleum.

Overall I've been running all this through my head and would like to know what you guys think. I kind of don't want to get myself too set on this job because it is such a huge opportunity and I don't see myself getting it for some reason. I am extremely confident, don't get me wrong but it just feels too surreal. I am going to give a little timeline so far as well as my background and thoughts.

August 9, 2011 - The job posting goes online. I fill out their application and submit my resume.
August 12, 2011 - I receive an e-mail from the company stating that I meet essential criteria and qualifications for the position. My application will be reviewed further.
September 9, 2011 - I am informed I progressed to the next stage and am to schedule an assessment.
September 19, 2011 - I show up for the assessment and find out a bit more information. Originally, 1000 people applied. Of those 1000, 350 or so are taking the assessment. There are 18 positions they need to fill. I feel really confident in the assessment and it felt like a breeze. I also can't help but notice the amount of older people there. Over 40 and what not. I was most definitely the youngest there (21) Hearing the numbers, I don't get too excited.
October 14, 2011 - I learn I progressed to the next stage and am asked to come in for an interview. The interview is being held at the same place as the assessment and is scheduled to be 4 hours long (same as the assessment.)
October 26, 2011 - I am set to go in tomorrow and don't feel nervous at all. At the same time, I can't help but wonder how many people are being interviewed.

Now, my thoughts: I originally had a good amount of doubt for the position because I lack experience (as a good majority of fresh college grads do.) I have come to find out that this position will have a 13 week training course if you are hired in. This kind of eased my mind a bit. It also helps to mention that the program I graduated from (offered at my local community college) was actually being funded by BP themselves. Another cool thing I learned, was that my instructors during college.. are the actual people that are going to be doing the 13 weeks of training. I was surprised to see them when I went in for my assessment.

At this point in time I am not really sure what to think. Being called back for an interview was pretty reassuring but at the same time I still think there's a few more stages to go through. My mentality is being young and a graduate from their program specifically is going to work in my favor. We were the second class to graduate from this 2 year program, and this is the first time they are actually hiring for the position.

I really would like to get hired in here as the security and benefits are great. Having quit my job 3 months ago (Made $8.50 an hour and had been there for 3 years, I was definitely ready to quit. The amount of work was simply too much for the pay.) It would be a huge improvement.

So what do you guys think? I'll update tomorrow with how everything goes.

*EDIT* Also some more things I was running through my head. During the assessment scheduling, the e-mail specifically stated the dress code as casual. I noticed quite a few people going in completely overdressed. Some guy was wearing a suit, others were wearing collared shirts and what not. I just wore a normal pair of jeans and a t-shirt as did a good majority. Now, the dress code for the interview was stated as "Business Casual" I forgot to mention that a friend of mine, who graduated as well was asked to come in for an interview also (he's going on the 27th though, I'm going on the 26th.) I just saw a picture of him on his FB and he's got this suit ready. I just plan on wearing some regular slacks, with a collared shirt and no tie. Am I right in thinking that if I overdress, it might actually hurt me? Since the code is Business casual, I figured what I chose to wear would be appropriate. Just wondering on thoughts seeing as this is my first real experience with a hiring process.
 
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[quote name='bigpimpin24']*EDIT* Also some more things I was running through my head. During the assessment scheduling, the e-mail specifically stated the dress code as casual. I noticed quite a few people going in completely overdressed. Some guy was wearing a suit, others were wearing collared shirts and what not. I just wore a normal pair of jeans and a t-shirt as did a good majority. Now, the dress code for the interview was stated as "Business Casual" I forgot to mention that a friend of mine, who graduated as well was asked to come in for an interview also (he's going on the 27th though, I'm going on the 26th.) I just saw a picture of him on his FB and he's got this suit ready. I just plan on wearing some regular slacks, with a collared shirt and no tie. Am I right in thinking that if I overdress, it might actually hurt me? Since the code is Business casual, I figured what I chose to wear would be appropriate. Just wondering on thoughts seeing as this is my first real experience with a hiring process.[/QUOTE]

Why would you ever ever not wear a suit and tie to an interview?

