Workday looks like a wonderful place to work; not too many rules in place :) but responsible and smart people. I went to Pleasanton for the final round of interviews for the Associate Functional Consultant position. They put me in the Residence Inn by Marriott and picked me up in the morning at 7:30am. Happy HR people are waiting for you at Workday; continental breakfast, general presentation and group specific presentation (for about an hour); 6 interviews- do not panic; it seems a lot, but the time flies; plus the questions are not hard at all; here are couple of tips for you:
- Smile, be excited… I mean…be very excited; if someone asks you “how is everything?” do not say “pretty good”, they don’t like that, be explosive and say “amazing”, “wonderful” etc. This is what they want to hear. You really, really have to fake it until you make it!!!!!
- When you talk about the software, do not use the word “customize”, they get pretty irritated; workday does not customize things for customers, they configure things
- Prepare a set of questions for interviewers; they love to be asked questions, it looks that you are really interested in the company, in the position. But be careful what you ask; it happened to me; I have asked a technical question and the interviewer had no clue to answer and she became very irritated, so I definitely lost points there; couple of sample questions you should ask: How do you describe the corporate culture at Workday? What is the overall leadership style? Is there a structured career path at the company? Assuming I was hired and performed well for a period of time, what additional opportunities might this job lead to? What type of person will do well in this position? What main characteristics, skills he/she should have? (tip: ask the first interviewer and based on his answer, you will know how to play with the next interviewers that are asking you about your strengths, skills etc); What do you like most about Workday? Can you describe the programming language you use in the system? Is java the technology underneath the OMS? Can you please describe the security measures? What are Worktags? – Those are just few examples, but it is critical to have the questions ready; plus be smart: you ask them a question, they will talk and you are the one listening…boom, the interview is almost over.
- Sell yourself as much as you can! This is not the time to be modest! No Way!! Tell them how creative and innovative you are; tell them again…and again; if you can make them feel that they need you (not the way around), you are IN, no doubt
- Here are few of the questions I have been asked:
o Tell me about yourself.
o Walk me through your resume
o Why Workday?
o How are we different from other solutions?
o How do you describe the cloud and SaaS to a person that doesn’t know too much about computers, internet?
o What qualities you bring to this position?
o What projects have you worked on?
o Do you have any customer service experience?
o Tell me about your latest project you’ve worked on?
o Tell me about a course that was really hard and what did you do, what was your approach to get the content and pass the class?
o How do you do your research?
o Tell me about a professor you didn’t like and one that you liked.
o Tell me about manager that really annoyed you and a manager that really impressed you.
o Talk about a challenged project, situation!
o Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
o Why do you think this position fits you?
- Do not worry, be confident and do your best; sometimes the cards are played; you are there just because there is a process in place that must be followed; waiting for my bus after the interviews, I saw one of the managers jumping on his buddy and taking him out for dinner; nothing wrong with this picture, but the buddy happened to be one of the candidates; how I felt???? HOW I FELT???
Wish you the best of luck!
