I’ve been interviewing quite a bit of late and it really is quite funny because I don’t know how skilled these candidates are when it comes to engineering. I am not an engineer and as far as my previous profession went, engineers to me were methodical problem solvers. The only thing I can say is that if you managed to be an engineer, there must be some level of physics and maths going on in there. I got an A for both but I am by far an engineer. Nuh-uh.

What I do assess though when I’m interviewing is whether the prospect has the right attitude for the company, the right human and emotional skills to contribute to a fast growing environment, and common sense. I will also hold my interviews in unconventional venues, such as the Mamak Stalls, cafes, even Kizsport! for senior level positions. It is my call after all and besides, if a candidate can’t see beyond an interview venue being only at the office, he is not the right fit for the company. Just as an example, a certain public listed company Group CEO wanted to meet with Tok-Tok at his hotel one morning and I gate crashed their meeting dressed in DVF and high heels. What did Tok-Tok wear? He had just come immediately from his morning walk and attended this meeting in his shorts, T-Shirt and jogging shoes! It was 8am and the coolest thing to see everyone else so dressed up and Tok-Tok sauntering in half dressed.

My top interview questions are always open ended such as:

Tell me about yourself.

What do you know about my organisation.

Why would you want to work for us.

Why should I hire you?

What are your career goals?

What are your life goals?

Once I’m convinced with the general scope of the person, I move on to the tougher questions and give them scenarios to work out such as:

A detailed scenario where he has a problem with a subordinate and another scene where he has a problem boss. How does he handle the situation? What does he do?

Another scenario involves two co-workers disagreeing and getting at each others necks. Does he get involved or not? What does he do or not do?

I give him customer problems and what he would do to address them.

I tell him to fire someone who’s had a string of bad luck and really has done nothing wrong. How would he do it.

These show me how well the candidate is able to think on his feet and their confidence levels in handling management issues. I ask them about their previous jobs, how their bosses were like, what they liked and dislike about their jobs; I ask them about their thoughts on the industry trends and where they see the future, I ask them about a LOT of things!!!

And finally, I will ask them why they aren’t earning more at their stage in life. Yes, I am that mean. And I will negotiate their salaries and perks. I never give in early always agreeing upon success rates first.

My favourite all time question to ask prospects is a randomname me 30 things you can do with a paper clip, a door, a piece of carpet, whatever…..just to weed out the exceptional candidates from the excellent. Or ask crazy questions with no real answers to them to see how the candidate tackles the question.

Last but not least, I will conduct a pre-employment screening and make a few calls to ensure we won’t be hiring a psychopath! Once this process is through, I will hand the guy over to our Engineering Director to assess his technical skills. One may ask, isn’t it more important to do the engineering bit first and not waste my time? I don’t think so. If the guy passed my test, we’d still hire him if he failed the engineering test as we value good attitude far more than hard skills. Hard skills can be trained and learnt and practised. Soft skills can’t. That is the secret to a successful organisation.

No point having a very clever engineer who is all attitude and big talk. Better to have a positive, humble engineer who is willing to work hard to learn and practise till he becomes the best.

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Who is Mamapumpkin?
Mamapumpkin spent 7 years in London committing crimes to gain her Bartlett degree in Architecture. She then spent 7 years as a Stay At Home Mom raising her children as documented in this blog of over 15 years thereafter returning to the Corporate World stronger than ever as the Country Director of a British Multinational. She sets out to prove to all, that you can have anything and everything that you want; if you have that fire of desire burning within and the drive to work hard. Even better with much love.

Mamapumpkin has not only grown corporate businesses successfully in the past but has grown not one but TWO network marketing businesses in the notorious MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) industry, achieving success in under 2 years. She believes in the MLM business model but realises the DRASTIC PITFALLS and great stigma attached to it, understanding EXACTLY WHY the majority would shy away (or RUN for their lives) from ANY MLM business. But open your eyes and take time to understand it intellectually, remove your hang-ups, confirm your research, and you may just want to seize an opportunity. She did. And no, she never went about chasing people for sales. She had a sophisticated system work for her through technology and a smartphone.

She now impacts lives authentically with proven strategies amassed through the last decade of her own transformation offering online coaching programmes and always supports the underprivileged. She believes that we can all have a life of our own desires to enable real contribution into the world. But first, one needs to understand what this all means.

A beautiful life without limits.

If you wish to learn some tools to propel your life forward guaranteed, be brave enough to make contact as her life's purpose is to build people. She operates through a discovery call after which she will commit to helping you. Or not.

Most lose out on an opportunity because they are afraid they would be sold to, conned or whatever fear resides in their brain without even trying. And that's on them.

Mamapumpkin is a living testimony that women really can have a lot. Being financially and time free has enabled her to travel the world anytime, anywhere, doing anything, and she spends most of her days with her children, having fun, and supporting others wherever she can. Also having fun.