That just blows me away with your generation. I mean, are you that ignorant or do you just not give a fuck?
 
Never hurts to dress up. It's better to be overdressed than under-dressed for a job interview. No one has ever been turned down because they were "over dressed" for an interview. However, many job applicants get rejected for being under-dressed.

It sounds like you otherwise have a decent shot. Good luck.
 
Well the thing is I'm still not entirely sure if this is the final interview or not. The hiring process for the company is very rigorous from what I have heard and there has been talk about there being 2 separate interviews. This is where my lack of getting my hopes up comes in. I honestly can't see a huge amount of people getting cleared off from that assessment alone.

Since the e-mail specifically said it'd be casual I don't want to run the risk of being overdressed. At the same time though, maybe I should be taking it a bit more serious. Like I said, I still can't really grasp this though as it feels like I'm in over my head.
 
I don't really think you can overdress for an interview. If you have an interview for a "real" job, you wear a suit (although, you can probably forget the jacket if you really want). If you show up wearing khakis and short-sleeve collared shirt with the top button undone, they're more likely to think you aren't taking it seriously.

What sorta position are you interviewing for?
 
Just wear some nice pants and a long-sleeve, button down shirt with a tie. Make sure your belt and shoes are nice, and match. If you sweat a lot, wear an undershirt so it doesn't show up on your shirt.
 
Wow, 1000 applicants and they're only hiring 18 people, plus all these assesments and interviews. Getting a job is really a bitch nowadays.

I got hired in my current job after submitting a resume, went into a psudo-interview, we walked over to a Sony Digital SX Camera and he pointed at it and said "You know how to use this?" I said "Yep." He said, "Show me." so I did. Got the job that day. Guess I was lucky they were desprate and needed someone quick. Plus it didn't hurt that I knew my shit.
 
[quote name='2DMention']It's not always a good idea to dress up for job interviews.

Examples:

Video Game Tester
Record Store Clerk[/QUOTE]

Fuck that, I wore a suit to a game tester interview. Before I got the suit I went business casual but now that I own two I'm sure as fuck wearing those to every god damn interview. All they'll think is "Damn, this motherfucker is smooth"
 
Sounds like you have a lot of positives going in your direction, especially the fact that the instructors know you. Look forward to seeing how this turns out. Interesting that they are in charge of the program...Good luck!
 
[quote name='bigpimpin24'] Since the e-mail specifically said it'd be casual I don't want to run the risk of being overdressed./QUOTE]

I am not really sure why you are emphasizing casual. Business casual is not really all that casual. Sports coats/tailored jackets are very commonly warn in business casual settings. I would probably not wear a full out suit, but a blazer and khakis would certainly be appropriate and not over dressing. I would probably also wear a tie and take it off if it felt out of place.
 
[quote name='bigpimpin24']
Since the e-mail specifically said it'd be casual I don't want to run the risk of being overdressed. At the same time though, maybe I should be taking it a bit more serious. Like I said, I still can't really grasp this though as it feels like I'm in over my head.[/QUOTE]

I am not really sure why you are emphasizing casual. Business casual is not really all that casual. Sports coats/tailored jackets are very commonly warn in business casual settings. I would probably not wear a full out suit, but a coat and khakis would certainly be appropriate and not over dressing. I would probably also wear a tie and take it off if it felt out of place.
 
Various dress descriptions suck because they vary so wildly. Business casual could mean anything from a collared shirt with nice jeans to a full suit minus the tie.

Just wear the suit, you can always throw the jacket or tie in the car if you're very clearly over dressed.
 
As many others have stated, wear the suit. If you're overdressed, you can fix that in a hurry. You can always take articles off. If you're underdressed, then you're just SOL. It sounds like you're going to be fine, so don't worry.
 
[quote name='camoor']Why would you ever ever not wear a suit and tie to an interview?

That just blows me away with your generation. I mean, are you that ignorant or do you just not give a fuck?[/QUOTE]

It's not about this generation, it's about a change in the work environment. It really does depend on the business and lots of other factors. If you're applying for something in Portland, they probably wouldn't care as much if you had a suit or not. If you apply for a job on the East Coast, you better damn well have a suit and always be wearing it.

I have a friend who interview at a music studio for an internship and he basically just wore jeans and a button up shirt. A few people came all dressed up with ties or suits. Guess who didn't get hired? It really just all depends on the place. What I would do, if possible is try and see what the employees are wearing there and dress one step above that. If they're wearing suits, then you know you'll need one. If they're in jeans and t-shirts, a suit probably isn't a good idea. Also you don't want to dress above the boss or the person interviewing you either. So yes you can definitely be overdressed.
 
Thanks guys. A little more about the company/position. This oil refinery is ranked 7th in the United States. They deal with 405,000 barrels of oil a day and are currently going through a modernization phase to expand these numbers. Entry level salary for this position is stated at 60k and you can make overtime. They can make up to 100k a year with overtime. Like I said, it's a pretty big opportunity for me.

As for the attire, I would never show up in jeans and a long sleeve. I am wearing slacks, a button down with a nice belt and shoes. The only reason I kept the emphasis on the casual part was because I am still not sure if this is the final phase or not. I guess I will find out later today.
 
[quote name='Thongsy']It's not about this generation, it's about a change in the work environment. It really does depend on the business and lots of other factors. If you're applying for something in Portland, they probably wouldn't care as much if you had a suit or not. If you apply for a job on the East Coast, you better damn well have a suit and always be wearing it.

I have a friend who interview at a music studio for an internship and he basically just wore jeans and a button up shirt. A few people came all dressed up with ties or suits. Guess who didn't get hired? It really just all depends on the place. What I would do, if possible is try and see what the employees are wearing there and dress one step above that. If they're wearing suits, then you know you'll need one. If they're in jeans and t-shirts, a suit probably isn't a good idea. Also you don't want to dress above the boss or the person interviewing you either. So yes you can definitely be overdressed.[/QUOTE]

OK I'm on the east coast.

But I gotta disagree with alot you said.
- Job candidates that overdress the everyday attire are kind of expected in my world. We don't go around with suits and ties every day but it's nice to see someone coming in for an interview all decked out
- Clients basically expect us to dress better then their own employees and if you want to get ahead then you need to get one of those client-interfacing jobs.
- Last I looked there are not too many music studio jobs out there. And I really can't imagine any job outside of a subsection of the entertainment biz where wearing a suit would be considered a negative.
- The guy's looking to get a job in the oil business. The fool should wear a suit to every. single. interview.
 
Well here's my update. I went in and found out that this was actually the final stage. The only thing left after this is to get hired, and if I do I'd have to pass the background check and drug screening. I should have no problem with that. I ended up being the one overdressed and I thought I was quite lenient. I wore my slacks and button down, the rest were wearing Khaki Pants and Polo. The session lasted four hours and I ended up going through three phases. There ended up being 10 people there today.

I came to find out that the people who got offered an interview, were actually hand picked out of the people who passed the assessment. Basically, just because you passed the assessment did not guarantee you an interview. I was one of the lucky ones. Overall I was pretty surprised with the experience and it was pretty tough, but I think I still did pretty well.

The first two sessions involved me sitting with two guys and they were asking me questions back and forth. I must have answered over 50 questions, at least. The last session was actually a hands on demonstration and involved me working with three other people that were interviewing. It was quite the experience and I felt we did extremely well for being complete strangers as well as having so little time to analyze the unit. (We were given 5 minutes preparation and then were testing thoroughly for an hour on the thing.)

Basically now I'm back to playing the waiting game. I feel pretty good about it and hopefully I'll get offered a job. I'm still not certain how many people are interviewing but I'd like to think it's not a huge amount considering there were only 10 of us today. Then again, I'm not sure how many of these sessions they are holding. Fingers crossed!
 
[quote name='2DMention']It's not always a good idea to dress up for job interviews.

Examples:

Video Game Tester
Record Store Clerk[/QUOTE]

ice cream truck driver ... though its a fun job free ICE CREAM WOOOOO
 
[quote name='camoor']Why would you ever ever not wear a suit and tie to an interview?

That just blows me away with your generation. I mean, are you that ignorant or do you just not give a fuck?[/QUOTE]

[quote name='camoor']
- The guy's looking to get a job in the oil business. The fool should wear a suit to every. single. interview.[/QUOTE]

It was explicitly stated that dress was business casual. If you wear a suit, congratulations, you can't follow simple directions.

Then again, it's not like BP can drill for oil without spilling it the fuck all over but that's a whole other discussion.
 
I've been in an application process where 25,000 applied and I made it to the first round, then I'm currently in the process where about 10,000 applied. I'm about halfway through that one.

To address the dress...(I know I'm late to the party), always risk overdressing instead of underdressing.
 
[quote name='bigpimpin24']Good luck! That's insane! 25,000 people?! Sounds like that'll take months to get through.[/QUOTE]

Heh, years. I'm at about 14 months right now if I remember right. Others I've been in were more like 6 months. It sucks, but after being in one of those, the lesson I learned is don't spend too much time on "what if I get the job" life decisions. It's unnecessary stress over something that may not be realized. Stress once you get the good letter in the mail :p
 
[quote name='Survivalism']It was explicitly stated that dress was business casual. If you wear a suit, congratulations, you can't follow simple directions.

Then again, it's not like BP can drill for oil without spilling it the fuck all over but that's a whole other discussion.[/QUOTE]
:lol::applause: I was wondering when someone would make a comment about that.

Anyway, my take on this is that I wear khakis and a sport shirt/polo to virtually every interview. The types of places I've applied recently vary from Best Buy(where their dress code is khakis n a sport short/polo) to Proctor & Gamble's one manufacturing plant here.

The process I went through for P&G was hellish(at best). I did a standardized test last year sometime in the summer. They finally called/emailed me regarding coming in for an interview about a month or two ago. The interview was a THREE HOUR interview that required me to give concise(I've been known to ramble:razz::booty:) yet detailed answers to questions asking for examples of my work history and experience. I had serious cotton mouth by the time we were done. Suffice to say I think I really put the last nail in the coffin when I jokingly asked the interviewers if I flunked after the interview since I did struggle to give examples for quite a few of their questions.

Funny thing is, they didn't hire me, yet one of their long time employees(15+ years) was just arrested and brought up on charges for essentially feeding his co-workers his semen in containers of yogurt he had brought in over the many years there.:whistle2:& So a fine quality worker:lol: like me who actually would learn whatever they wanted me to is NOT hired because I can't answer 1000 questions but they'll hire a pervert who's been feeding people his bodily fluids for a decade n a half? Yeah. Life's fair.
 
^ If you eat someone else's yogurt, or any previously opened container for that matter, you should expect there to be semen, spit, and/or snot in it. That's common knowledge.

I'd like to know how they caught him.
 
And suddenly this thread has new life!...

Ok, how can someone get arrested for putting something in their food that other people then take? The other people had free choice, right? Or did he strap them down and shove the semen-yogurt down their throats?
 
[quote name='keithp']And suddenly this thread has new life!...

Ok, how can someone get arrested for putting something in their food that other people then take? The other people had free choice, right? Or did he strap them down and shove the semen-yogurt down their throats?[/QUOTE]
It sounds like you're assuming that either the guy was putting semen into his own yogurt that other people were stealing or that they were aware of the semen and were choosing to eat it anyway.

Hope this clears up any misconceptions:: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/revolting/semen-tainted-yogurt-plea-654321
 
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